Monthly Archives: August 2014

Aug 09 2014
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Books, Oxford

Green on Wesley at Christ Church, Oxford

John Wesley spent his university days in Oxford attending Christ Church. The school dates back to the 1500s with action by Henry VIII establishing the college and Anglican cathedral. The dean is always a clergyman. Wesley attended Christ Church from 1720 to 1726. In his book The Young Mr. Wesley, V.H.H. Green writes:

John Wesley came up to Oxford, an earnest, high-minded, young man, to one of the most diversified societies in existence, for Christ Church, then under the direction of Dean Boulter, was not merely the largest but the most distinguished college in the university.

There is no information available about Wesley’s studies as an undergraduate but he doubtless performed conscientiously the barren exercises necessary for his degree.

After Wesley had graduated as a bachelor of arts in 1724, he remained in Oxford, presumably using his rooms in Christ Church, to fulfill the exercises necessary for the master’s degree.

He was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Potter of Oxford on Sunday, September 19, 1725.

He was elected to a fellowship at Lincoln College in March 1726.

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Aug 08 2014
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Early U.S. Methodist History

Clayride shares early U.S. Methodist history

A claymation movie from 1984 called Clayride recounts founding of American Methodist Church.

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Aug 08 2014
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Oxford, Trip

Wesley Memorial Methodist repairs stained glass

The Facebook page of Wesley Memorial Methodist Church in Oxford reports that scaffolding went up today for the restoration of the church’s stained glass window that displays flowers and plants of the Bible.

The church opened in 1878 featuring the stained-glass windows in the East and West. The windows need urgent attention. An architect confirms that ‘the East Window is at risk if the lower panels are not straightened and re-attached to the saddle bars…’ and the Rose Window has ‘suffered distortion’ resulting in the panels bulging outwards.

The church launched an Appeal for the Victorian Windows in March. Through the generosity of several individual donors, the ‘virtual’ wedding presents on behalf of a newly-married couple and a grant from Oxfordshire Historic Churches’ Trust, the church raised £47,000 for the renovations.

Work is due to start on 11 August and take eight weeks.

–Summer 2014 Wesley Memorial News

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Aug 07 2014
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Oxford

John Wesley in Oxford

John Wesley had a number of connections to Oxford, UK.

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Aug 07 2014
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Oxford, Trip

Photos of Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, Oxford

Methodism in Oxford dates from the 1720’s. The first Methodist House was built in 1783. Wesley Memorial Methodist Church was built in 1878. You can find photos of the church on the JohnWesleyBlog flickr page.

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Aug 07 2014
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Oxford, Trip

Kate Dobson on Wesley at Oxford

John Wesley graduated college from Christ Church in Oxford. He became a fellow at Lincoln College. Kate Dobson of Wesley Memorial Methodist Church in Oxford talked about Wesley’s days in Oxford and impact on the community.

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Aug 06 2014
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Denomination, Early U.S. Methodist History, Epworth

Methodist sites to visit

UM: Seven Sites every United Methodists should see The Old Rectory in Epworth is on a list of seven sites this United Methodist article recommends visiting.

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Aug 04 2014
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Epworth, United Kingdom

Susanna, Mother of John Wesley

Susanna Annesley was born January 20, 1669 in London. She was the daughter of Samuel Annesley, a prominent dissenting pastor nominated by Oliver Cromwell to serve as lecturer at St. Paul’s. He lost favor after the Restoration and passage of the Act of Uniformity in 1662. She was the 25th of 25 children in her family.

At the age of 13, Susanna left her father’s church for the Anglican Church. It was around this time that she first met Samuel Wesley. Six years later, they married as Samuel completed college and was named rector at Epworth.

They had 19 children, 10 that survived to adulthood. They were poor. Samuel was twice jailed for debts. They did not always agree. He left their home for months in protest of one of their disagreements. They had difficult times with two fires at their home, the second completely destroying everything they owned. The children were farmed out to family and friends for months as a new home was built.

Susannah was known as an educator, teaching her three sons and seven daughters. The Epworth Old Rectory has a booklet Educating the Family extracted from a letter Susannah had written her son John.

In order to form the minds of children, the first thing to be done is to conquer their will, and bring them to an obedient temper. To inform the understanding is a work of time, and must with children proceed by slow degrees, as they are able to bear it; but the subjecting the will is a thing that must be done at once – and the sooner, the better.

The way of teaching was this. The day before a child began to learn, the house was set in order, everyone’s work appointed them and a charge given that none could come into the room from 9 til 12, or from 2 til 5; which you know, were the school hours. One day was allowed the child to learn its letters, and each of them did in that time know all its letters, great and small, except Molly and Nancy, who were a day and a half before they knew them perfectly.

When Samuel died, the family moved from the Epworth Rectory and the building’s contents were sold to cover debts. Susanna left to live with her children, eventually moving to London to live with John at the Foundery and eventually his home at Wesley Chapel. She died July 23, 1742 and was buried at Bunhill Fields across the street from Wesley Chapel.

 His Mother’s Child: On Susanna Wesley’s Great Influence Upon Her Son, John Wesley

Painting from Old Rectory, Epworth

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Aug 02 2014
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Epworth, United Kingdom

Samuel, father of John Wesley

Samuel Wesley was born December 17, 1662. He was the son of the dissenting pastor John Wesley, rector of Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset. His mother was the daughter of John White, rector of Trinity Church, Dorchester.

John Wesley was imprisoned for not using the Church of England’s Book of Common Prayer, imprisoned again and ejected in 1662. He died at the age of 42. Samuel was being educated as a dissenter. But he had a change of view and enrolled as an Anglican at Exeter College in Oxford. He served wealthy students to pay his way through school. In 1688, he completed his degree at Exeter and married Susanna Annesley. They moved to Epworth when he was named as rector there in 1697.

He was a supporter of royalty, an unpopular stand in Epworth. The marshy area had been ordered drained years earlier by the king. A portion of the newly created lands went to the king, another portion to the men who drained the land and finally a portion to those who lived there. This change in land ownership angered the locals and they did not look kindly on supporters of the king. This led to fires being set to the rectory and damage to its fields and livestock. Wesley stayed in debt especially after fire destroyed the rectory and he built a new home in its place.

The Foundery Press book on Samuel Wesley describes his imprisonment

All for the sake of a third pounds debt. His creditor seemed set on punishing Wesley and would not give Samuel 24 hours to find the money. The unsuspecting Samuel came out of church after christening a baby and was arrested in his own churchyard. News filtered through Epworth. Far from taking pity on Susanna, the villagers proceeded in the rector’s absence to wreak havoc on his farming endeavors. Samuel remained imprisoned for five months.

The Wesleys had three sons and seven daughters who lived into adulthood. The sons all graduated from universities at Oxford.

Samuel held his parish and family to strict standards. His public condemnation of church members contributed to the ill treatment of the family. He was at odds with his wife and left Epworth in protest for months. When his daughter Hetty ran away and returned home unmarried and pregnant, he was unforgiving. When John preached sermons in Epworth on the subject of mercy, Samuel did not mend his relationship with Hetty and took issue with the criticism.

Samuel was an author. He published articles that helped him pay his way through university. His life’s work was a study of the Book of Job written in Latin. His son John completed and published the work after Samuel’s death on April 5, 1735 He was buried at St. Andrews Anglican Church in Epworth.

 Life and Times of Rev. Samuel Wesley

Painting from Old Rectory, Epworth

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Aug 02 2014
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Epworth, Trip, United Kingdom

Photos of St Andrews Anglican Church, Epworth, UK

Samuel Wesley was rector of St. Andrews Anglican Church in Epworth, UK. When in Oxford, we made the short drive from the Old Rectory down the street to the parking area near the church. We took a number of photos as we walked around the 15th century Perpendicular-style Anglican parish church.You can find the photos on the JohnWesleyBlog flickr page.

The church website makes clear it continues to serve the community with regular worship services for its congregation while welcoming those interested in its history. Most notable is that Samuel Wesley is buried at the church and his grave was used as a site for his son’s preaching in Epworth when he was denied the church’s pulpit.

The church has many notable architectural features and interesting items of furniture, including a chair left by Susanna Wesley on her departure from Epworth. The font was used to baptize all the Wesley children, and the chalice, originally Samuel Wesley’s, was used by John for his first Holy Communion, when aged 9.

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