The first bishop of the Methodist Church, Thomas Coke, was an attorney and the mayor of Brecon, Wales and thought by many to be John Wesley’s successor. This is a picture of the cathedral in Brecon where Coke worshiped. Coke came to America not too long after the American Revolution and, along with Francis Asbury, was the first superintendent of the church in America (the church would later re-name the position of superintendent into bishop). Coke was on his way to India for full-time mission work when he died at sea on or about May 4, 1814. Different accounts give different dates but I needed a good one for today and I chose the 4th. If you have visited a Cokesbury bookstore you’ll see the get their names from a merging of the names of Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury.
