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Methodism: John Wesley
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Methodism is a name designating several Protestant groups. Methodism has its roots in the work of John and Charles Wesley, sons of an Anglican rector and his wife, Susannah. A friend and Oxford classmate of the Wesleys, George Whitefield, was ... instrumental in forming the Holy Club (c. 1725), which stressed "inward religion, the religion of the heart." These awakenings coupled with the club's insistence on exacting discipline in scholastic as well as spiritual matters earned its members the jeering title of "Methodists" by 1729.
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Methodism is a Christian denomination which was started by John Wesley (1703-1791) and George Whitefield (1714-1770) in England in the early 1700s. The name comes from the fact that Wesley sought to understand religion "by rule and method" and follow biblical teachings as interpreted by tradition and reason.
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Methodism, as it is currently known, began as a movement in the Anglican Church in 18th Century England. The movement was started by John Wesley, a renowned Anglican theologian and Oxford professor. Taking a lead from Luther's reformation in Germany, with its emphasis on the "priesthood of all believers," Wesley preached a message emphasizing personal sanctification and holiness against the backdrop of the cool, formal rites of the Church of England. His followers were nicknamed "Methodists" after their methodical rituals of prayer, worship, and small group meetings where they continually challenged one another in their journeys of faith.
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As Methodism grew across England, Scotland, and Ireland, John Wesley engaged laypeople to meet with the societies, preach in their meetings, provide pastoral care, and administer the General Rules. Since the lay preachers were not ordained, they were not permitted to administer the Sacraments. Lay leadership facilitated the movement's growth. In June 1744 the Wesleys met in London with four Anglican clergy sympathetic to the Methodist movement and four lay preachers, a gathering that evolved into an annual conference of the movement's leaders. At these important annual meetings the preachers discussed theological issues, deliberated business, mapped strategy, and received preaching assignments for the ensuing year. During John Wesley's lifetime the annual conference advised him but did not override his authority in governing the movement.
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Methodism emerged from Pietism, Moravianism and the Puritan tradition. The eighteenth century Evangelical Revival is sometimes called the Methodist Revival and the term emerges out of a contemptuous term used to describe the ‘Holy Club’ surrounding Wesley in Oxford. However, Methodism began to develop in Wales before the Wesley conversion through the figures of Howel Harris and Daniel Rowland. The result was a network of religious organisations led by ‘an exhorter’ (“Methodism”).
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Almost immediately after the Christmas Conference, Methodism entered a period of rapid expansion. The system of Circuit Riders, which Wesley had experimented with in England, met the need for clergymen in outlying regions and allowed relatively uneducated men to enter the ministry. Wherever the circuit rider could gather a crowd, he would stop, preach a sermon, and organize a Methodist class to continue the work until he was able to return. Religious zeal rather than material reward motivated these circuit riders because remuneration was sparse. Methodist theology was ... easy for the average person to understand, and the Methodist emphasis on discipline was invaluable to communities that were far from the ordinary restraints of civilization. The Methodist combination of simplicity, organization, and lay participation not only made it the largest Protestant denomination but also decisively influenced the other frontier churches.
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John Wesley