200 Years of United Methodism
An Illustrated History

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Title-page of AN EXTRACT OF THE REV. MR. JOHN WESLEY'S JOURNAL FROM FEBRUARY 1, 1737 TO HIS RETURN FROM GERMANY. London: Printed by W. Strahan, 1740, in which his Aldersgate experience of conversion was first published.Wesley wanted followers who would shape their Christian living by participating in the worship and receiving the sacraments of the Church of England, but who also would shape their Christian living by participating in Methodist preaching services and small groups and by adhering to certain rules: avoiding evil of every kind, such as profanity, profaning the day of the Lord, drunkenness, buying or selling slaves, fighting, and smuggling. Death Mask of John Wesley. A plaster facial cast taken shortly after his death March 2, 1791.Wesley's followers were to do good as well, by giving food to the hungry, by clothing the naked, by visiting the sick and prisoners, and by instructing, reproving, or exhorting sinners. For their own spiritual nurture, they were to attend public worship and the Supper of the Lord, engage in family and private prayers, search the Scriptures, and fast. No wonder that people influenced by John Wesley were called Methodists!


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