The Anglicanism of John Wesley

Early today, I came across a documentary online entitled "John Wesley: The Faith That Sparked The Methodist Movement." This interesting treatment reminded me of my religious background. I grew up in a rural southern area where the only mainline Protestant church was Methodist. In studying Methodism, I became acquainted with the Anglican background of the Wesley family (as well as the background of much of my own family).

Of course, John Wesley was an Anglican priest and remained so even as "patriarch" of the Methodist movement. Despite his issues with some establishment tendencies, Wesley still valued the Anglican way. The societies that he organized were originally small groups meant to function within the Church of England at home and abroad. Although his preaching was rooted in his study of Scripture, many of his sermons might also be considered eighteenth-century adaptations of the sixteenth-century Anglican Books of Homilies. He loved the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and when he suggested worship practices for his newly independent American followers, he sent a simplified version of the Prayer Book. He also provided a basic theological confession in the Methodist Twenty-Five Articles of Religion, based on the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles. 

At the same time, Wesley valued the Gospel and matters of salvation above all. He saw that the Church of England of his time was not meeting the spiritual and human needs of many of its constituents. He wanted people to hear the gospel of grace, the message of salvation through Christ, even when it meant preaching outside of established churches and using lay preachers. He also worked to ensure that people had religious education, literacy instruction, medical care, and so on. Wesley continued to resist the idea of separation from official Anglicanism, but he also felt bound to follow his personal calling and responsibilities.

Long ago, I decided that I did not accept all of John Wesley's theology, but Wesley remains a valuable witness to Anglicans and other Christians. Sometimes external unity and organizational loyalty have their places, but Christians also have higher concerns. The truth of Christ's gospel must be preached and believers must be nourished and given pastoral care even when church structures are weak or corrupt..