Evangelist
🇬🇧John Wesley
1703–1791 · British · Evangelist, Theologian & Founder of Methodism
“The world is my parish.”
Biography
John Wesley was born on June 28, 1703, in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, the fifteenth child of Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley and Susanna Wesley. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he was ordained as an Anglican priest and later formed the 'Holy Club' at Oxford with his brother Charles and George Whitefield, earning the nickname 'Methodists' for their methodical devotion. A failed missionary trip to Georgia (1735–37) left him spiritually empty. His transformative conversion experience came on May 24, 1738, at a meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, where he felt his heart 'strangely warmed' while listening to Luther's preface to Romans. Barred from most Anglican pulpits, he embraced outdoor preaching after Whitefield's example and began preaching in fields, market squares, and mines across Britain. Over fifty years he traveled an estimated 250,000 miles—mostly on horseback—and preached more than 40,000 sermons. He organized converts into 'classes' and 'societies,' creating a disciplined pastoral structure that became the Methodist Church. He championed education, founded schools for miners' children, opened a free medical dispensary, and campaigned against slavery. He died on March 2, 1791, in London, having transformed British and American Christianity through the Methodist movement.
Key Works
Wesley's collected Works (eventually 32 volumes) include sermons, journals, letters, and treatises that remain foundational to Methodist theology. His 'Standard Sermons' (44 sermons) and 'Notes upon the New Testament' define orthodox Methodist doctrine. He compiled a Christian library of 50 volumes to educate lay preachers and published the influential 'Primitive Physick' as a medical guide for the poor. He organized the Methodist conference system, which met annually from 1744 and effectively structured the global Methodist connection. The 'Covenant Service' he devised remains used in Methodist worship. He also produced abridged editions of classic devotional works, making Puritan spirituality accessible to ordinary people.
Legacy
John Wesley's legacy is the Methodist movement, which today encompasses over 80 million adherents worldwide across dozens of denominations including the United Methodist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Church of the Nazarene, and Salvation Army. His theology of prevenient grace, entire sanctification, and social holiness has shaped global Christianity profoundly. His model of discipleship—organizing believers into small accountability groups—anticipated the modern small group movement. His social activism against slavery and poverty has inspired generations of Christian social reformers. Wesley is arguably one of the two or three most influential figures in the history of Protestant Christianity.