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Show Ten Million , Americans Arericans to HonorFounder HonorFounder Honor HonorFounder Founder of Their Religious Faith FaithA A Natron Nation NahonWide Wide Communion Service in More Than 14 14000 000 Congregations Will Recall the theMay theMay theMay May Evening 200 Years Ago When John Wesley WesleyI WesleyFelt I ' Felt His Heart Strangely Warmed WarmedI Warmedand 'and and I ' and Took the Step Which Led Eventu Eventually lly to the Establrshmentof Establishmentof Establishment Establrshment of the Methodist ChurchQ ChurchO Church Q O ) Western Westetn Weste n Newspaper Union UnJon By ELMO CLl\IO CLl IO \ SCOTT WATSON "ATSON ATSON W " WATSONy ATSON ATSONO ATSONN y N SUNDAY mormngMay morningMay morning mormng ON O ) May 22 more than 9 - 000 000 Amen Americans Americansmembers Americansmembers cans cansmembers members of 14300 14 300 congrega congregahons congregadons congregations hons dons will take pal pait t in a na nahon nation nation hon tion wide communion commumon servIce servIcehonormg servicehonoring servicehonoring honormg honoring the memory of the thefounder thefounder thefounder founder of their relIgious relIgiousfaith religiousfaith religiousfaith faith Two days later , , on onTuesday onTuesday onTuesday Tuesday evening evemng May Ma ) 24 24thel 24these 24theie thel these e will be an Informal InformalservIce informalservice informalservice servIce of prayer and relIg rejig relIg10US rejigious rehgious 10US ious teshmon testimony ) in each church churchof churchof churchof of that denomination denommahon , not notonly notonly notonly only in the United Umted States but butthroughout butthroughout butthroughout throughout the world Ap ApproxImately Approximately Approximately proxImately 25000000 25 000 000 peo pea peopIe peapie peopie pIe will take part in this cere core ceremony coremony coremony mony and again it will be In Inhis inhis inhis his honor for I it t is the two twohundredth twohundredth twohundredth hundredth anniversary anmversary of hIs hIsevangehcal hisevangelical hisevangelical evangehcal evangelical con\ con cons conel con\eision con eision \ el ei slon sion orheart orheart or orheart heart warming as he hecalled hecalled hecalled called itWho it itWho Who was this man whoga\e whoga e who whoga whogale ga\ ga gae gale \ e to the worlda world a form of ofrehglOn ofreligion ofreligion rehglOn religion so appealing that thatafter thatafter thatafter after 200 years he has25 has 25 000 000000 000 disciples all over the theglobe theglobe theglobe7 theglobe7His globe globeHis ? His name was J John ohn Wesley Wesleyand Wesleyand Wesleyand and he was the th founder of theMethodist the theMethodist theMethodist Methodist Episcopal churchOn churchOn church churchOn On the evening evenmg of May 24 1738 1733a 1738a a little ltttJe group of people gathered gatheredin In a small house in Aldersgate Aldersgatestreet Aldersgatestreet Aldersgatestreet street London England to con conduct conduct conduct duct a prayer meeting meetmg They They'n Theywere 'n n \ ' ere members of the Church of ofEngland ofEngland ofEngland England who had failed faded to find t the thestately thestately e estately stately service of that church all allthat allthat allthat that they sought in m theay the \ way \\ay ay of ofspmtual ofspiritual ofspiritual spmtual spiritual help So they gathered gatheredseek gatheredweek I gatheredI seek \ eek after week to < ; seek eek addl addi additional additional . tIonal strength in an mformal informal mformalmeetmg informalmeeting informalmeeting .1 1 .1tIonal meetmg meeting of this kmdI kmdIn kindIn kind kmd kindIn In this thls company sat a shght slight slightioung I 3 oung man m In the robes of an anI anAnghcan anAnglican anAnglican I Anghcan Anglican churchman For three threemonths threemonths threemonths months he had been passmg passing passmgI passingthrough passingthrough I through a period penod of intense mtense Inner Innerstruggle innerstruggle innerstruggle struggle due mainly mamly to his hJS un unhappy unhappy unhappy happy experiences expenences across the At AtlantIc Atlantic Atlantic lantIc ocean m In General Ogle Oglethorpe Oglethorpe Oglethorpe thorpe s new colony of GeorgIaOf GeorgiaOf Georgia GeorgiaOf Of what happened at the prayer prayermectmg prayermeeting pratermeeting ; mectmg meeting John Wesley Wcsley afterward afterwardrecorded afterwardrecorded afterwardrecorded recorded in his ms diary In the thee theevening thee\emng thee emng e\ e eemng evening \ emng I \ went \ ent very unwilling umllllmg to toa toa toa a society in Aldersgate street streetwhere streetwhere streetwhere where one was reading read111g Luther s spreface spreface spreface preface to the Epistle to the Ro- Ro Romans Romans Ro Romans - - mans About a quarter before beforenme beforenine beforenine nme nine while whde he was describing descrJblng thechange the thechange thechange change that God works m In the theheart theheart theheart heart through faith falth in Christ ChrJst I felt my heart strangely warmed warmedI I felt I did dJd trust in ill Christ ChrJst ChrJst Christ ChrJstalone Christalone Christalone alone for m m3 IT ) } ) sah saps sahation atIOn and an anassulance anassutance anassuiance assulance assutance was given me that he hehad hehad hehad had taken away a\\ay a ay \ my sins sms evenmine even evenmme evenmine mme mine and saved me from the law lawof lawof lawof of sin sm and deathAlthough deathAlthough death deathAlthough Although Wesley never recog recogmzed recognized recogmzed mzed nized his followers as belonging belongingto to ar arother other than the Church of ofEngland ofEngland ofEngland England this Aldersgate meetmg meeting meetingis meetmgIS IS designated desJgnated by Methodists to today today today day as the beginning begmnmg ot of o1 trelr their trelrchurch theirchurch theirchurch church for from it Wesley went wentout wentout wentout out to preach with a new enthusl enthusf enthuslasm enthusfasm enthusiasm asm Also soon afterwards the ? , LI . ' x xv y r a v rw t l n na nak ak , , v vsi si r a , 9 5 54L 4L A 3A 3 3John John Wesley Founder of the l\lethodlst l lethodlst Methodist \ Church authorities authorJtIes closed the doors and andpulpIts andpulpits andpulpits pulpIts of their churches to him himand himand himand and to his brother Charles and andall andall andall all the other preachers of the theMethodist theMethodist theMethodist Methodist societies which led ledthem ledthem ledthem them to organize orgamze a new churchWesley churchWesley church churchWesley Wesley was born m In 1703 theson the theson theson son of Rev Samuel Wesley ree rec reetor rector rector tor of the Anglican church at Ep Epworth Epworth Epworth worth England He attended attendedCharterhouse attendedCharterhouse attendedCharterhouse Charterhouse until untJI he " was "as as seven seventeen seventeen seventeen teen and then went to ChrJst Christ ChrJstChurch ChristChurch ChristChurch Church college Oxford on a ameager ameager ameager meager scholarship from his for former former former mer school schoolA schoolA schoolA A year after his ordination ordmatJon Wes Wesley Wesley Wesley ley was elected a fellow of Lm Lin Lmcoin Lincoin Lincoin coin college Oxford , where , here he hewas hewas hewas was one of the leading leadmg meMbers membersof of the Holy club These scholars scholarssubJected scholarssubjected scholarssubjected subJected every phase of their theirlIves theirlives theirlives lIves to the deepest discussion discussionIn In 1735 the elder Wesley diedand dIed dIedand diedand and a year later John and his hisyounger hisyounger hisyounger younger brother Charles set out - w - 9 ' w . - + w wr - - , yp . .eo eo . w w - wr - - e'w- e'w ew e'w.w . . ' " - ' .w w . . .wa 1 r J f , . a < r fr ft t 11 ; " _ s v \ ' r ' 2- 2 2tJ14 - ' : tJ14 tJ14C r rr C 4 L rte 3H $ ' 0 , ' , ) i i'yo 'yo yo ' 4 / I 'r r ' _ I'rancis Irancis ' Asbury Famous Methodist Circuit Rider for Georgia Gen James Ogle- Ogle Oglethorpe Oglethorpe Ogle-thorpe Ogle thorpe - - - thorpe s new colony in Americato AmerJcato AmerJca America to serve as missionaries mlSSIOnanes to the theIndJans theIndians theIndians IndJans Indians But they soon found that thatIndian thatIndian thatIndian Indian mi&sionar misionar mJ missionary & sJOnar ) work was notpractical not notpractJcal notpractical practJcal practical So they devoted them themselves themselves themselves selves to pastoral duties among the amongthe : Englioh InglI.h InglIh Englih . . , colomstsCharles colonistsCharles colonists colomsts colonistsCharles Charles Wesley went to the thelIttle thelittle thelittle lIttle settlement of rrederJca Frederica rrederJcahere Fredericashere Fredencawhere \\here here shere \ he soon became exceedmg exceeding exceedingly exceedmgly ly unpopular and as a result resultgave resultgave resultgave gave up hI his " ; work after six months monthsand monthsand monthsand and returned to England John JohnWesley JohnWeslei , Wesle Wesley ) also visited Fredenca FrederIca but butI buthe buthe I he was no better liked hked than his brother had been However thIs thIsdid thisdid thisdid did not halt his work in his panshEventually parishEventually parish pansh parishEventually Eventually hoever hovi ho\\ ho hog \ \ ; ever there therearose therearose therearose arose a situation which resulted m in mIus inhis inhis Ius his following followmg his Ius brother back to toEngland toEngland toEngland England This was an unhappy unhappylove unhappylove unhappylove- unhappylove unhappyloveaffair love- love loveaffair - - affair that had caused themtense theintense the theintense intense mtense inner struggle ( re referred referred referred ferred to earlier m In this tms article articleand ) and led to his evangelical evmgehcal , conver convey converslon conveysion conversion slon sion Among Oglethorpe s colo cobo colomsts cobonists colonists msts nists were a Mr and Mrs Caus Causton Causton Causton ton an dtheir Qthelr ctheir ) niece Sophie Hop Hopkey Hopkey Hopkey key eighteen years old beaut beautiful beautifulintelligent beautifulintelligent ul ulmtell1gent mtell1gent intelligent and a very pious memher mem member member ber of the Church of England1esley England Englandftesley " ' ftesley 'esley esley 1esley % s RomanceWesley Romance RomanceWesley Wesley and Sophy " were "ere ere Imme Immedlately immediately immediately dlately diately attracted to each bath other otherand otherand otherand and General Oglethorpe becom becommg becommg becoming mg ing aware of the budding ro romance romance romance mance did all he could to pro promote promote promote mote it He wanted Wesley to tostay tostay tostay stay in the colony and he belJeved believed belJevedthat believedthat believedthat that marriage marnage would humamze humanize humamzethe humanizethe humanizethe the inflexible mflexlble young moralist and andperhaps andperhaps andperhaps perhaps make him lum hail more popular popularwith popularwith 1 1wIth wIth the people But there was one oneI onebar onebar I bar to their thelr marriage marnage That was wasI wasa wasa I a vow of celibacy cebbacy which whJCh Wesley Wesleyhad Wesleyhad I . had taken and andwhich which caused himto him himto himto to postpone a proposal Eventu Eventually Eventually Eventually ally Sophy grew tired tued of waltmg wafting waltmgfor waftingfor waitingfor for him to make up his hJS mind mmd and andsuddenly andsuddenly andsuddenly suddenly she married marned another anotherman anotherman anotherman man William WillIamsonAs WiUiamson WillIamson WiUiamsonAs WilliamsonAs As soon as Wesley saw that he hehad hehad hehad had lost the girl he became em emblttered embittered embittered blttered bittered against agamst her so much sothat so sothat sothat that eventually be refused to toallow toallow toallow allow her to participate in com cam commumon cammunion cornmunion mumon munion in m his church The upshot upshotof upshotof of trusas this trus \ was \\as as a suit for defamation defamationof of character by her husband husbandWhICh husbandwhich husbandwhich WhICh came to nothing nothmg although althoughit It weakened Wesley s influence mfluenee m in mthe inthe inthe the colony So he decided to return re return return turn to EnglandAlthough EnglandAlthough England EnglandAlthough Although disheartened by hJS his hJSexperIence hisexperience hisexperience stayhere experIence in America his stay stayhere stayhere here was far from being a fall fail fallure failure failure ure The meetings which he had hadheld hadheld hadheld held and his zeal in the cause of ofChnstlamty ofChristianity ofChristianity Chnstlamty Christianity had left their 1m rm 1mpress rmpress impress press upon the colony BesIdes BesIdesthat Besidesthat Besidesthat that he had published pubMhed in Charles Charleston Charleston Charleston ton in m 1737 a collection of hymns hymnsthe hymnsthe hymnsthe the first Methodist songs ever evergathered evergathered evergathered gathered togetherEstablishing together togetherEstablishing Establishing Estabhshmg : the ChurchIn Church ChurchIn In May occurred the prevIOusly prevIOuslymentIoned previouslymentioned previouslymentioned mentIoned experience expenence m In the little littlehouse littlehouse littlehouse house in Aldersgate street whichled WhICh WhIChled whichled led directly to the establrshment establishment establishmentof establrshmentof of the Methodist church At first firstthose firstthose firstthose those members of ot the Church of ofEngland ofEngland ofEngland England who were dIssatisfied dIssatisfiedwith dissatisfiedwith dissatisfiedwith with the ritual of that church be began began began gan holding holdmg their prayer meetmgs meetings meetingsat meetmgsat at Fetter FeUer Lane Then Wesley m in maugurated inaugurated inaugurated augurated meetings at the foun foundry foundry foundry dry in m Mooreflelds Moorefields in 1739These 1739 1739These These meetings meetmgs are often re regarded regarded regarded garded as the real beginning begmnmg of ofthe ofthe ofthe the Methodist church since smce Wes Wesley Wesley Wesley ley was forced to sever connec connectlons connections connections tlons tions with the Fetter Lane so soclety socrety society clety crety in 1740 due to grave dJsor disor dJsorders disorders disorders ders in m the meetings meetmgs Un Until hi 1742 1742he 1742he 1742he he spreadingthe spreadmgthe limited lImlted his efforts to spreadmg spreading the new gospel to London and andBrJsto1 andBristol andBristol BrJsto1 Bristol but he later began beg:1n beg1n : the thetravels thetravels thetravels travels over England Scotland Scotlandand Scotlandand Scotlandand and Ireland which were to take takehIm takehim takehim hIm more than a quarter of a mIl rail mIllion raillion million lion miles and result in m his hJS preach preachmg preaching preaching mg ing more than 40 000 sermons He Hewed Hedied Hedied wed died in m his Ius house in m City Roadin Road RoadlD Roadin lD in 1791 and was buried burJed in m the thegraveyard thegraveyard thegraveyard graveyard of the City Road Roadchapel Roadchapel Roadchapel chapel nearby Although the worldwide Metho Metho- MethodIst Methodist Methodist - - dist celebration this month is for forthe forthe forthe the purpose of honoring honormg the name nameof nameof nameof of John Wesley founder of that thatchurch thatchurch thatchurch church it also recalls another anotherclergyman anotherclergyman anotherclergyman clergyman of that sect who wasone was wasone wasone one of the most remarkable fig figures figures figures ures in m American history mstory He Hewas Hewas Hewas was Francis Asbury the first firstAmerIcan firstAmerican firstAmerican AmerIcan Method st bishop the theso theso theso so called Prophet of the Long LongRoad LongRoad LongRoad Road and the apotheosis of that thatsturdy thatsturdy thatsturdy sturdy fi figure ure in m frontier l life e the theCirCUit thecircuit thecircuit CirCUit nderBorn riderBorn rider nder |