Isaac William Wiley

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Isaac William Wiley
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Born	March 29, 1824 Lewistown, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	November 22, 1884(1884-11-22) (aged 59) Fuzhou, China

Isaac William Wiley (simplified Chinese: 怀礼; traditional Chinese: 懷禮; Pinyin: Huáilǐ; Foochow Romanized: Huài-lā̤; 29 March 1825 – 22 November 1884) was an American who distinguished himself as a physician, a Methodist missionary to China, a pastor, as the president of a seminary, as an editor, and as a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1872.

Part of a series on
Methodism
John Wesley
Background History (in the United States) Anglicanism Arminianism First Great Awakening Moravianism Nonconformism Pietism Wesleyan theology
Doctrine Doctrinal standards Bible Old Testament New Testament Creeds Nicene Creed Apostles' Creed Articles of Religion Sermons on Several Occasions Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament Distinctive beliefs and practices Assurance of faith Conditional preservation of the saints Priesthood of all believers Sainthood Four sources of theological authority Covenant theology Substitutionary atonement Imparted righteousness Moral law New birth Free will Outward holiness Prevenient grace Real presence Sanctification (growth in grace) Sunday Sabbatarianism Christian perfection Second work of grace Baptism with the Holy Spirit Views on sin Works of piety Works of mercy
Worship The Sunday Service of the Methodists Covenant Renewal Service Revival service Altar call Mourner's bench Camp meeting Tabernacle Tent revival Brush arbour revival Lovefeast Watchnight service
People John Wesley Charles Wesley Richard Allen Francis Asbury Thomas Coke John William Fletcher Orange Scott William Williams Pantycelyn Benjamin Titus Roberts Walter Ashbel Sellew Howell Harris Albert Outler James Varick Countess of Huntingdon Phoebe Palmer George Whitefield Bishops Theologians
Groups Churches Methodist Church of Great Britain Free Methodist Church United Methodist Church World Methodist Council Global Methodist Church Other Methodist denominations
Organization Connexionalism General Conference Methodist Circuit Pastoral charge Class meeting Penitent band
Related groups Holiness movement Conservative holiness movement Holiness Pentecostalism Evangelicalism
Other relevant topics Saints in Methodism Methodist views on alcohol Methodist local preacher Itinerant preacher Circuit rider Steward Homosexuality and Methodism Ordination of women in Methodism Bishops in Methodism
Christianity • Protestantism Christianity portal
v t e

Isaac was born 29 March 1825 in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church at ten years of age.

Isaac had been preparing to enter the sophomore class at Dickinson College, but the affection of his throat being considered permanent, he commenced the study of medicine, instead. He was graduated in 1846 from the medical department of the University of New York. He pursued a course of classical study in the same institution.

Dr. Isaac Wiley commenced the practice of medicine in Western Pennsylvania, subsequently moving to Pottsville in 1849. Shortly thereafter, at the request of Dr. Durbin, Isaac agreed to go as a medical missionary to Fuzhou, China.

Isaac first was received into the ministry of the Genesee Annual Conference of the M.E. Church. He also attended an additional course of lectures in the University of New York. Finally, he sailed for China, March 1850, transferring his conference membership to the Philadelphia Conference.

The Rev. Dr. Wiley returned from China in May 1854. He then was appointed to fill a pastoral vacancy on Staten Island. In 1855 he transferred his conference membership again, this time to the Newark Annual Conference. He was successively appointed to Newark and then Jersey City.

In 1858 the Rev. Dr. Wiley took charge of the Pennington Seminary. He served this position until 1863. In 1864 he was elected editor of the Ladies' Repository, an important periodical of his denomination. He was re-elected to this position in 1868. While editor, he also edited books for the M.E. Book Concern.

The Rev. Dr. Isaac William Wiley was elected to the episcopacy of the Methodist Episcopal Church by the General Conference of 1872. As bishop he was one of the founders of Wiley College, the first and oldest historically Black college west of the Mississippi River, located in Marshall, Texas. Wiley College was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1873 and chartered by the Freedman's Aid Society of the M.E. Church in 1882 for the purpose of providing education to the "newly freed men" (following emancipation and the American Civil War), preparing them for a new life.

Bishop Wiley traveled extensively to the various U.S. States and Territories. In 1877 he made an extensive tour in support of the M.E. missions in Japan and China.

Bishop Wiley died in Fuzhou, China, 22 November 1884. The funeral services took place the next day at Tieng Ang Tong.

• The Fallen Missionaries of Foo Chow.
• The Religion of the Family.
• China and Japan: a record of observations made during a residence of several years in China, and a tour of official visitation to the missions of both countries in 1877-78 (1879)

• List of bishops of the United Methodist Church

• Cyclopaedia of Methodism, Matthew Simpson, D.D., LL.D., Ed., (Revised Edition.) Philadelphia, Louis H. Everts, 1880.[1]

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1891). Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

• Institutional Background of Wiley College Archived 2016-03-24 at the Wayback Machine
• The Mission Cemetery of Fuh-Chau
• Isaac W. Wiley, Late Bishop of the M.E. Church