wfn.org | At the Roots of Methodism: Oxford holds rich Wesley history

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Sept. 11, 2001 News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.     10-71B{379}

NOTE: This is a regular feature on Methodist history by John Singleton
prepared especially for distribution by United Methodist News Service. An
artist's rendering of John Wesley is available.

A UMNS Feature
By John Singleton*

A visit to the city of Oxford is always an attractive proposition for any
visitor to England, especially for Methodist pilgrims doing the rounds of
historic Wesley-related sites.

This city of "dreaming spires" is linked to John Wesley, the founder of the
Methodist movement, through a number of significant sites. These include:
Oxford Castle (site of the prison where John and his brother Charles
regularly visited convicts), Christ Church College and Cathedral (where John
and Charles were undergraduates), Lincoln College (where John was the
founder of the Holy Club, whose members became known as "Methodists") and
University Church (where John preached his sermon on "Scriptural holiness").

But what the Methodist visitor may not realize is that there are other,
lesser-known, sites in Oxfordshire not far away from the hustle and bustle
of downtown Oxford. A writer in a 1902 edition of the Methodist Recorder
reveals a number of these, including the parish church at South Leigh (seven
miles west of Oxford), where John Wesley preached his first sermon while
still an undergraduate.

Wesley's later travels in Oxfordshire commenced soon after his return from
America, when he began expounding the "new doctrine" of "salvation by faith
alone." On Oct. 3, 1739, he arrived at 6 p.m. at Burford -- then an old-time
country town of "one long street and a church" on the stagecoach route
between Oxford and Gloucester.
   
The village was made famous by Oliver Cromwell's visit and his memorable
sermon to his recalcitrant troops, preached in the parish church of St. John
the Baptist. In days gone by, Burford was a thriving center, famous for the
manufacture of woolen cloth, paper and saddles.  Only an hour after Wesley's
arrival at Burford, on his first recorded visit, he was preaching to nearly
1,500 people on the words "Christ made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption."
   
Wesley had a curious experience the following year. On Feb. 17, 1741, he
reached Oxford and, leaving his horse there, set out on foot for the village
of Stanton Harcourt, some six miles away. "The night overtook me in about an
hour, accompanied with heavy rain," he records in his journal. "Being wet
and weary, and not well knowing my way, I could not help saying in my heart
(although ashamed of my want of resignation to God's will), 'O that thou
wouldst stay the bottles of heaven! Or at least give me light, or an honest
guide or some help in the manner Thou knowest.' "

Presently, we are told, the rain ceased, the moon broke out and a friendly
man overtook Wesley, set him upon his own horse and walked by his side till
they came to the house to where he was journeying.    

Wesley visited the village of Witney, 10 miles west of Oxford, on at least
25 different occasions, the last being 15 months before his death. 

In his diary after his first visit, he recorded his admiration of the people
there. "The congregation was both large and deeply attentive," he wrote.
"This is such a people as I have not seen; so remarkably diligent in
business, and at the same of so quiet a spirit, and so calm and civil in
their behavior."

For some time after this, Wesley visited Witney every year. After preaching
there in January 1765, he made the following entry in his journal: "The
congregation here, though of so late standing, may be a pattern to all
England. When the service was ended, no one spoke, either in the evenings or
mornings. All went silently out of the house and yard."
   
In subsequent years, Wesley often preached in the open air on Wood Green at
Witney to huge congregations, and the number of believers grew apace. He
always enjoyed their fellowship, and he once referred to them as "the most
amiable people I know." Present-day Methodist visitors to the area will be
pleased to know that Witney still has a thriving Methodist church.

About two miles from Witney lies the picturesque village of South Leigh,
where the founder of Methodism preached his first sermon in the ancient
parish church in 1725. It is supposed that this historic event took place
while he was an Oxford undergraduate. One of the most remarkable things
about the church is the number of 14th- and 15th-century mural paintings
that adorn its walls. They were discovered under several coats of whitewash
during the restoration of the church in 1872, and were faithfully restored,
line by line.

The following entry in Wesley's Journal is under the date of Oct. 16, 1771:
"I preached at South Leigh. Here it was that I preached my first sermon,
six-and-forty years ago. One man was in my present audience who heard it."
It is thought that this later service was conducted not in the church, which
was probably closed against him at that time, but in the house of a man
named Winter, who is the person referred to by Wesley.   

The church still contains the pulpit in which the young John Wesley made his
debut as a pulpit orator. On it is fixed a brass plate recording this fact
(the latter part of the inscription introducing a well-known topic, as to
whether Wesley remained a loyal member of the Church of England to his dying
day). The full inscription reads:

"In this pulpit the Rev John Wesley MA sometime fellow of Lincoln College
Oxford preached his first sermon AD 1725. 'I declare once more that I live
and die a member of the Church of England and that none who regard my
judgment or advice will ever separate from it (Wesley's Journal Dec 11th
1789)'. Born June 17 1703. Died March 2 1791."

The Methodist visitor to England will find that there is more to Oxfordshire
than Oxford.

# # #

*Singleton is assistant editor of the weekly Methodist Recorder newspaper in
London. He can be contacted by e-mail at John.S@methodistrecorder.co.uk .

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