John Wesley’s father, Samuel Wesley, was an Anglican priest and noted church musician. John was the 15^th child born in his family. While he was a student at Oxford University, he and a group of fellow students (including his brother Charles) were part of a "Holy Club" which existed to encourage them in the keeping of a religious life. They developed a "method" for holiness, which gained them the nickname "Methodists." In 1738, while attending a meeting at a building in Aldersgate Street, Wesley had a conversion experience in which, he later testified, his "heart was strangely warmed." As a result of this experience, he dedicated his life to evangelism, doing much of his preaching outdoors. In part this was because of the Anglican Church’s resistance to revival, which made it difficult to find churches to preach in. In part it was because Wesley discovered that outdoor preaching was an effective way to reach the unchurched. Although Wesley drew his theology from the teachings of the Anglican church, he interpreted those teachings in a non-Calvinistic way — emphasizing the personal decision which was necessary in order to receive salvation. To the end of his life, Wesley understood Methodism as a movement within Anglicanism, and it was not until after his death that Methodism emerged as a new, separate denomination.

Bibliography:

Works by Wesley: One place to start is with A Plain Account of Christian Perfection. You can find it online at: http://gbgm-umc.org/UMhistory/Wesley/perfect.html

Wesley’s complete works fill 14 volumes, but most of those works are sermons, hymns, letters, or journal entries.

Works about Wesley: Kenneth Collins:A Real Christian: The Life of John Wesley

Henry Knight: The Presence of God in the Christian Life: John Wesley and the Means of Grace

Links:

http://www.island-of-freedom.com/WESLEY.HTM

http://gbgm-umc.org/UMhistory/Wesley/