Who was the founder of the United Methodist Church?
John Wesley was a teacher at Oxford and a priest in the Church of England. He joined a group of students and teachers at Oxford that met on a regular basis for prayer, study and community service. Others on campus made fun of them for being so dedicated and disciplined in their faith that they began calling them “Methodists.” In 1735 John and his brother Charles (also a priest) set out as missionaries to Georgia. Their mission ended in dismal failure and the two returned to England. John Wesley’s faith was shattered and he went through a period of spiritual crisis. One evening, while attending a prayer meeting on Aldersgate Street, Wesley experienced the movement of the holy spirit, which he described as “suddenly my heart was strangely warmed.” Because John Wesley’s preaching style from that point on became much more passionate and enthusiastic, the brothers began preaching in the streets and fields and attracted many of the “poor and forgotten.” John Wesley never intended to found a
