The History of Methodism
Today, there are about 75 million people worldwide who call themselves 'Methodist'. Yet this Christian denomination only began in the mid-eighteenth century in Britain, due in large part to the strong leadership, extensive travelling and organisational abilities of John Wesley, celebrated today as the most prominent 'Founder of Methodism'. (see http://goo.gl/1XGR3F )
John & Charles Wesley were born to an Anglican family at the start of the 18th century, studying at Oxford to follow their father into ministry within the Anglican church. In 1729, they formed the ‘Holy Club’ there and, with a reputation for a methodical approach to the study of religion they were nicknamed ‘Methodists’. In 1735 they sailed to Georgia, USA to take up Anglican ministries with John’s rigorous, often outdoor, preaching style. (see http://goo.gl/62TyK2 )
The USA trip was a failure and the brothers returned to England downhearted having spent over a decade of spiritual searching with attendant failures along the way.
However, during their travels they took great inspiration from a group of Moravian Christians (origins: Eastern Europe) and subsequently John Wesley had a religious ‘breakthrough’ moment in Halifax. This inspired and affected him so greatly that it became the beginnings of the Wesleyan Methodist movement.
( see http://goo.gl/fK19oJ )
During his lifetime John remained an Anglican but his experience had kindled a reforming spirit and he worked with the original ‘Holy Club’ members to revive a new movement within the church made up of groups, becoming ‘societies’ even, all over the country which were sympathetic to his ideas. These were religious ‘pioneers’ and often faced ridicule and even personal threats for their beliefs and teachings seen to be outside the ‘establishment’
John Wesley died an Anglican in 1791, leaving his legacy, a new Wesleyan Methodist movement. However, this was an uncomfortable alliance between Anglicans, Wesleyan Methodists and ‘others’ that had taken root. These schisms consisted internally of groups, some of which wanted to remain within the Anglican church and some that felt they should become separated. #Genealogy
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