From portrait of John Wesley by George Romney. Via Wikipedia.
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
DEC. 20, 2024 | December 18 (Wednesday) was the birthdate of one of the more famous ministers of the Protestant church, John Wesley. He was born in England in 1707. He is known as the founder of the worldwide Methodist church, although he remained a staunch Episcopalian his entire life.
We here in Georgia know that John and his brother, Charles, arrived as Anglican ministers in Savannah in 1735, two years after the colony of Georgia was founded. They stayed for two years before returning to England.
While in Georgia, Wesley had been impressed with the way the Moravian settlers from Germany worshipped. He believed they had inner strength with piety, which he lacked. He was encouraged by the Moravians to “preach faith until you have it.”
He eventually preached on personal salvation by faith and grace, a pivotal moment for him. He took to preaching widely, often in fields, to reach people who did not attend church.
Soon Wesley was attracting followers for his preaching. And finding so few ministers from the Anglican tradition and with so much work to be done, he began to approve local, lay and untutored people to be preachers and for pastoral work. The expansion of lay ministers was one of the reasons what became known as Methodism began to grow.
Wesley was an innovator in another way. Women were encouraged to lead classes. And by 1761, he informally allowed one of his female converts to preach. He formally allowed women to preach in 1771. Interestingly, the recent split in the worldwide Methodist church, 75 million strong in 130 countries, has been much about female ministers. Today, over 250 years later, part of the United Methodist Church is now an off-shoot known as the Global Methodist Church. Several congregations in Gwinnett belong to that new division in Methodism.
And don’t forget another element of Wesley’s movement. Wesleyan teachings serve as a wider basis for the Holiness movement, as well as denominations such as the Free Methodist Church, the Church of the Nazarene and the Salvation Army. Even the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement have basis in Wesley’s teachings, with all these churches seeking the Kingdom of God.
Wesley continued his movement his whole life, never marrying. He died poor in 1791, with one chronicler saying “he left behind a good library of books, a well-worn clergyman’s gown and the Methodist Church.” At his death, there were 135,000 followers and 541 itinerant preachers citing his faith.
John is also known as one of the most prolific composers of Christian hymns, having at least 4,500 known as his. And Charles was also a composer, with 55 hymns in The Methodist Hymnal. And they are some of the church’s most revered songs.
Among them:
- “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.”
- “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
- “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.”
- “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”
- “Thou Long Expected Jesus.”
- “Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.”
- “Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee.”
- “Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending.”
- “Come Holy Spirit, Our Hearts Inspire.”
Give thanks to John Wesley this Christmas as you sing some of his well-known hymns.
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