John Wesley

Excerpt from Chapter 20 of Christ’s Faithful Servants, copyright 2023

. . . “The World Is My Parish.” Meanwhile, another former member of the Oxford Methodists was reaching out to the working classes. George Whitefield became an Anglican priest in 1738. In February, 1739, he preached in the open fields to coal miners near Bristol. His preaching was clear and powerful, and drew large crowds. He preached about subjects long neglected by the Anglican Church, such as God’s love, Christ’s death for sinners, and eternal salvation.[1]

In April, 1739, Whitefield persuaded John to join him as an open air preacher. John’s preaching was less emotional, but no less effective. In his Journal, he describes meetings in which people were struck with physical pain, limpness, seizures, convulsions, and uncontrollable weeping, before ultimately being converted. Unlike Whitefield, John organized his converts into Methodist societies to help them grow in their new faith. He trained lay preachers to minister to the people in his absence and to help spread the gospel all over Great Britain. He also traveled between 4,000 and 5,000 miles a year, mostly on foot or horseback, preaching about fifteen sermons a week wherever he found an audience—even in prisons, on ships at sea, or at inns along his way.

Rules of the Church of England forbid him to preach in a parish without first obtaining permission from the parish priest, but when such consent was refused John preached anyway. To those who objected, he responded: “The world is my parish.” John’s brother, Charles, contributed thousands of hymns,[2] and John translated many German hymns into English. Music and singing became a central part of Methodist worship, and were no small part of its appeal. . . .

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[1]. Whitefield also made seven trips to America, where he contributed to the “Great Awakening,” the dramatic revival and rapid spread of Protestant Christianity throughout the 13 English colonies between about 1720 and 1750. During this time, evangelism and revival meetings became commonplace, and church membership exploded. The primary leaders of this revival were Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). A “Second Great Awakening,” also called the “Great Western Revival,” occurred in the early 19th century. It was centered in the frontier areas of Kentucky and Tennessee. The major leaders of this 2nd revival were David Caldwell (1725-1824), James McGready (ca. 1758-1817), and Barton W. Stone (1772-1844).

[2]. The exact number of hymns written by Charles Wesley is somewhat in dispute. Estimates range from 6,500 to more than 7,000.