The Methodists

John Wesley was a Church of England parson and a great preacher. Crowds flocked to hear him as he travelled round the country. Between 1738 and 1791, it is reckoned that he travelled 224,000 miles on horseback, and preached 40,000 sermons. The men and women who followed his lead were called 'Methodists'.

Wesley said that he had been 'converted' suddenly, one day in May 1738. In a flash, he had seen that God loved him, and that he was 'saved'. He spent the rest of his life - another 53 years - touring England and Wales, begging people to let God 'save' them too.

In a lot of places, Wesley was not allowed to preach in the church. In a good many places, there was no church to preach in. So he did a great deal of his preaching in the open air. This suited him well - he could reach a bigger audience that way. Men and women came to his meetings in thousands. And they did not just listen in silence - they sang, cried out, wept, danced, and jumped for joy.

Wesley and other Methodist preachers won a huge following, mainly among working people, both in the towns and on the land. By 1791, there were over a million Methodists. In one important sense, though, Wesley failed. He wanted Methodists to remain in the Church of England. But soon after his death, the Methodists and the Church of England split apart for good.

Walter Robson: Britain 1750 – 1900; Oxford University Press, 1993/2002, page 92 f.