wfn.org | Wesley's Perilous Voyages

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
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Note 533 by UMNS on Jan. 8, 1998 at 16:22 Eastern (6093 characters).

CONTACT: Thomas S. McAnally				6(10-71BP)533
		Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	Jan. 8, 1998

At the Roots of Methodism . . . 

Turbulent waters did not deter
John Wesley's mission

A UMNS Feature
by John Singleton*

Of all the voyages embarked by John Wesley in the cause of spreading the
Gospel and nurturing the roots of Methodism, the months spent at sea traveling
to and from American were by far the longest and most perilous.  But the
movement's early leaders frequently sailed to other destinations, including
Ireland, which Wesley visited on 21 occasions -- the first of 42 crossings of
the Irish Sea being made just over 250 years ago in 1747.
Wesley's itinerant ministry also saw him embarking for Germany in Holland, the
Channel Islands (nearer to France than England), the Isle of Man (with its
ancient Manx language and parliament), Scilly Isles, the Isle of Wight and the
Scottish Isles.
The skills of captain and crew notwithstanding, a voyage of any distance was
at the mercy of prevailing weather conditions and always ran the risk of
turning into a hazardous enterprise.  A vessel might start out on a fair wind,
but passengers could never be certain when they might reach their destination,
or whether they would end up somewhere else entirely.
This happened in 1781 when, "desiring to be in Ireland as soon as possible",
Wesley hastened to Liverpool and found a ship ready to sail.  After waiting
three days for a wind to spring up, his party of five went on board.  But
scarcely were they out of Liverpool than the winds turned to gale force and
the sea became whipped into a frenzy; so much so that Wesley was taken ill and
confined to his bed.
"All Friday, the storm increasing, the sea of consequence was rougher and
rougher," he later wrote in his journal.  "Early on Saturday morning the
hatches were closed . . . We had by this time three feet of water in the hold,
though it was an exceeding light vessel.  Meantime we were furiously driving
on a lee-shore; and when the captain cried 'Helm a lee' she would not obey the
helm.  I called our brethren to prayers; and we found free access to the
throne of grace.  Soon after we got, I know not how, into Holyhead harbor,
after being sufficiently buffeted by the winds and waves for two days and two
nights."
They had traveled less than 100 miles in two days and were still in England.
"The more I considered, the more I was convinced, it was not the will of God I
should go to Ireland at this time," reflected a chastened Wesley.
Earlier, in 1743, when he responded to "a great desire to go and publish the
love of God our Saviour, if it were but for one day, in the Isles of Scilly",
Wesley and his colleagues borrowed the mayor's boat to make a by-no-means
straightforward crossing from the Cornish fishing port of St. Ives.
Lying some 15 miles southwest of Land's End in the Atlantic Ocean, the
Scillies consist of around 140 small islands and rocks, of which only five are
inhabited.  Many ships have been wrecked on these rocky coasts over the
centuries.  The capital, Hugh Town, is on St. Mary's, where Wesley was then
heading and where today there is still a strong Methodist presence in this
popular tourist resort.
"It seemed strange to me to attempt going in a fisher-boat, fifteen leagues
upon the main ocean; especially when the waves began to swell, and hang over
our heads," wrote Wesley.  But he called to his companions and together they
sang hymns, "lustily and with good courage."
Soon after landing safely at St. Mary's, Wesley preached in the street "to
almost the whole town", plus many soldiers, sailors and workmen.  So
enthusiastic were his listeners that he was mobbed while distributing books
and hymns.  The following morning he preached at 5 a.m. before departing "this
barren, dreary place" and setting sail back to St. Ives.   His journey of 12
hours would today take less than 3.
In 1787, when Wesley and a party set out for Guernsey -- one of the Channel
Islands off the Normandy coast of France -- their boat was forced to divert to
Alderney, one of the smaller islands in the group, where it came near to being
shipwrecked in the bay.  "When we were in the middle of the rocks, with the
sea rippling all round us, the wind totally failed," wrote Wesley.  "Had this
continued, we must have struck upon one or other of the rocks:  So we went to
prayer, and the wind sprung up instantly.  About sunset we landed; and, though
we had five beds in the same room, slept in peace."
By eight the next morning, Wesley was down on the beach giving out a hymn to a
woman and two children.   "Before the hymn was ended, we had a tolerable
congregations. . ." he wrote.  Later, his party concluded an uneventful voyage
to Guernsey.
John Wesley's account of his epic voyage to America on the "Simmonds" in 1736
seems understated in its almost dispassionate narrative.  He appears to have
had a total absence of fear during the fierce storms which battered the ship
in mid-Atlantic; describing events in the manner of a reporter, while not
failing to draw the necessary spiritual and divine conclusions from what was
happening.  As we know, he was particularly moved by the calm behavior of the
German Moravians, whom he joined for worship at the height of the storm's
ferocity.
In 1785, at the age of 82, John Wesley reflected on how the grain of
mustard-seed of the movement had grown.  "It has spread through all Great
Britain and Ireland; the Isle of Wight, and the Isle of Man; then to America,
from the Leeward Islands, through the whole continent, into Canada and
Newfoundland," he wrote.
One thing is for sure: those societies could not have spread without the
willingness of John and Charles Wesley and the early stalwarts of Methodism to
launch out into the deep.

#  #  #

*Singleton has been on the staff of the Methodist Recorder, weekly newspaper
of British Methodism, for nearly 30 years and now serves as its News Editor. 
A lay preacher, Singleton is an active member of an inner-city Methodist
church in a multiracial East London neighborhood.
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