The Savannah morning news., 1903-06-25
WESLEY AND HIS CHURCH.

| WESLEY AND HIS CHURCH.
John Wesley's only place of resi-
dence in America was in Savannah. 1t
is peculiarly appropriate, therefore,
that there should be somewhat elabor-
ate services in this city in honor of the
| two hundredth anniversary of his
birth. Beginning to-day there will be
| interesting services running through
| five days, participated in by some of the
| leading clergymen and laymen of the
| great church that Wesley founded and
which is to the present imbued with
much of his spirit of courage and en-
! thusiasm.
John Wesley has been called one of
the greatest men of the eighteenth
century, period of great men-and
he unquestionably deserved the dis
tinction. Lord Macauley said that his
genius for government was not infe-
rior to that of Richelieu, while Buckle.
pronounced him "the first of theologi-
cal statesmen" His power as a preach
er and his success as an organizer are
shown by the fact that at the time of
his death there We're approximately
so. 900 members of the new religious
| sect which he had started, and whose
principles of government he had for
INFLATED, most of them embraced in
organized congregations. And so we'll
did he construct the machinery of
his church that 1t has run on smooth
ly ever since practically as he started
it, until the number of Methodists in
the world now is reckoned at upwards
of 2500O,OOO, with steady and health
full growth. In almost every section of
the globe are to be found Methodist
preachers and missionaries, spreading
the gospel with zeal, as did their
great founder.
No better evidence of Wesley's origi-
nality and forcefulness of character is
needed than that he broke away from
the cold, spiritless formalities of the
Established Church of that period, and
| infused life and warmth into the re-
| ligion he preached and made others
| feel. When he first began his new
methods, religion was largely a matter
of form, or at most a philosophy. in
which the common people had small
share. The forms observed in worship
were superficial, touching nothing
either high or deep in humanity. Any
thing like emotionalism in religion was.
regarded as questionable, and to be
discouraged. Never before that time
was the religion of the Established
Church so lifeless, nor has it been
since. Wesley was a Fellow of Oxford
and a clergyman of that church, and
he loved it. But he broke away from
its dry and dull ceremonies and ira
ditions of church ethics, and aroused
feeling, enthusiasm and moral purpose
in those who listened to his powerful
discourses. He made religion a matter
of personal experience, personal char
acter and devotion. He made theology
mean something real and of direct
interest, to both classes and masses.
He carried religion to the poor and
needy as they had never known it be-
fore. And he did it all in period
given to elegance, ease, decorum and
conventionality. He literally brought
about an awakening in religious cir
NlNo bhaI Alcu OSCn lOllS
His energy was extraordinary. He
worked incessantly, travelling more
than $50, 900 miles and preaching 10000
sermons during the fifty years of his
apostolate. That illustrates the spirit
of activity that he transmitted to
those who came after him; and the
workers of Methodism have endeavor-
ed to live up to it.
Wesley was a man of education, one
of the most intellectual men of his
times; man of calmness, courage and
persistency. All of his time, brain,
strength and ability were devoted to
the task of converting sinners and
bringing them to the light of the truth
as he saw it. In prosecuting this task
he founded the great religious body
that honors him to-day, and which is
his best and most enduring monument.