Wesley, John

Wesley, John (1703–91), was the centre of a group of devout Christians in Oxford (including his brother Charles, above, and Whitefield); they practised severe self-discipline and self-examination, and were nicknamed the ‘Holy Club’ or ‘Methodists’. He became a member of the Moravian society at Fetter Lane. He visited the Moravian colony at Herrnhut in 1738, and appointed his first lay preacher in the same year. He opened a Methodist chapel at Bristol, and for the rest of his life conducted his ministry with extraordinary energy, preaching 40,000 sermons, and travelling thousands of miles a year, mainly on horseback. His literary output was also prodigious. He published from 1737 many collections of hymns; the singing of hymns to familiar tunes by the whole congregation was a new practice and contributed greatly to the fervent Methodist spirit. He wrote educational works, practical treatises, edited Thomas à Kempis (1735), published selections from W. Law, by whom he was deeply influenced, and kept a Journal (standard edn ed. N. Curnock, 1909–11) remarkable not only as a record of his spiritual life, but for its pathos and humour. Wesley's impact on public and private life, notably in his concern for the illiterate industrial poor, was enormous.