John Wesley

28 June 1703 – 2 March 1791

John Wesley (1703-1791) was an English cleric, theologian and evangelist who, with his brother Charles, founded the Methodist movement within the Church of England. After a transformative religious experience at Aldersgate in 1738, he took to open-air preaching and organized societies across Britain, traveling tens of thousands of miles on horseback. Methodism became one of the largest Protestant denominations in the world.

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Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with John Wesley.

Life events

Born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England
28 June 1703

John Wesley was born the fifteenth child of Samuel Wesley, rector of Epworth, and Susanna Wesley.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Studied at Christ Church, Oxford
1720 – 1727

Wesley entered Christ Church, Oxford, graduating BA in 1724 and proceeding MA in 1727.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Ordained a priest in the Church of England
22 September 1728

Wesley was ordained priest in 1728, having earlier been elected a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Led the Holy Club at Oxford
1729

Wesley became leader of a small group of Oxford students, including his brother Charles and George Whitefield, whose methodical devotion earned them the nickname Methodists.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Served as a missionary in the colony of Georgia
October 1735 – December 1737

Wesley traveled to Savannah, Georgia, as a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, but the mission ended unhappily and he returned to England.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Experienced his evangelical conversion at Aldersgate Street
24 May 1738

At a religious meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, Wesley felt his heart 'strangely warmed', an experience he regarded as the turning point of his spiritual life.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Began open-air field preaching
2 April 1739

Following George Whitefield's example, Wesley preached outdoors near Bristol, beginning decades of itinerant evangelism that organized converts into Methodist societies.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Mary Vazeille
February 1751

Wesley married the widow Mary Vazeille; the marriage was unhappy and the couple eventually separated.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Ordained ministers for the Methodists in America
September 1784

Breaking with Anglican practice, Wesley ordained Thomas Coke and other preachers to serve the Methodist movement in the newly independent United States.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in London
2 March 1791

Wesley died at his house on City Road, London, at the age of 87 and was buried at Wesley's Chapel.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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