Methodists all over the world trace their roots to John Wesley (1703-1791), who lived in England and served as an Anglican priest. Both John and Charles had powerful personal experiences of faith. They felt God's love, and found an abundant new life in the grace they received in Christ. Because of this, they wanted to seek and serve God as faithfully as they could.

As students at Oxford, they joined with others in small groups, and together they studied Scripture, worshiped and prayed, and did works of mercy: visiting the sick and those in prison, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and other acts of kindness. These young students were so rigorous in their practice of the Christian faith that they were teased for being so methodical - and were nicknamed the Methodists. The name stuck.

Throughout their ministry, John and Charles were convinced that God's grace was available to all people. More than anything, it was their desire to share that grace by caring for people in spirit, body, and mind. For that reason, from their earliest days, Methodists could always be found in places of great need. The rise of Methodism coincided with the Industrial Revolution, a time when cities, crammed with poor workers, lacked basic infrastructure to provide for its residents. The Methodists reached out to the poor. They started schools and hospitals, were faithful visitors at prisons, they preached at the factories and the coal mines, and they took a strong stand against slavery - a controversial issue of their day. They did all of this while they continued to worship, pray, and study Scripture as often as possible. They gathered together in small groups to ask one another, "how is it with your soul?" In this way, they encouraged one another to continually seek God and serve others.

As folks from Europe traveled to the new world, so did Methodism. In America, Methodists continued to gather in small groups, and to reach out and share God's grace with their neighbors. Though there were divisions over the issues that divided the country - the church split for several decades over the question of slavery - Methodism continued to grow and spread across thee country. We were instrumental in starting schools and hospitals, again living out our commitment to care for the well-being of both individuals and communities. Methodism has spread across the globe, too - across Asia and Africa and Latin America, you can find Methodists who trace their faith back to John Wesley, and who still desire, as he did, to experience Christ's grace and share Christ's love.

For more about our history, you can visit the UMC's website.