John Wesley was a Methodist traveling preacher, organizer of the Methodist Conference, and founder of the Methodist Church.
After his conversion in 1738 he dedicated himself to promoting “vital” and “practical” religion and to preserving and increasing the life of God in men’s souls. Along with his younger brother Charles Wesley, George Whitefield, and other associates, he created English Methodism and enacted many religious reforms. Wesleyan College in Macon is named in his honor.
Wesley was born on June 17, 1703, in Epworth Rectory, Lincolnshire, England, to Susanna and Samuel Wesley. He received his early education from his mother and later attended Charterhouse School and Christ Church College, Oxford. He received an A.B. degree in 1724, was elected a Fellow of Lincoln College in 1726, and received an M.A. degree in 1727. Ordained deacon in 1725 and priest in 1728, he became leader of the Holy Club, whose members were called Methodists, at Oxford in 1729. Wesley became a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and, along with Charles, sailed for Georgia in 1735. Charles and John traveled to Georgia with James Oglethorpe on his second voyage to the colony. In Georgia, John served as the rector of Christ Church in Savannah. Wesley’s ministry in America was intended not only for English settlers but also for friendly native tribes in Georgia—with the hope, he once said, “of saving my own soul.”
Difficulties arising from Wesley’s strict discipline with his congregation, as well as an unsuccessful love affair, led to his return to England in 1738. His experience in the colony became difficult after his relationship with Sophia Hopkey, whom he met soon after arriving in Georgia, turned sour. Hopkey was the niece of Thomas Causton, the chief magistrate known for his corrupt dealings with the Moravian settlers in colonial Georgia. Hopkey married another man after Wesley stopped courting her on the advice of some Moravian elders. Further complicating matters, Wesley refused to give her the sacrament of Holy Communion in the church, thereby marring her reputation in the colony. A warrant was issued against Wesley for defaming Hopkey in public without due cause. He was brought before a bailiff, but believing the matter to be ecclesiastical, Wesley did not acknowledge the court’s power. As a result he lost his good standing with the people of Savannah, which precipitated his return to England.
In England, Wesley’s association with Peter Böhler, a Moravian missionary, led to his conversion to the Moravian Church on May 24, 1738, when he felt his “heart strangely warmed.” Wesley claimed that, prior to his association with Böhler, he had tried to convert others while he himself was not yet converted.This conversion took place at a religious society meeting on Aldersgate Street in London, England, as one of the members read Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans, which refers to the assurance of salvation through trust in Jesus Christ. Wesley’s evangelical work sprang from this experience of Methodism, and in 1739 he followed Whitefield’s example in field preaching. As part of the formation of religious societies, he established a system of lay preachers, with whom he began holding annual conferences in 1744. By 1751 the system covered the British Isles, and the conference took institutional form in 1784, when Wesley signed the Deed of Declaration.
Methodism arrived in America in the 1760s, and in 1784 Wesley ordained Thomas co*ke superintendent of America. He instructed co*ke to travel to America and ordain Francis Asbury superintendent as well. Although Wesley and his brother Charles wanted the Methodist movement to remain within the Church of England, the two eventually separated into distinct denominations.
At Wesley’s death, on March 2, 1791, Methodism had grown to 294 preachers and 71,668 members in Great Britain, 19 missionaries and 5,300 members on mission stations, and 198 preachers and 43,265 members in America. He died at his home in London and is buried in the City Road Chapel cemetery.
John Wesley, a native of England, served as Anglican rector to the Georgia colony
Georgia colony
The Province of Georgia (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution. The original land grant of the Province of Georgia included a narrow strip of land that extended west to the Pacific Ocean.
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between 1735 and 1737. During this time, Wesley's interactions with Moravian settlers influenced his theological perspective, which eventually led to the formal establishment of the Methodist Church in England in 1784.
Difficulties arising from Wesley's strict discipline with his congregation, as well as an unsuccessful love affair, led to his return to England in 1738. His experience in the colony became difficult after his relationship with Sophia Hopkey, whom he met soon after arriving in Georgia, turned sour.
17 June] 1703 – 2 March 1791) 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.
He landed on co*ckspur Island in February of 1736. Writing on the Monument: Top: "John Wesley Landed in America on this island February 6, 1736" Middle Column: "From the Journal of John Wesley "Fri. 6,-About eight in the morning I first set my foot on American ground. It was a small uninhabited island,…
Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can.
While closely allied to the Moravians, Wesley began taking the advice of fellow Oxford graduate George Whitfield and preaching in the open air when banned from Anglican churches for his unorthodox evangelical methods.
As a student at Oxford, he lived on 28 pounds a year. As his earnings increased to 30 and eventually to 120 pounds annually, he continued to live on the same 28 pounds. He told people that if at his death he had more than 10 pounds in his possession, they could call him a robber.
Neither could Wesley, as Tory and royalist, be called a socialist. Yet there is sufficient in his life's work to discern the stirrings of the "Christian socialism" subsequently espoused by so many who were inspired and challenged by him.
The official United Methodist doctrine is that Jesus was the Son of God, the child of the virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, truly God and truly Man, who for us and for our salvation came down from heaven. He is eternal Savior and Mediator, who intercedes for us and by him all persons will be judged.
The Wesleys (John and Charles) utilized a number of translations, including: the Geneva Bible, Luther's German Bible, and others. The Wesleys studied the Greek and Hebrew texts, they considered the primary languages more authoritative than the KJV.
Wesley remained actively opposed to slavery until his death. In August 1787, he wrote to the Abolition Committee to express his support, and he pledged to reprint Thoughts Upon Slavery in "a new large edition". For some reason this fifth edition did not appear until 1792, a year after Wesley's death.
Comprised of more than 400 churches, more than 1,000 clergy members, and approximately 220,000 lay members, The North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church seeks to fulfill the mission of our denomination: “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
John Wesley's primary focus was upon the doctrine of salvation and the relationship between grace, faith, and holiness of heart and life. Wesley identified three doctrines in “A Short History of Methodism” (1765) that summed up the core of Methodist and Wesleyan-Holiness teaching.
There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
On May 24, 1738 , John Wesley had a major conversion experience at Aldersgate in London which stimulated a renewed interest in holy living, and his trust in personal salvation – “By grace are you saved through faith”.
In 1739 George Whitefield, who later became an important preacher of the Great Awakening in Great Britain and North America, persuaded Wesley to go to the unchurched masses. Wesley gathered converts into societies for continuing fellowship and spiritual growth, and he was asked by a London group to become their leader.
John's father Samuel was a priest during a turbulent time in the Anglican Church and faced enemies inside and outside of the church. In 1705, when John was just two years old, Samuel spent time in prison for debt, and in 1709, the family's parsonage burned down.
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