Saints of the Week: John and Charles Wesley
3/5/2025
John and Charles Wesley
John and Charles were the 15th and 18th children of Rev. Samuel Wesley, Rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire and his wife, Susannah. Of 19 Wesley siblings, only ten lived to maturity. Their mother schooled them in six-hour sessions daily, beginning and ending by singing psalms. Their theological writings and sermons are widely esteemed, it is through their hymns—especially those of Charles, who wrote over 6,000 of them—that their religious experience and Christian faith still touch the hearts of so many. Both Wesleys were educated at Christ Church Oxford. John was elected a fellow of Lincoln College, where the two organized a group of friends into a “Holy Club,” strictly adhering to the worship and discipline of the Prayer Book--thus the name “Methodists.” John was ordained in 1728 and Charles in 1735. Both were profoundly attached to the doctrine and worship of the Church of England, although they were critical of the church’s neglect of the poor. Their affection for the Church of England endured despite opposition to their cause and methods. The brothers sailed to Georgia in 1735, John as a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and Charles as the personal secretary to Governor James Oglethorpe. The mission was a disaster. Returning to England dejected and disappointed, shortly thereafter they both experienced epiphanies. On Pentecost 1738, Charles “felt the Spirit of God striving with his spirit ‘till by degrees He chased away the darkness of unbelief.” Meeting just days later with a group of Moravians, during a reading of Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, John recalled, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt…trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins…and saved me from the law of sin and death.” So, the Revival was born. The Wesley’s strongly emphasized preaching, and appointed lay people--male and female--preachers and evangelists to work with clergy in proclaiming the gospel. The formal separation of the Methodists from the Church of England, however, occurred only after the deaths of the two in London—Charles in 1788, and John in 1791. Over time there would Anglicans and Methodists would enjoy a more ecumenical relationship and increased appreciation for their common heritage.
