John
Wesley,
the son of the rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire, was born in 1703.
After being educated at Christ Church College, Oxford,
Wesley was ordained in 1725. After finishing his studies Wesley remained
Oxford where he taught Greek.
At Oxford University John became a member
of a small group which had gathered round his brother Charles
Wesley. The group of Christians, which included George
Whitefield and James Hervey, became known as the Holy Club
or the Oxford Methodists.
In 1735 John Wesley and his brother Charles became missionaries in
America. After three years with the English settlers in Georgia, Wesley
returned to England and joined George Whitefield
in Bristol. Wesley's passionate sermons
upset the local clergy and he found their pulpits closed to him. To
overcome this problem in 1739 Wesley built a Methodist Chapel in Bristol.
Wesley and Whitefield also gave sermons in the open-air.
John Wesley continued to travel the country where he mainly visited
poor neighbourhoods, and most of the people who attended his meetings
were industrial workers or agricultural labourers. Wesley's main message
was of God's love. He told the people who attended his meetings that
if they loved God in return, they would "be saved from sin and
made holy". Wesley also had a lot to say about personal morality.
In his sermons he encouraged people to work hard and to save for the
future. Wesley also warned against the dangers of gambling and drinking.
Although there were Methodist ministers,
John Wesley encouraged people who had full-time jobs to become lay
preachers. This gave working people valuable experience of speaking
in public. Later, some of these went on to become leaders of trade
unions and reform groups such as the Chartists.
Wesley found time to write a large number of books during his life-time.
This included collections of psalms, hymns and sermons. He also founded
and edited the Methodist Magazine.
Wesley received over £30,000 in royalties from his writings.
This was used for charitable work including the foundation of Kingswood
School in Bristol. Wesley and
his followers became known as Methodists.
By the time John Wesley
died in 1791, the Methodist movement had over 76,000 members.
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