History of Methodism

Methodism is a Protestant Christian tradition that originated as a revival movement within the Anglican (Church of England) denomination in the early 18th Century. A man named John Wesley and his brother, Charles Wesley, started what they called the “Holy Club” at the University of Oxford, which met weekly. Through this club, they worked to live holy lives. Some of their peers, who found the club’s pursuits to be exacting to a fault, nicknamed the members “methodists” due to the organization’s structural nature. Far from offended, the group embraced this name, and the Methodist denomination was born.

One of the hallmarks of early Methodism was that it reached out to and connected with people who had been neglected by the established Church of England – primarily the factory workers of the Industrial Revolution and others in lower levels of society. The Wesleys, along with George Whitefield, formed itinerant ministries through which they would meet the masses in open-air settings with their messages. This led many to the new, or ‘Wesleyan’ way. Though initially Methodism merely sought reform within the Church of England, following the death of John Wesley, it ultimately parted ways with the Anglican faith.

Methodism made its way throughout England and the British territories, and over the ocean to the American colonies. It swept across America in the late 1700s and early 1800s under the leadership of Francis Asbury. Since then, Methodism has evolved into a worldwide movement. Indeed, you will find Methodist churches on all populated continents. As John Wesley noted in his journal dated June 11, 1739, “I look on all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.”