 Wesley,
John (1703-1791)
Founder of the Methodist Church. When the pulpits of the Church of
England were closed to him and his followers, he took the gospel to the
people. For 50 years he rode about the country on horseback, preaching
daily, largely in the open air. His sermons became the doctrinal
standard of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He was born in Epworth,
Lincolnshire, where his father was the rector, and went to Oxford
University together with his brother Charles, where their circle was
nicknamed Methodists because of their religious observances. He was
ordained in the Church of England 1728 and returned to his Oxford
college 1729 as a tutor. In 1735 he went to Georgia, USA, as a
missionary. On his return he experienced `a strange warming of the
heart´ 1738, and from being rigidly High Church developed into an
ardent Evangelical. His Journal gives an intimate picture of the man and
his work.
Extracts from his journal can be found listed against the various
places he visited in Somerset on the "Places
Page" of this web site.
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