Joseph Cooke

Rev. Joseph Cooke (1775–1811), a Free Christian, was expelled by the Wesleyan Methodists on doctrinal grounds and became the inspiration behind the Methodist Unitarian movement formed under the leadership of another former Wesleyan Joseph Ashworth. Joseph Cooke was born near Dudley in the Black Country. In 1795, Cooke entered the Methodist itinerancy. In 1803 he was appointed to the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Union Street, Rochdale, east Lancashire. During his ministry in the mill town he was rebuked by the Conference and transferred to Sunderland. Whilst in the north-east, his supporters in Rochdale published two of his sermons on justification by faith. Later, during the 1806 Conference, he was expelled from the Wesleyan Methodists...