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,«•' a M H m . I H OilHE HI M D F . HH A special issue 1983 commemorating the 225th inm of John Wesley's heartwarming experience May 2 at a prayer meeting on Allersgate Street, London. The Midmonth Magazine for Methodist Families MAY/ 1963 : i fev III ill I c ^im mm m\ fl^rj 9mSm 1 M/.| rflli) .*& l^iS* Wesley takes Aldersgate to the people (stained-glass window at First Methodist Church, Ansonia, Connecticut). ^^-^-^^^FW! It Happened The Man . John Wesley, founder of worldwide Methodism, was born in 1703 at Epworth Rectory near England's fog- gy east coast. Till he was 35, the career of this scholarly little clergyman (he stood five feet four) was not notable. Change came suddenly— and henceforth, says a biographer, "He enjoyed the profoundest tranquility whilst creating around him the most intense excitement." At 87 he died. His tomb at City Road Chapel, London, records that he was in zeal, min- isterial labours, and extensive usefulness, superior, perhaps, to all men since the days of St. Paul. This likeness by Romney is in the Phil- adelphia Museum of Art. The Time and Place . The 18th century was not England's most glori- ous era. Americans remember it as a time when injustice and arrogance of the motherland touched off a tea party in Boston harbor and a revolution. Even British historians are caustically critical of what went on in their islands. Thomas Carlyle, for example, summed up his opinion of England as "soul extinct, stomach well alive." John Richard Green, historian of the English people, wrote of "a revolt against religion and churches . new political and material channels opened to human energy were producing a new indifference . Purity and fidelity to marriage were out of fashion." Now, Wednesday, May 24, 1738 . Unlike so many of his more comfortable countrymen. John Wesley was sorely troubled about his owr soul. Back in London, he had sad memories ol two years as a missionary to settlers and Indi ans in Georgia. He had left especially wretchec because he had not realized his love for a gir till she had wed another. Most of all, he waf troubled about his own inadequate faith whicl was "in the head and not in the heart." At 4 a.m. that day, he rose as usual for praye and study. That afternoon, at St. Paul' Cathedral, an anthem caught his mood . Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice. let thine ears consider wet the voice of my complaint. Together /May 196 m . \ght 225 Years Ago in London . The Event . "In the evening," John Wesley wrote, "I went very unwill- ingly to a society in Aldersgate Street." Some unnamed person was reading from Martin Luther's notes on Paul's Epistle to the Romans when, "about a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, / felt my heart strangely warmed." To Wesley came a flood of confidence and trust in Christ for his salvation. Many painters have put on canvas numerous incidents in Wesley's life, but apparently only a forgotten woodcut artist had pictured the Aldersgate moment (above) till Together challenged Jack White, Methodist layman and an artist distinguished for character portrayal, to depict Wesley's heart- warming experience. His reverent study on pages 40-41 highlights this issue. The Ongoing Results . Psychologists and theologians still discuss factors that led Wesley to his Aldersgate experience. But historian W. E. H. Lecky, mindful of how Methodist fervor lifted Britain's morals and morale, asserts "the scene which took place at that humble meeting in Aldersgate Street forms an epoch in English history." He could have written the same for America. By 1784, the Revolution had cut transatlantic state-ecclesiastical ties. The founder of Methodism, acknowledging the "logic of events" and "the very uncommon train of providences," gave his reluctant nod to American Methodists to organize as a church. Today, there are 43 units in the World Methodist Council which represent a community of some 42 million persons. ^lay 1963\Together Ik * *< c -.*-.*-.«•..-* © I •• ,,, • • ^~ M • * tt na ^ _o 1 3' SEE "EMPIRE" IN COLOR, NBC-TV, TUESDAYS Chrysler Corporation warrants every part on this page for 5 years or 50,000 miles. 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Trucks are included, bu are subject to additional limitations of 1500 hours operation if mileage does not accurately reflect the extent of actual use and operation of parts covered by the warrant- Coverage will not apply to trucks subjected to prolonged power take-off or off-highway use. PLYMOUTH • VALIANT • CHRYSLER • IMPERIAL • DODGE • DODGE DART • DODGE TRUCKS CHRYSLER w CORPORATION * p. Members of First Methodist Church, Savannah, Tenn., pull plow together in Aldersgate Year groundbreaking for new $250,000 plant to better serve a growing congregation. Background: In only 6 of the last 21 years has membership in The Methodist Church kept pace with the nation's population growth, according to the de- partment of research and statistics of the Methodist Council on World Service and Finance. The per- centage of Methodists in the total U.S. population also has declined steadily each year but one since 1950. [See chart below.] Are We Methodists Dr. Earl D. C. Brewer of Candler School of Theol- ogy, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga., an authority on Growing Fast Enough? town and country Methodism, says: "Because of continued population growth, Meth- The News: Methodism's current emphasis upon odism can show substantial net increases in member- revived spiritual life will reach its high point of the ship while suffering a decline in the percentage of year on Friday, May 24—the 225th anniversary of that population in church membership. If such trends John Wesley's heartwarming experience at Aldersgate. continue long enough, it is obvious that net losses in Church leaders are hopeful it will stall, even re- membership will eventually replace net gains." verse, an alarming membership trend which has seen An example of this can be seen in one of Method- Methodism's growth lag behind the United States' ism's 100 annual conferences which reported that exploding population rate. [See Methodism's 'Empha- during the 1961-62 conference year it received more sis' to Be 'The Warmed Heart,' January, page 3, and than 22,000 members but removed some 20,000 from Laymen Call on Unchurched in Nationwide Visitation, its rolls for various reasons and wound up with a net March, page 3.] gain of only 2,000 members. It took 173 Methodists Methodists also will be observing Ministry Sunday to gain one new member. on May 19 to emphasize the need for recruiting at Methodism has had its ups and downs in member- least 1,200 new ministers to meet the demands of the ship gains over the years. Dr. Brewer reports there immediate future for churches to serve new areas. have been four periods when membership grew less 7% Methodist and U.S. Growth—1940-1962. • ••• Percentage Rate of Methodist Membership Growth mmmm Percentage Rate of U.S. Population Growth (estimated except in census years) IM1 1 940-I 962 Fill I ' IF -y—ii. *•- -* .+' ¥"'. .• I 1 k 1940 45 50 55 60 , rapidly than the population. These 62, but the number of seminary grad- civilization by greatly reducing the in- were 1860-1870 (the Civil War era); uates has ranged from 594 to 680 a centive to give." 1900-1910 (a period of heavy Roman year. For 1962 it was 677. Catholic immigration from Europe); Methodist Bishop Oxnam Dies 1930-1940 (the depression years), and Significance: The Aldersgate em- Bishop G. Bromley Oxnam, 71, a 1950 to the present. phasis of 1963 will draw attention of retired bishop of The Methodist However, Methodism has not been the General Conference of 1964 to the Church, died March 12 as a result of alone in experiencing a leveling or fact that Methodism is not keeping up complications following a mid-Decem- downward trend. The 1963 Yearbook with population growth. Methodist ber operation. of American Churches reveals that for leaders have been fully aware of these He had been bishop of four Method- the first time in 17 years, church mem- trends, and action to reverse them may ist areas—Omaha, Boston, New York, bership percentage gains in the U.S.