 |
|
 |
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 2003
Our Methodist Birthday
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 2003
Our Methodist Birthday
We are having a birthday and it will be our 300th! You might not have known that but it is true just the same. June 17, 1703, is the day John Wesley was born. In the Introduction to The Journal of John Wesley, abridged by Nehemiah Curnock, Bishop Gerald Kennedy writes that from the beginning John showed a logical and practical mind. He was well suited to the strict education given to all the Wesley children by their mother Susannah. On their fifth birthday they were taught the alphabet, and the next morning she began teaching them to read in the Book of Genesis.
John was educated at Oxford and after completion of his studies taught Greek, philosophy, and logic at Oxford's Lincoln College. He was ordained by the Church of England, first as a Deacon, 1725, and three years later, 1728, he was ordained a priest. Yet, he is remembered best for that for which he spent his life: establishing the Methodist Societies.
I did not grow up in the United Methodist Church but I have been influenced since birth by Wesleyan theology and practice. What I find most compelling within this branch of the Christian faith is the rich blending of historic Christian teaching and the practical, experiential impact of that teaching. Within Methodism, Father Wesley sought to unite knowledge and effective Christian living.
He taught and preached the historic faith, yet he knew that to be Christian meant more than right doctrine. So, he strongly insisted upon actively caring for the poor, the orphaned, the widowed, those in prison and those torn by addictive substances. The legacy of active faith is a characteristic still found in that group of Christian believers who call themselves Methodists.
To many of us 300 years is a long time and, in America, I suppose it is. But, I pray that our birthday celebration is far more than a celebration of a length of time. There is nothing redemptive or transforming about time alone. Our celebration must be one of gratitude for the great gift God has given us through the faithful ministry of John Wesley. May the Holy Spirit kindle within us that same passion for the gospel and may we be moved beyond where we are and become what God intends us to be.
Grace and Peace,
David