John Wesley (1703-1791)
Evangelist, author, composer
Educated at Oxford, John Wesley was ordained in the Anglican Church and elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 1726. After a two-year hiatus assisting in his father’s parish, he returned to Lincoln, serving until 1735, when he left England for an unsatisfactory two-year post in Savannah, Georgia. There Wesley became acquainted with the Moravian sect, and fell in with them anew on his return to London. On May 24, 1738, Wesley faced an intense, personal religious experience that reformed his faith and set his course for the next half century. He set out on a program of evangelization, traveling endlessly in Britain, appointing locals to carry on his work, and founding houses of worship. His “Methodism,” as it became known, was the subject of sharp persecution by those who did not share Wesley’s view that it fell squarely within the Anglican tradition. Along with his brother Charles, and their friend George Whitefield, Wesley built what became an international denomination; he himself traveled an estimated 250,000 miles on horseback, gave over 40,000 sermons, and wrote books and hymns almost without number. His writings generated significant wealth for Wesley, nearly all of which he gave away. His social witness was profound: Methodism became a leading force in prison reform and the abolition of slavery in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
Related sites:
No comments:
Post a Comment
We enjoy hearing from visitors! Please leave your questions, thoughts, wish lists, or whatever else is on your mind.