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Copyright 2003 People of G-d Inc. All Rights Reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without Written Permission and Consent of People of G-d Inc.
HOW METHODISM BEGAN
Charles Wesley, the brother of John Wesley, was a student at Oxford University. Charles started a religious group, and Charles' friends joined it. It was called "the holy club" or "methodists" by the other Oxford students. It was Charles Wesley that actually began the group, not John Wesley who was not one of the original members. Since they were already being called "methodists"[1], that is the name they chose to call their group. The Methodists.
After the group got going, John Wesley, who had returned to Oxford, came on board. John had been helping his father in the parish before he joined the group. He certainly heard of the success of Charles' group. Upon joining, ince he was the only minister (Charles began it but was not himself ordained; John, his brother, had been ordained in the Anglican Church), so John brought more credibility to the group. He basically took over the group Charles had founded. Charles bowed out.
One of the members was George Whitefield. George Whitefield would become a very famous and respected preacher in America in his own lifetime. When both the Wesleys left the "methodists" group for pastorates in Georgia, Whitefield was appointed the teacher.
Here are some events in John Wesleys' life.
JOHN WESLEY
When John Wesley was five years old, the parsonage where he was staying somehow caught fire. He almost perished in the flames, but escaped. The parsonage did not fare as well; it was a total loss and burned to the ground.
Years later, he attended Oxford University. He did well academically. He became an ordained minister in the Anglican Church. John Wesley remained an Anglican minister all of his life. He originally scheduled all the "methodist" group meetings to not conflict with Anglican Church services and said so. He taught that the "methodist" meetings were to assist persons to participate more in the Anglican Church services "more devotionally".
John Wesley was originally firmly against meetings outside any Church building. He once said that persons could not be Saved outside a Church building.
The Moravian Christians had a great influence on his life. In late 1735 and into early 1736, a second group of Moravian Christians were sailing to the New World to evangelize the indians of Georgia. John Wesley was also on board that ship. Wesley had been invited by Governor James Oglethorpe to pastor an Anglican Church in Georgia.
Wesley was appointed Chaplain of the ship. All went well for the first few days of the voyage. Wesley learned to speak enough German to communicate with the Moravians.
Suddenly, the weather changed violently for the worse. The storm was such that they thought they were all going to lose their lives. The winds were so great that the mainmast split in two and there was panic on board, including John Wesley, their Chaplain. But there was no pamic among the Moravians. They sang Christian hymns during the entire ordeal.
Wesley then bitterly realized that he was more concerned for his own life than the lives of those on board. After the storm subsided, the Moravians told Wesley that the reason they were so calm was that their souls were in the Hand of Jesus and knew their Eternal home with Him. So why should they worry; they did not fear death.
At this point, John Wesley doubted his own faith.
Upon arrival at Savannah, Georgia, Wesley, being even more curious, enquired of the Moravians about their ministry to the indians. He asked a certain Moravian, Gottlieb Spangenberg about these things. Spangenberg saw beyond his questions, and the state Wesley was in and asked Wesley directly, notwithstanding Wesley was an Anglican minister, whether he was ever even Saved.
In his Journal, John Wesley recorded that very conversation with Gottlieb Spangenberg. Here in Wesleys' own words:
FROM WESLEYS' JOURNAL
In the postscript, Wesley added this about his saying "I do.": "But I fear they were vain words."[2]
Charles had joined his brother John to ba a pastor in Georgia, also at the invitation of Governor James Oglethorpe. Charles, however, became discouraged and returned to England. John was not doing very well either, but refused to quit. He expected his parishioners to behave as they did in "the holy club" back at Oxford; wanting more than just attendance at Church services on Sunday. There was a bit of tension between himself and his congregation. Eventually, he did leave Georgia under unfavorable circumstances.
A young girl he was planning on marrying, married another instead. When she appeared in Church to take Communion, he refused Communion to her, and said she was "frivolous". To refer to a lady as "frivolous" in colonial days was no small matter. This caused a very great stir in a close-knit community. She hired an attorney and sued John Wesley for defamation.
Wesley was extremely disenchanted, and packed his bags and left Georgia. None of his congregation, apparently, was very sad to see him go.
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Copyright 2003 People of G-d Inc. All Rights Reserved. Not for reproduction or redistribution without Written Permission and Consent of People of G-d Inc.