John WESLEY
What Do METHODISTS, ANGLICANS (Church of England) and EPISCOPALIANS in GEORGIA Have in Common? READ ON!:
John Wesley, an ordained priest of the Church of England, traveled from London to Savannah, Georgia in October, 1735. Colonel James Oglethorpe, an adventurer and philanthropist who organized a group to help settle his new colony in Georgia, invited John and his brother, Charles, to accompany him back to America. Wesley's sponsorship support for the mission trip came from the Society for the Propogation of the Gospel, which encouraged him to study the doctrines and homilies (sermons) of the Church of England and to carefully examine all candidates for baptism and the Lord's Supper. Wesley also distributed books, started schools, visited outstations and he attempted to reach the Indians with the Gospel.
The 'mother church' of our Diocese of Georgia, served by Father John Wesley is well known to visitors to Historic Savannah...Christ Church. Wesley also founded Christ Church at Fort Frederica on St. Simon's Island, GA. "He served as secretary for Indian Affairs and Chaplain to General James Oglethorpe. During the years 1736-1766, services were conducted by John Wesley, George Whitfield and other clergy appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The Wesleys and other ministers were ordained clergymen of the Church of England by whom the Episcopal Church in United States was planted and nurtured in this country."--from A Brief History of Christ Church Federica.
After two frustrating years, Wesley returned to England, where he continued to persue a deeper experience of faith. Wesley's search for true understanding of salvation brought him to a life-changing moment while attending a small religious society meeting at Aldersgate Street, and "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 the law of sin and death."--John Wesley
Years before Wesley's historic trip to Georgia, he and his brother had been part of a group that met regularly at Oxford. Their aim was to form "a society of very young and very earnest High Churchmen, with evangelistic views and a true desire to lead the lives of exemplary Christians."
According to Rev. Howard Snyder, author of The Radical Wesley: "During John Wesley's teaching days at Oxford Univeristy, the "Holy Club" observed a strict dicsipline which John himself devised, but which followed closely the pattern of other similar societies. Small wonder that Wesley and his companions were mockingly called "Methodists,""Sacramentarians," "Enthusisasts," "Bible Moths," the "Reforming Club" and "Supererogation Men." The name "Holy Club" was apparently the most popular tag among Oxford students, but the term "Methodist" was the one that stuck permanently to the Wesleys. So began 'the people called Methodists' though the Methodist Revival was still a decade away.'
"Within a few years of 1738, the Methodist system of societies, classes and bands, traveling preachers, simple preaching houses, and quarterly love feasts (a form of Communion) had been set up and was functioning well under Wesley's watchful eye."
"Wesley insited that he was appointing preachers, not pastors, and that his appointment was not ordination to the priesthood. Yet he saw his action as consistent with Anglican church order and with early church practice. Underlying his reasoning was...his perception of the Methodist societies as an evangelical order within the Church of England, not as churches themselves." HOWEVER...
"After thirty years, in 1768, Methodism had 40 circuits and 27,341 members. Ten years later the numbers had grown to 60 circuits and 40,089 members; in another decade, 99 circuits and 66,375 members. By 1798, seven years after Wesley's death, the totals had jumped to 149 circuits with 101,712 members. Byt the turn of the century about one in every thirty adult Englishmen were Methodists..."
Like to read more about John Wesley? Try The Radical Wesley and Patterns for Church Renewal by Howard A. Snyder. Intervarsity Press.
