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98-498: A large surrounding area was once called by the name, but this is now less common. In the 18th century it was a disreputable area, known for "the rude sports that were in vogue, such as duck-hunting, prize-fighting, bull-baiting, and others of an equally demoralising character", and "seems to have been much infected by sneaking footpads, who knocked down pedestrians passing to and from London, and despoiled them of hats, wigs, silver buckles, and money", The moral tone gradually improved after

196-591: A "monitor" system whereby each monitor looked after one person and acted as his "confessor". Mudie found himself working very hard to maintain the community, but this affected the quality of the Economist . The publication ceased in March 1822 and the community continued for another two years. The reasons for its demise are not known, but Mudie immersed himself in another community, at Orbiston , run by Abram Combe , but could not agree with Combe and also left this community after

294-740: A United States bishop to what would become the Protestant Episcopal Church in America. Wesley ordained Thomas Coke as superintendent of Methodists in the United States by the laying on of hands , although Coke was already a priest in the Church of England. He also ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey as presbyters; Whatcoat and Vasey sailed to America with Coke. Wesley intended that Coke and Francis Asbury (whom Coke ordained as superintendent by direction of Wesley) should ordain others in

392-416: A clear resolution seemed unlikely. On 22 December 1737, Wesley fled the colony and returned to England. One of the most significant accomplishments of Wesley's Georgia mission was his publication of a Collection of Psalms and Hymns . The Collection was the first Anglican hymnal published in America, and the first of many hymn books Wesley published. It included five hymns he translated from German. As

490-465: A community, and at this meeting a committee was appointed. They met at the Medallic Cabinet, 158 The Strand , to raise money. As part of the fund-raising effort, Mudie began publication of a weekly journal, the Economist , which ran from 27 January 1821 to 9 March 1822. The plan was soon formulated to create a "Co-operative and Economical Society" of 200 families. The male members had to contribute

588-436: A ghost called 'Old Jeffery'. In June 1720, Wesley entered Christ Church, Oxford . After graduating in 1724, Wesley stayed on at Christ Church to study for his master's degree . He was ordained a deacon on 25 September 1725— holy orders being a necessary step toward becoming a fellow and tutor at the university. On 17 March 1726, Wesley was unanimously elected a fellow of Lincoln College , Oxford. This carried with it

686-415: A guinea to the central fund. There would be a communal kitchen and dining hall, plus there were plans for a school as well. The committee calculated that the community would save around £8,000 per year through its own manufacture of various items that it would use. Mudie believed that the community would be able to become independent. During this period the chairman was George Hinde and one prominent member

784-543: A method of saving souls was "almost a sin." He recognised the open-air services were successful in reaching men and women who would not enter most churches. From then on he took the opportunities to preach wherever an assembly could be brought together, more than once using his father's tombstone at Epworth as a pulpit . Wesley preached to create repentance, prayed for conversion, dealt with hysterical behaviour, and preached to upwards of thousands through field preaching. Wesley continued for fifty years—entering churches when he

882-656: A method that Outler termed the Wesleyan Quadrilateral . In this method, Wesley believed that the living core of Christianity was contained in Scripture (the Bible ), and that it was the sole foundational source of theological development. The centrality of Scripture was so important for Wesley that he called himself " a man of one book ," although he was well-read for his day. However, he believed that doctrine had to be in keeping with Christian orthodox tradition. So, tradition

980-541: A ministers' training college at Trefeca (Trevecca) near Talgarth , in Mid Wales , not far from Brecon . George Whitefield preached at the opening ceremony. The college moved to Hertfordshire in 1792, and was renamed Cheshunt College . It moved to Cambridge in 1906. Cheshunt College, Cambridge merged with Westminster College, Cambridge , the training college of the Presbyterian Church of England (and after 1972, of

1078-493: A more sublime view of the law of God; and he resolved to keep it, inwardly and outwardly, as sacredly as possible, believing that in obedience he would find salvation. He pursued a rigidly methodical and abstemious life, studied Scripture, and performed his religious duties diligently, depriving himself so that he would have alms to give. He began to seek after holiness of heart and life. Wesley returned to Oxford in November 1729 at

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1176-412: A priest on 22 September 1728, Wesley served as a parish curate for two years. In the year of his ordination, he read Thomas à Kempis and Jeremy Taylor , showed his interest in mysticism , and began to seek the religious truths which underlay the great revival of the 18th century. The reading of William Law 's Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life gave him, he said,

1274-598: A result of his experience in Georgia, Wesley became depressed. While on his voyage home to England, he had the opportunity to think about his own religious faith. He found that, although he had committed to the life of following Christ, he was dissatisfied with his spiritual soundness and felt inadequate to preach , especially after witnessing the confident way in which the Moravians had preached their faith. Both he and Charles received counsel from Moravian minister Peter Boehler , who

1372-576: A right to employ as many chaplains as she pleased. In her chapel at Bath (now owned by the Bath Preservation Trust and housing the Building of Bath Collection which is open to the public), there was a curtained recess dubbed " Nicodemus ' Corner" where bishops sat incognito to hear services. Following the expulsion of six Methodist students from St Edmund Hall , Oxford in 1768 the Countess founded

1470-553: A scale of 1 to 9. Wesley also regarded the contempt with which he and his group were held to be a mark of a true Christian. As he put it in a letter to his father, "Till he be thus contemned, no man is in a state of salvation." On 14 October 1735, Wesley and his brother Charles sailed on The Simmonds from Gravesend in Kent for Savannah in the Province of Georgia in the American colonies at

1568-550: A senior travelling preacher or "assistant." Conferences with Wesley, travelling preachers and others were convened annually for the purpose of co-ordinating doctrine and discipline for the entire connection. Classes of a dozen or so society members under a leader met weekly for spiritual fellowship and guidance. In the early years, there were "bands" of the spiritually gifted who consciously pursued perfection. Those who were regarded to have achieved it were grouped in select societies or bands. In 1744, there were 77 such members. There also

1666-730: A separate society. "Thus," he wrote, "without any previous plan, began the Methodist Society in England." He soon formed similar societies in Bristol and Kingswood, and Wesley and his friends made converts wherever they went. From 1739 onward, Wesley and the Methodists were persecuted by clergy and religious magistrates for various reasons. Though Wesley had been ordained an Anglican priest, many other Methodist leaders had not received ordination . And for his own part, Wesley flouted many regulations of

1764-523: A shortage of clergy in the colony largely limited his ministry to European settlers in Savannah. While his ministry has often been judged to have been a failure in comparison to his later success as a leader in the Evangelical Revival , Wesley gathered around him a group of devoted Christians, who met in a number of small group religious societies. At the same time, attendance at Communion increased over

1862-462: A small number in London including founding one adjacent to her London home at Spa Fields , Clerkenwell / Finsbury (which resulted in a case being brought before the ecclesiastical courts by the vicar of the parish church of St James ). She partly funded the independent Surrey Chapel, Southwark of Rowland Hill . She appointed ministers to officiate in them, under the impression that as a peeress she had

1960-609: A society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from

2058-715: A tour of England to raise funds for Indian missions in the colonies. She became a slave owner herself in 1770 when she inherited Whitefield's overseas estates in Georgia and South Carolina , including the Bethesda Home for Boys . On Whitefield's advice, she bought additional slaves for the orphanage's benefit. The Countess promoted the writings and freedom of formerly enslaved Africans who espoused religious views compatible with her own. For instance, she supported publication of memoirs, or slave narratives , by Ukawsaw Gronniosaw and Olaudah Equiano . She also used her influence in

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2156-557: A vigorous protest against the anti-Calvinistic minutes of the Wesleyan Conference of 1770, and against relaxing the terms of subscription of 1772. On the Countess's death in 1791, the 64 chapels and the college were bequeathed to four trustees. Amongst them were Dr Ford, as well as Lady Ann, who was requested to occupy and reside in Lady Huntingdon's house adjoining Spa Fields Chapel, and carry on all needful correspondence (which

2254-553: A year or so. 51°31′33″N 0°06′30″W  /  51.5257°N 0.1082°W  / 51.5257; -0.1082 Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon ( née Shirley ; 24 August 1707 – 17 June 1791) was an English Methodist leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She founded an evangelical branch in England and Sierra Leone , known as

2352-583: Is also remembered for her adversarial relationships with other Methodists. Selina Shirley was born in August 1707 at Astwell Castle , Northamptonshire , second daughter of Washington Shirley, 2nd Earl Ferrers , and Mary Levinge, daughter of Sir Richard Levinge, 1st Baronet . The family moved to Staunton Harold Hall , in Leicestershire when she was 17 and in 1728, she married Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon , who lived at nearby Donington Hall . This

2450-523: Is reflected in his theology of Methodism. Wesley arrived in the colony in February 1736, and lived for a year at the parsonage that stood on the site of today's Oliver Sturges House . He approached the Georgia mission as a High churchman , seeing it as an opportunity to revive " primitive Christianity " in a primitive environment. Although his primary goal was to evangelise the Native American people,

2548-594: Is shown on an 18th-century map, where it rests between Tabernacle Street and Worship Street in the Moorfields area of London. When the Wesleys spotted the building atop Windmill Hill, north of Finsbury Fields , the structure which previously cast brass guns and mortars for the Royal Ordnance had been sitting vacant for 23 years; it had been abandoned because of an explosion on 10 May 1716. The Bristol chapel (built in 1739)

2646-533: The Black Loyalists . Until her death in London, Lady Huntingdon exercised an active, and even autocratic, superintendence over her chapels and chaplains. Alice Membury, appointed schoolmistress in Melbourne, Derbyshire by Lady Elizabeth Hastings, was ejected by the Countess for 'not turning Methodist'. Selina successfully petitioned George III about the gaiety of Archbishop Cornwallis' establishment, and made

2744-687: The Church of England , with which most Methodists were still connected. That year the consistorial court prohibited her chaplains from preaching in the Pantheon in Spa Fields, Clerkenwell, which had been rented by the Countess. To evade the injunction, she was compelled to take shelter under the Toleration Act . This placed her among classified dissenters . Such prominent members as William Romaine and Henry Venn did not want to be classified in that status, and left

2842-904: The Colony of Georgia . Lady Huntingdon Lane at the Givens Estates in Asheville, North Carolina , a retirement community affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Lady Huntingdon Road on the grounds of the United Methodist Assembly, Lake Junaluska, NC, located near the World Methodist Center. Huntingdon : County seat of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania (founded September 20, 1787) are both named for her. By her marriage to Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon, she had seven children. Of those, three died in childhood and

2940-543: The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion . She helped finance and guide early Methodism and was the first principal of Trevecca College, Wales , established in 1768 to train Methodist ministers. With the construction of 64 chapels in England and Wales, plus mission work in colonial America, she is estimated to have spent over £100,000 on these activities, a huge sum when a family of four could live on £31 per year. A regular correspondent of George Whitefield and John Wesley , she

3038-459: The Free Church of England in 1863. One of the earliest changes under the new trustees was to complete plans to relocate the college. In 1792 it was removed to Cheshunt , Hertfordshire where it remained as Cheshunt College , until 1905, when its functions were transferred to Cambridge University. The college was noted for the number of men it sent to foreign missions. In 1795, Spa Fields Chapel

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3136-526: The established Church of England, insisting that the Methodist movement lay well within its tradition. In his early ministry years, Wesley was barred from preaching in many parish churches and the Methodists were persecuted; he later became widely respected, and by the end of his life, was described as "the best-loved man in England". John Wesley was born on 28 June [ O.S. 17 June] 1703 in Epworth , 23 miles (37 km) north-west of Lincoln . He

3234-524: The " Holy Club ", a society formed for the purpose of the study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life. After an unsuccessful two-year ministry in Savannah, Georgia , he returned to London and joined a religious society led by Moravian Christians . On 24 May 1738, he experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion. He subsequently left the Moravians and began his own ministry. A key step in

3332-548: The " itinerancy " and insisted that his preachers submit to its rules. John Wesley had strong links with the North West of England , visiting Manchester on at least fifteen occasions between 1733 and 1790. In 1733 and 1738 he preached at St Ann's Church and Salford Chapel, meeting with his friend John Clayton . In 1781 Wesley opened the chapel on Oldham Street —part of the Manchester and Salford Wesleyan Methodist Mission , now

3430-691: The "United Societies". These were the nucleus of the Methodist Discipline , still the basis of modern Methodism. Wesley laid the foundations of what now constitutes the organisation of the Methodist Church . Over time, a shifting pattern of societies, circuits, quarterly meetings, annual conferences, classes, bands, and select societies took shape. At the local level, there were numerous societies of different sizes which were grouped into circuits to which travelling preachers were appointed for two-year periods. Circuit officials met quarterly under

3528-501: The "bands" into which the Fetter Lane Society was divided and published a collection of hymns for them. He met frequently with this and other religious societies in London but did not preach often in 1738, because most of the parish churches were closed to him. Wesley's Oxford friend, the evangelist George Whitefield , was also excluded from the churches of Bristol upon his return from America. When Wesley reached Bristol,

3626-401: The 11 allotted to him. Out of this grew the Methodist class-meeting system in 1742. To keep the disorderly out of the societies, Wesley established a probationary system. He undertook to visit each society regularly in what became the quarterly visitation, or conference. As the number of societies increased, Wesley could not keep personal contact, so in 1743 he drew up a set of "General Rules" for

3724-570: The Anglican Church to preach and do pastoral work. This expansion of lay preachers was one of the keys to the growth of Methodism. As his societies needed houses to worship in, Wesley began to provide chapels, first in Bristol at the New Room , then in London (first The Foundery and then Wesley's Chapel ) and elsewhere. The Foundery was an early chapel used by Wesley. The location of the Foundery

3822-493: The Anglican clergy from whom she had preferred not to separate, she founded the " Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion ", a Calvinistic movement within the Methodist church. In the earlier part of her life Isaac Watts , Mary, Lady Abney , Philip Doddridge , and Augustus Montague Toplady were among her friends. Lady Anne Erskine (eldest daughter of the 10th Earl of Buchan ), was her closest friend and companion for many years in

3920-665: The Church of England as young adults. As in many families at the time, Wesley's parents gave their children their early education. Each child, including the girls, was taught to read as soon as they turned five years old. They were expected to become proficient in Latin and Greek and to have learned major portions of the New Testament by heart. Susanna Wesley examined each child before the midday meal and before evening prayers. The children were not allowed to eat between meals and were interviewed singly by their mother one evening each week for

4018-479: The Church of England concerning parish boundaries and who had the authority to preach. This was seen as a social threat that disregarded institutions. Clergy attacked them in sermons and in print, and at times mobs attacked them. Wesley and his followers continued to work among the neglected and needy. They were denounced as promulgators of strange doctrines, fomenters of religious disturbances; as blind fanatics, leading people astray, claiming miraculous gifts, attacking

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4116-543: The Church of England, believing that Anglicanism was "with all her blemishes, [...] nearer the Scriptural plans than any other in Europe". In 1745 Wesley wrote that he would make any concession which his conscience permitted, to live in peace with the clergy. He could not give up the doctrine of an inward and present salvation by faith itself; he would not stop preaching, nor dissolve the societies, nor end preaching by lay members. In

4214-845: The Connexion. After the Patriot victory in the American War of Independence , the Crown fulfilled promises to enslaved Africans and African Americans who had fled their American masters to join the British. The British evacuated thousands of former slaves from the colonies, who became known as Black Loyalists . About 3,000 were resettled in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick , where they were to be given land and supplies. The Countess sent missionaries to these colonies, including John Marrant and William Furmage, to attend to

4312-735: The Foundling Hospital 'one of the most fashionable charities of the day.' Selina would later provide the Coram with 'financial support for fees, stamp duties, vellum, seals and others expenses [sic] connected with the presentation of the Foundling Hospital Charter for the King's signature.' The petition was presented to King George II in 1735. In 1739, Lady Huntington joined the first Methodist society in Fetter Lane , London. Sometime after

4410-557: The Greek New Testament . They prayed every waking hour for several minutes and each day for a special virtue. While the church's prescribed attendance was only three times a year, they took Communion every Sunday. They fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays until nones (3:00 pm) as was commonly observed in the ancient church. In 1730, the group began the practice of visiting prisoners in gaol . The men preached, educated, and relieved gaoled debtors whenever possible, and cared for

4508-517: The Spa Fields Chapel was erected in 1777 by the Countess of Huntingdon , a famous Evangelical. The community was established in a number of properties at Guildford Street East , Bagnigge Wells Road and Spa Fields, London. The community was based on the cooperative ideas of Robert Owen and was the idea of George Mudie (b. 1788). On 23 January 1821, a group of printers met at Mitchell's Assembly Rooms , London, to discuss Mudie's proposals for

4606-631: The United Reformed Church), in 1967. In 1842, the Presbyterian Church of Wales opened a college at Trefeca which is approximately a quarter of a mile south of the site of the Countess's college (which is now a farmhouse). The Countess had an interest in the Thirteen Colonies , and issues related to Native Americans and enslaved Africans there. During the mid-1760s, she met and befriended Mohegan preacher Samson Occom , then on

4704-449: The believer; however, he taught that it was by faith a believer was transformed into the likeness of Christ . He held that, in this life, Christians could achieve a state where the love of God "reigned supreme in their hearts", giving them not only outward but inward holiness. Wesley's teachings, collectively known as Wesleyan theology , continue to inform the doctrine of Methodist churches. Throughout his life, Wesley remained within

4802-442: The charge that "rigorous fasting" had hastened his death, Wesley noted that Morgan had left off fasting a year and a half since. In the same letter, which was widely circulated, Wesley referred to the name "Methodist" with which "some of our neighbors are pleased to compliment us". That name was used by an anonymous author in a published pamphlet (1732) describing Wesley and his group, "The Oxford Methodists". This ministry, however,

4900-463: The church, nor did he intend to, but he must and would save as many souls as he could while alive, "without being careful about what may possibly be when I die." Although Wesley rejoiced that the Methodists in America were free, he advised his English followers to remain in the established church. The 20th-century Wesleyan scholar Albert Outler argued in his introduction to the 1964 collection John Wesley that Wesley developed his theology by using

4998-463: The city was booming with new industrial and commercial development. Because of this, there were social uproars with riots and religious troubles. About a fifth of the population were Dissenters , while many of the Anglicans possessed a religious enthusiasm that made them receptive to Wesley's message and approach. Going to the neighbouring village of Kingswood , in February 1739, Whitefield preached in

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5096-498: The clergy of the Church of England, and trying to re-establish Catholicism . Wesley felt that the church failed to call sinners to repentance , that many of the clergy were corrupt, and that people were perishing in their sins. He believed he was commissioned by God to bring about revival in the church, and no opposition, persecution, or obstacles could prevail against the divine urgency and authority of this commission. The prejudices of his High-church training, his strict notions of

5194-468: The course of nearly two years in which he served as Christ Church 's parish priest. Nonetheless, Wesley's High Church ministry was controversial among the colonists and it ended in disappointment after Wesley fell in love with a young woman named Sophia (or Sophy) Hopkey. He hesitated to marry her because he felt that his first priority in Georgia was to be a missionary to the Native Americans, and he

5292-425: The day, including the abolition of slavery and support for women preachers. Although he was not a systematic theologian , Wesley argued against Calvinism and for the notion of Christian perfection , which he cited as the reason that he felt God "raised up" Methodists into existence. His evangelicalism, firmly grounded in sacramental theology, maintained that means of grace played a role in sanctification of

5390-644: The day. On 21 April 1730, she became one of the 21 aristocratic women whose support Thomas Coram would enlist in his efforts to establish the Foundling Hospital . Securing the support of notably pious women such as Lady Huntingdon as signatories to the Ladies' Petition for the Establishment of the Foundling Hospital lent his endeavour not only respectability but cachet; many of the women were lending their signature where their husbands had previously refused, making

5488-969: The death date of a fourth is unknown. Her longest surviving children were: On the Countess of Huntingdon and the Welsh Methodists, see E. Wyn James, 'Blessèd Jubil!’: Slavery, Mission and the Millennial Dawn in the Work of William Williams of Pantycelyn', in Cultures of Radicalism in Britain and Ireland , ed. John Kirk, Michael Brown & Andrew Noble, 'Poetry and Song in the Age of Revolution', vol. 3 (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2013), 95-112. John Wesley Christianity • Protestantism John Wesley ( / ˈ w ɛ s l i / WESS -lee ; 28 June [ O.S. 17 June] 1703 – 2 March 1791)

5586-479: The death of her husband in 1746, she threw in her lot with John Wesley and George Whitefield in the work of the great revival. According to Schlenther, it was Wesley who first attracted her to Methodism, noting a visit to his chapel in Donnington (Wood) in East Shropshire, in which a rare exception to egalitarian principles was made and she was offered a private pew. Whitefield became her personal chaplain, and, with his assistance, following problems put in her path by

5684-508: The development of Wesley's ministry was to travel widely and preach outdoors , embracing Arminian doctrines . Moving across Great Britain and Ireland, he helped form and organise small Christian groups (societies and classes ) that developed intensive and personal accountability, discipleship , and religious instruction. He appointed itinerant , unordained evangelists—both women and men—to care for these groups of people. Under Wesley's direction, Methodists became leaders in many social issues of

5782-424: The engagement, though this is disputed. Subsequently, Grace married John Bennett, a preacher. As the societies multiplied, they adopted the elements of an ecclesiastical system . The divide between Wesley and the Church of England widened. The question of division from the Church of England was urged by some of his preachers and societies, but most strenuously opposed by his brother Charles. Wesley refused to leave

5880-438: The fields, of which he [Whitefield] set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life till very lately so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church. Wesley was unhappy about the idea of field preaching as he believed Anglican liturgy had much to offer in its practice. Earlier in his life he would have thought that such

5978-401: The idea of uninterrupted succession a "fable". Edward Stillingfleet 's Irenicon led him to decide that ordination (and holy orders ) could be valid when performed by a presbyter rather than a bishop. Nevertheless, some believe that Wesley was secretly consecrated a bishop in 1763 by Erasmus of Arcadia , and that Wesley could not openly announce his episcopal consecration without incurring

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6076-402: The latter part of Lady Huntingdon's life. In 1748, the Countess gave Whitefield a scarf as her chaplain, and in that capacity, he preached in one of her London houses, in Park Street, Westminster , to audiences that included Chesterfield , Walpole and Bolingbroke . She held large dinner parties at which Whitefield preached to the gathered dignitaries after they had eaten. Moved to further

6174-429: The law of sin and death." A few weeks later, Wesley preached a sermon on the doctrine of personal salvation by faith, which was followed by another, on God's grace "free in all, and free for all." Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. Burnett writes: "The significance of Wesley's Aldersgate Experience is monumental ... Without it, the names of Wesley and Methodism would likely be nothing more than obscure footnotes in

6272-420: The methods and proprieties of public worship, his views of the apostolic succession and the prerogatives of the priest, even his most cherished convictions, were not allowed to stand in the way. Seeing that he and the few clergy cooperating with him could not do the work that needed to be done, Wesley was led, as early as 1739, to approve local preachers . He evaluated and approved men who were not ordained by

6370-546: The newly founded Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. In 1787, Coke and Asbury persuaded the American Methodists to refer to them as bishops rather than superintendents, overruling Wesley's objections to the change. His brother, Charles, was alarmed by the ordinations and Wesley's evolving view of the matter. He begged Wesley to stop before he had "quite broken down the bridge" and not embitter his [Charles'] last moments on earth, nor "leave an indelible blot on our memory." Wesley replied that he had not separated from

6468-406: The open air to a company of miners. Later he preached in Whitefield's Tabernacle . Wesley hesitated to accept Whitefield's call to copy this bold step. Overcoming his scruples, he preached the first time at Whitefield's invitation a sermon in the open air , at a brickyard, near St Philip's Marsh , on 2 April 1739. Wesley wrote, I could scarce reconcile myself to this strange way of preaching in

6566-429: The pages of church history." Burnett describes this event as Wesley's "Evangelical Conversion". May 24 is commemorated in Methodist churches as Aldersgate Day . Wesley allied himself with the Moravian society in Fetter Lane. In August 1738 Wesley travelled to Germany, specifically to see Herrnhut in Saxony , as he wished to study at the Moravian headquarters there. On his return to England, Wesley drew up rules for

6664-415: The penalty of the Præmunire Act . In 1784, he believed he could no longer wait for the Bishop of London to ordain someone for the American Methodists, who were without the sacraments after the American War of Independence . The Church of England had been disestablished in the United States, where it had been the state church in most of the southern colonies. The Church of England had not yet appointed

6762-449: The phrase, "a brand plucked out of the fire", quoting Zechariah 3:2 , to describe the incident. This childhood deliverance subsequently became part of the Wesley legend, attesting to his special destiny and extraordinary work. Wesley was also influenced by the reported haunting of Epworth Rectory between 1716 and 1717. The Wesley family reported frequently hearing noises and occasionally seeing apparitions which they believed were caused by

6860-469: The purpose of intensive spiritual instruction. In 1714, at age 11, Wesley was sent to the Charterhouse School in London (under the mastership of John King from 1715), where he lived the studious, methodical and, for a while, religious life in which he had been trained at home. Apart from his disciplined upbringing, a rectory fire which occurred on 9 February 1709, when Wesley was five years old, left an indelible impression. Some time after 11:00 pm,

6958-400: The rectory roof caught on fire. Sparks falling on the children's beds and cries of "fire" from the street roused the Wesleys who managed to shepherd all their children out of the house except for John who was left stranded on an upper floor. With stairs aflame and the roof about to collapse, Wesley was lifted out of a window by a parishioner standing on another man's shoulders. Wesley later used

7056-521: The religious revival in a Calvinistic manner compatible with Whitefield's work, she was responsible for founding 64 chapels and contributed to the funding of others, insisting they should all subscribe to the doctrines of the Church of England and use only the Book of Common Prayer . Amongst these were chapels at Brighton (1761), Bath (1765), Worcester (c. 1766), Tunbridge Wells (1769), several in Wales, and

7154-521: The request of James Oglethorpe , who had founded the colony in 1733 on behalf of the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America . Oglethorpe wanted Wesley to be the minister of the newly formed Savannah parish , a new town laid out in accordance with the famous Oglethorpe Plan . It was on the voyage to the colonies that the Wesleys first came into contact with Moravian settlers. Wesley

7252-560: The request of the Rector of Lincoln College and to maintain his status as a junior fellow. During Wesley's absence, his younger brother Charles (1707–88) matriculated at Christ Church; along with two fellow students, he formed a small club for the purpose of study and the pursuit of a devout Christian life. On Wesley's return, he became the leader of the group which increased somewhat in number and greatly in commitment. The group met daily from six until nine for prayer , psalms , and reading of

7350-497: The right to a room at the college and regular salary. While continuing his studies, he taught Greek and philosophy, lectured on the New Testament and moderated daily disputations at the university. However, a call to ministry intruded upon his academic career. In August 1727, after completing his master's degree, Wesley returned to Epworth. His father had requested his assistance in serving the neighbouring cure of Wroot . Ordained

7448-400: The ruling body of the Methodist movement. Two years later, to help preachers work more systematically and societies receive services more regularly, Wesley appointed "helpers" to definitive circuits . Each circuit included at least 30 appointments a month. Believing that the preacher's efficiency was promoted by his being changed from one circuit to another every year or two, Wesley established

7546-504: The same year, in correspondence with a friend, he wrote that he believed it wrong to administer sacraments without having been ordained by a bishop. When, in 1746, Wesley read Lord King 's account of the primitive church, he became convinced that apostolic succession could be transmitted through not only bishops, but also presbyters (priests). He wrote that he was "a scriptural episkopos as much as many men in England." Although he believed in apostolic succession, he also once called

7644-473: The sermon of John Heylyn , whom he was assisting in the service at St Mary le Strand . Earlier that day, he had heard the choir at St Paul's Cathedral singing Psalm 130 , where the Psalmist calls to God "Out of the depths." But it was still a depressed Wesley who attended a service on the evening of 24 May. Wesley recounted his Aldersgate experience in his journal: "In the evening I went very unwillingly to

7742-474: The sick. Given the low ebb of spirituality in Oxford at that time, Wesley's group provoked a negative reaction. They were considered to be religious "enthusiasts", which in the context of the time meant religious fanatics . University wits styled them the "Holy Club", a title of derision. Currents of opposition became a furore following the mental breakdown and death of a group member, William Morgan. In response to

7840-730: The site of Manchester's Methodist Central Hall. Wesley travelled to Ireland for the first time in 1747 and continued through 1789. He rejected the Catholic Church, so he worked to convert the people of Ireland to Methodism. Overall, the numbers grew to over 15,000 by 1795. Following an illness in 1748 Wesley was nursed by a class leader and housekeeper, Grace Murray, at an orphan house in Newcastle . Taken with Grace, he invited her to travel with him to Ireland in 1749 where he believed them to be betrothed though they were never married. It has been suggested that his brother Charles Wesley objected to

7938-415: The societies, Wesley adopted giving tickets to members, with their names written by his own hand. These were renewed every three months. Those deemed unworthy did not receive new tickets and dropped out of the society without disturbance. The tickets were regarded as commendatory letters. When the debt on a chapel became a burden, it was proposed that one in 12 members should collect offerings regularly from

8036-515: The world of the arts to secure publication for Phillis Wheatley 's 1773 volume of poems, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral by Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston, in New England , which was dedicated to the Countess. Because the Countess was ill when Wheatley visited London, the two women never met. Several pieces of their correspondence are extant. Until 1779, Lady Huntingdon and her chaplains were members of

8134-468: Was a category of penitents which consisted of backsliders . As the number of preachers and preaching-houses increased, doctrinal and administrative matters needed to be discussed; so John and Charles Wesley, along with four other clergy and four lay preachers, met for consultation in London in 1744. This was the first Methodist conference; subsequently, the Conference (with Wesley as its president) became

8232-465: Was an English cleric , theologian , and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism . The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Methodist movement that continues to this day. Educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford , Wesley was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford , in 1726 and ordained as an Anglican priest two years later. At Oxford, he led

8330-432: Was arranged by his elder half-sister, Lady Elizabeth Hastings , a well-known religious philanthropist and supporter of women's education. She gave birth to seven children in the first ten years of the marriage, four of whom died young; her husband died in 1746, while she allegedly suffered from poor health. The family were interested in politics, religion and the arts, and commissioned portraits from fashionable artists of

8428-439: Was at first in the hands of trustees. A large debt was contracted, and Wesley's friends urged him to keep it under his own control, so the deed was cancelled and he became sole trustee. Following this precedent, all Methodist chapels were committed in trust to him until by a "deed of declaration", all his interests in them were transferred to a body of preachers called the "Legal Hundred". When disorder arose among some members of

8526-464: Was attempted until 90 years after her death. Obituaries and tributes were written: Horace Walpole described her as the patriarchess of the Methodists , whilst the Roman Catholic, John Henry Newman , commented She devoted herself, her means, her time, her thoughts, to the cause of Christ. She did not spend her money on herself; she did not allow the homage paid to her rank to remain with herself. She

8624-523: Was clearly a pivotal figure in the Evangelical Revival. Huntingdon College , in Montgomery, Alabama , is a coeducation liberal arts college named after the Countess of Huntingdon to honour her contributions to Methodism. Huntingdon Street in Savannah, Georgia , is likewise named after her in recognition of her association with Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley in their apostolic works in

8722-547: Was considered the second aspect of the Quadrilateral. Wesley contended that a part of the theological method would involve experiential faith. In other words, truth would be vivified in the personal experience of Christians (overall, not individually), if it were really truth. And every doctrine must be able to be defended rationally. He did not divorce faith from reason . Tradition, experience and reason, however, were subject always to Scripture, Wesley argued, because only there

8820-545: Was immense). She did this dutifully until her own death in 1804 and burial at Bunhill Fields . The principal trustee was the Reverend Thomas Haweis , who presided at the Convocation of the Connexion, comprising about 120 chapels. As rector of the Church of England parish at Aldwincle until his death in 1820, he ensured the Connexion kept as close to the Church of England as was possible; many chapels became part of

8918-521: Was influenced by their deep faith and spirituality rooted in pietism . At one point in the voyage, a storm came up and broke the mast off the ship. While the English panicked, the Moravians calmly sang hymns and prayed. This experience led Wesley to believe that the Moravians possessed an inner strength which he lacked. The deeply personal religion that the Moravian pietists practised heavily influenced Wesley and

9016-490: Was interested in the practice of clerical celibacy within early Christianity. Following her marriage to William Williamson, Wesley believed Sophia's former zeal for practising the Christian faith declined. In strictly applying the rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer , Wesley denied her Communion after she failed to signify to him in advance her intention of taking it. As a result, legal proceedings against him ensued in which

9114-523: Was invited, and taking his stand in the fields, in halls, cottages, and chapels, when the churches would not receive him. Late in 1739, Wesley broke with the Moravians in London. Wesley had helped them organise the Fetter Lane Society, and those converted by his preaching and that of his brother and Whitefield had become members of their bands. But he believed they fell into heresy by supporting quietism , so he decided to form his own followers into

9212-620: Was not without controversy. The Holy Club ministered and maintained support for Thomas Blair who in 1732 was found guilty of sodomy . Blair was notorious among the townspeople and his fellow prisoners, and Wesley continued to support him. For all of his outward piety , Wesley sought to cultivate his inner holiness or at least his sincerity as evidence of being a true Christian. A list of "General Questions" which he developed in 1730 evolved into an elaborate grid by 1734 in which he recorded his daily activities hour-by-hour, resolutions he had broken or kept, and ranked his hourly "temper of devotion" on

9310-606: Was temporarily in England awaiting permission to depart for Georgia himself. Boehler encouraged Wesley to "preach faith until you have it". Wesley's noted "Aldersgate experience" of 24 May 1738, at a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street , London, in which he heard a reading of Martin Luther 's preface to the Epistle to the Romans , revolutionised the character and method of his ministry. The previous week he had been highly impressed by

9408-470: Was the fifteenth child of Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna Wesley (née Annesley). Samuel Wesley was a graduate of the University of Oxford and a poet who, from 1696, was rector of Epworth. He married Susanna, the twenty-fifth child of Samuel Annesley , a dissenting minister, in 1689. Ultimately, she bore nineteen children, nine of whom lived beyond infancy. She and Samuel Wesley had become members of

9506-474: Was the printer Henry Hetherington . By December 1821, the "Spa Fields Congregational families" had begun to live together. The women worked from 6am to 8pm, and the children were also kept busy "without a moment's intermission". The community advertised various services that they would provide, such as cobbling, painting, haberdashery, etc., and they also announced that they would be opening a school run on approved Fellenbergian lines. The community also set up

9604-817: Was used by the founders of the non-denominational Missionary Society , which became the London Missionary Society , for preachers contributing to this, its founding meeting. After her death, much of her movement merged with the Congregationalist Church , who came to predominate in the London Missionary Society, and more joined the Free Church of England in 1863, although in 2022 there were still 22 Connexion congregations functioning in England, with others in Sierra Leone. In her will, she requested no biography of her should be written and none

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