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Wesley Day
John Wesley was a renowned preacher and the spiritual leader of the ‘Methodist revival’. He was born at Epworth in Lincolnshire on 17 June 1703 (‘old style’ calendar - or 28 June in the ‘new style’ calendar after 1752).
May 24th marks the occasion of John’s “evangelical conversion”. He wrote in his diary of that day: In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. Many would say an even more significant “conversion” came not too long afterwards when John decided not to preach inside the parish church but outdoors. The whole world became his parish. See also John Wesley's Hates! |
24th
May 2003 marked the 300th
anniversary of the birth of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist
Church. Wesley Day was a celebration of the lives of John and
Charles Wesley, two brothers whose lives changed the face of Christian
life and worship in England and beyond.
The hymns of Charles Wesley
(1707-1788) enabled Methodists to sing their faith. He wrote over 5,500
hymns including And Can It Be That I Should Gain?,
O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing, and
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.