wfn.org | Group plans to erect bronze statue at Wesley's birthplace

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 14, 2000 News media contact: Linda Green·(615)742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn. 10-71B{144}
  
By United Methodist News Service

A group of Methodists in England have established a trust fund to erect a
bronze statue of John Wesley at Epworth, his birthplace.

The Wesley Millennium Monument Trust was created to raise funds for the
commissioning and constructing of a 6-foot-6-inch bronze statue of
Methodism's founder to overlook the garden of the house where he was born
and raised. The statue will sit on a "plinth" or pedestal, made from ancient
stone salvaged from the tower of St. Andrew's church, where Wesley's father
preached.

Trust officials want to raise $50,000 from around the world to construct
what will be Britain's third statue of Wesley. A local artist began work in
January, and a final design, including the plinth, will be unveiled on
Wesley Day in May. The statue will be erected in October.  

"Although there are already commemorative statues in London and in Bristol,
there is nothing comparable to honor him in the village where he was born in
1703 and frequently returned to all of his life," said Don Stewart, chairman
of the Wesley Millennium Trust. "We on the trust feel that such a memorial
is long overdue, and what better time to reaffirm the future's debt to the
past than the dawning of a new millennium?"

Visitors, including many Methodists, travel to Epworth from all parts of the
world "to pay homage to the man whose teachings and example they follow,"
trust officials said. A statue would be an inspiration and a reinforcement
of Wesley's work, they said.

"He should be commemorated in his birthplace," Stewart said.

Assistance from Methodists of all denominations is needed, trust officials
said. All donations will be recorded in a memorial book, which will be
displayed in a public place.

For more information, contact Stewart at Holly Tree Farm, Sandtoft Road,
Epworth DN9 1LB; or send an e-mail to:
donaldstewart@sheep56.freeserve.co.uk.
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United Methodist News Service
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