wfn.org | At the roots of Methodism: Old ruin found new life as Wesley's

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Sept. 22, 1998        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
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NOTE:  This is a regular feature on Methodist history by John Singleton
prepared especially for distribution by United Methodist News Service. A
head-and-shoulders photo of Singleton is available.

By John Singleton*

When John Wesley acquired a derelict building in North London in 1739,
he must have had an eye for what today's real estate vendors would no
doubt promote as a property with future potential. In other words, it
needed a lot of money spent on it!

The building in Moorfields, which had once been the royal cannon
foundry, was shattered by an explosion in 1716 and then left empty and
roofless for more than 20 years. Wesley leased it for 115 English pounds
and then spent another 700 pounds on repairs to what became his London
headquarters for 40 years and the nearest thing he had to a "home." His
mother, Susannah, spent her last years there until her death in 1742.

As one of the triangle of bases from which the founder of Methodism set
out on his many journeys by horseback -- the others being Newcastle upon
Tyne and Bristol -- the Foundry became a major center of the early
Methodist movement. The chapel had a capacity for 1,500 people (with men
and women seated separately), but preaching was by no means the only
activity that occurred there.

Wesley started a school for the children of the poor, with two teachers
and 60 scholars. He established an almshouse for homeless people and, in
1745, pioneered London's first free clinic and dispensary. This was at a
time when medical science was very much in the hands of quacks and
amateurs. There were very few skilled doctors, and the poor could not
afford to go to them. Wesley employed an apothecary and a surgeon, so
that the poor could come to the Foundry and obtain treatment and
medicine.

Wesley and his preachers made their home there whenever they were in
London. It was at the Foundry where Thomas Maxfield one day took it upon
himself to preach in Wesley's absence and so became one of the first
Methodist lay preachers. Wesley came hurrying back from some far-flung
corner of England when he heard what had happened. He was met by his
mother, who defused the crisis by telling her disapproving son that
Maxfield was as much called by God to preach as he was.

"Examine what have been the fruits of his preaching and hear him also
yourself," she urged him. Wesley did so and was constrained to admit,
"It is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good."

That was in 1739, a date that is being recognized next year as the 250th
anniversary of lay preaching in Methodism. Increasingly from that time,
Wesley refused to discourage preaching by lay helpers, a stance that
greatly assisted the burgeoning Methodist movement but infuriated many
in the established Church of England.

With all the residents in the Foundry eating their meals together as one
family, the building became a place of community as well as a major
preaching house, publishing operation and center for Christian charity
and social witness. Add to that the frequent comings and goings of the
preachers, including Wesley himself, and their exchange of news and
information, and you have some idea of how the Foundry must have been a
hive of holy activity.

But by 1777, with the movement still growing, the time had come for the
Foundry to be replaced. A new chapel was opened in nearby City Road in
November 1778, opposite the historic Bunhill Fields nonconformist burial
ground where Susannah Wesley had been laid to rest. As thousands of
United Methodist pilgrims can testify today, what became known as
Wesley's Chapel, together with John Wesley's House, is still open for
worship and witness.

The spirit of Wesley's old Foundry still lives on in the chapel, an
active church, and in the life and witness of countless Methodist
churches around the world.

# # #

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

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/