A Brief History of Methodism

John Wesley

In the eighteenth century, the first people to be called ‘Methodists’ were a group of friends in Oxford. They were serious about their faith and met regularly for Bible study, prayer and Holy Communion. One of them was John Wesley, who started the movement that eventually became the Methodist Church. In his time a lot of people went to church just out of habit, but Methodists believed that religion should come truly from the heart, and that it had to make a difference to how you lived your Life. They met together to try to get some ‘method’ of making sure that happened.

When Methodists are ‘confirmed’ and become full members of the church, they make promises similar to all Christian churches, these are the same as the baptism promises:

To turn away from evil and all that denies God.
To turn to God trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and in the Holy Spirit as Helper and Guide.