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At the Roots of Methodism: U.K. celebrates Wesley's 300th

2/5/2003 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn.

NOTE: This is a regular feature on Methodist history prepared especially for distribution by United Methodist News Service. Photographs are available.

A UMNS Feature By John Singleton* By John Singleton*

LINK: Click to open full size version of image
The Old Rectory, John Wesley's boyhood home at Epworth, England, is playing a prominent role in celebrations this year to mark the 300th anniversary of his birth. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1709, when John was 6. His dramatic rescue from the flames convinced his mother, Susannah, that he had been saved for a special purpose. A UMNS photo courtesy John Singleton. Photo number 03-47, Accompanies UMNS #058, 2/5/03
The birthplace and boyhood home of John Wesley at Epworth, England, is playing a prominent role in celebrations throughout this year to mark the 300th anniversary of his birth.

Now known as the Old Rectory, the original building was destroyed by fire in 1709, a conflagration from which the 6-year-old John was dramatically rescued. This event convinced his mother, Susannah, that John was a "brand plucked from the burning" who had been saved for a special purpose.

Starting March 1 and continuing over an eight-month period, the local celebrations at Epworth (in the Humberside region of England) will focus on the Anglican church of St. Andrew's, where Wesley's father, Samuel, was rector; the Wesley Memorial Church; and the Old Rectory itself.

Alongside Methodist "pilgrims" from all over the world, Epworth townspeople and traders are supporting the celebrations, which will include a Wesley Pageant with parades, market stalls, entertainment, music and dance. A "look-alike John Wesley" will even preach from the original market cross in the town center, and an evening Songs of Praise Service is to be held around Samuel Wesley's tomb, where John preached in 1742 after being excluded from his father's former church.

The Old Rectory will host a number of important displays of Wesley memorabilia this year. An exhibition of Wesley's life and writings is being held throughout March, and a local artist will exhibit a collection of watercolors and drawings called "John Wesley - A Pictorial Journey" April 13-May 21. A selection of letters written by John Wesley to Ann Tindall of Scarborough will be exhibited on loan from the British Museum May 1-July 31.

An international conference on "John Wesley: Life, Legend and Legacy" is scheduled at the University of Manchester for June 15-18 to mark the birth of the founder of the Methodist movement in 1703. The conference will aim to bring together historians, theologians, art historians, literature specialists and all others interested in any aspect of Wesley's life and legacy. Papers are expected to address the following general themes: "Wesley the Man," "Wesley in Context," "Wesley and Theology" and "The Wesleyan Legacy." This major conference will be accompanied by an exhibit of visual, archival and printed artefacts from the historic collection of Wesley material housed at the John Rylands Library in Manchester, England.

On a wider European front, a major all-age Methodist Festival is expected to attract hundreds of Methodists from many east and west European countries to the Hermannswerder Peninsular in Potsdam, Germany, July 30-Aug. 3. Organized by the European Methodist Council, the event is seen as an opportunity both to share a common faith and heritage and to look to the future. The program - called "Get in touch" - will include Bible studies, small Wesley groups for sharing and growing together, creative art and other workshops, celebrations and "serious looks at our past, our present state and future prospects for mission."

The many tercentenary events throughout Britain will include a national service of celebration to be televised by the BBC from London's Royal Albert Hall (March 30); a Festival Week at Wesley's historic New Room, Bristol (May 19-25); an Aldersgate Memorial Service in London on Wesley Day (May 24); and the opening of a major Social History Exhibition at London's historic Wesley's Chapel (June 7).

Also, a national Service of Ecumenical Celebration at Lincoln Cathedral (June 17); a Walk of Witness from Lincoln to Llandudno, Wales, for the opening of the British Methodist Annual Conference (June 17-28); the unveiling of a new Wesley monument at Lincoln College, Oxford (June 21); an event at Hanham Mount, Bristol, the famous scene of Wesley's open-air preaching (June 22); a lecture by the Rev. Richard Heitzenrater for the Wesley Historical Society at the British Methodist Annual Conference in Llandudno (June 30).

More information on Wesley tercentenary events is available at www.wesley2003.org.uk/events2.htm online.

U.S. events being planned will include the Fifth Historical Convocation, "John Wesley: His Life and Legacy," Aug. 14-17 in Madison, N.J. (See UMNS story #039.)

An adventurous British theater group is marking Wesley's 300th birthday by bringing the story of the Wesley brothers across the Atlantic to tour a number of United Methodist churches May 11-June 14. The author, the Rev. David Hill of East London, is traveling with a professional cast to present "Never Stand Still," a musical play based on the correspondence between John and Charles Wesley. The performance tells the story of the beginnings of Methodism without glossing over the sometimes tempestuous relationship between the two brothers. Three actors perform the play, backed by a choir from the host church or churches. So far, the tour is scheduled to visit churches in New York, Detroit, Delaware and Virginia. Further dates are invited.
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*Singleton, a writer with the weekly Methodist Recorder in London, is administrator for the Methodist churches and social projects in the Tower Hamlets area of East London. He can be contacted by e-mail at: john@towerhamlets.org.

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