Page 1 -- 1725 Register of John Wesley’s Preaching Texts – Wanda Willard Smith Date Site Scripture Text Source 10-03-25 Fleet Marston Job 3:171 JWES, #12 10-03-25 Upper Winchendon3 Job 3:174 JWES, #1 10-10-25 Shipton under Wychwood Job 3:175 JWES, #1 10-17-25 Thame Job 3:176 JWES, #1 11-21-25 Binsey7 Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 nm-nd-258 Buckland Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 1Diary does not specify the text on which Wesley preached, but JWES, #1 is dated as finished two days earlier. The sermon can be found in Works, 4:204–214. See also E. Ralph Bates, ‘John Wesley’s First Preaching Sunday’, WHS 40 (1975): 7–16; here, pp. 11–12. 2The definitive list of the texts and dates of John Wesley’s earliest sermons is Richard P. Heitzenrater, ‘John Wesley’s Early Sermons’, WHS 37 (1970): 110–28. Heitzenrater uses annotations on surviving early manuscript sermons, information in Wesley’s Oxford diaries, and other sources to reconstruct a list of sermon titles and texts for Wesley’s preaching between September 1725 and September 1735. In some cases we have evidence only of the title; in other cases we know the text as well but not the occasion of preaching; and there are many sermons for which none of these details has survived. But Heitzenrater’s list gives us what can be known. We identify sermons by their number in Heitzenrater’s list (JWES, #1, for example, means John Wesley’s early sermons, number 1). These numbers do not correspond to the numbering in Works, which covers his combined published and manuscript sermons. The annotations on the manuscript sermons are available in the introductions to the sermons as published in Works. The Oxford diaries will appear in this edition eventually. The reader should assume that the texts and places given in this register for John Wesley’s early sermons are indicated in the Oxford diaries and annotations on the manuscript sermons, unless it is indicated otherwise in notes. The published location for these early sermons, when the text is still extant, will be given at the first citation of each. 3The diary reads ‘Winchendon’. There are two places with this name (Upper and Lower), each with its own local church. Bates, ‘John Wesley’s First Preaching’, makes the case that Wesley preached at Upper Winchendon. 4Again, the text is determined by the dated manuscript sermon. 5The text is based on the dated manuscript sermon. Wesley preached twice at Shipton this Sunday and twice two weeks later (Oct. 24). He surely used this sermon one of those times. 6The text is based on the dated manuscript sermon. Wesley preached twice at Thame on this Sunday and surely used the recently completed sermon for one of the services. 7The diary sets the date for the completion of this sermon. Notations on JWES, #2 list Binsey as the first place it was preached. The sermon can be found in Works, 4:215–23. 8JWES, #2 includes a notation that JW preached this sermon at Buckland in 1725. The diary indicates that Wesley traveled to Buckland on Dec. 28, and preached JWES, #1 there on Jan. 9, 1726. He may have preached JWES, #2 at Buckland the previous Sunday, Jan. 2 (which would have still been 1725 by old calendar dating then in effect), but no diary entries exist for that date to confirm this assumption. Page 2 -- 1726 Register of John Wesley’s Preaching Texts – Wanda Willard Smith Date Site Scripture Text Source 01-09-26 Buckland Job 3:17 JWES, #1 01-09-26 Stanton Job 3:17 JWES, #1 01-16-26 Stanton Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 01-16-261 Broadway Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 02-06-26 Oxford, St. Thomas’s church2 Job 3:17 JWES, #1 02-27-26 Weston3 Job 3:17 JWES, #1 04-24-26 Wroot Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 05-01-26 Wroot Job 3:17 JWES, #1 05-08-26 Epworth Job 3:17 JWES, #1 05-15-26 Haxey Job 3:17 JWES, #1 05-29-26 Finningley Job 3:17 JWES, #1 06-12-26 Haxey Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 07-31-26 Epworth Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 07-31-26 Epworth Rom. 1:16 JWES, #34 08-28-26 Epworth Luke 9:55 JWES, #4; JW Letter5 09-18-26 Epworth Jas. 4:126 JWES, #5 09-29-26 Oxford, St. Michael’s church Ps. 91:117 JWES, #6; nm-nd-ny8 Epworth Ps. 91:11 JWES, #6 nm-nd-ny Wroot Ps. 91:11 JWES, #6 nm-nd-ny Stanton Ps. 91:11 JWES, #6 nm-nd-ny Shipton under Wychwood Ps. 91:11 JWES, #6 nm-nd-ny Gloucester Ps. 91:11 JWES, #6 1JWES, #2 carries the notation of being preached at Broadway, but without a date. The diary is not explicit on this either, but this is the most likely date. 2This is St. Thomas’s church in west Oxford, the poorest parish in the town, near a workhouse. 3Diary says only ‘Weston’. This could have been any of three Westons near Oxford: North Weston, a locality 2 miles west of Thame; South Weston, a village 3 miles north of Watlington; and Weston-on-the-Green, a village 4 miles southwest of Bicester. 4No text of this sermon has survived. 5This sermon has not survived, but some sense of it can be gained from correspondence between John Wesley and his older brother Samuel in December 1726 (Works, 25:201–207, 220–23). 6Diary, Sept. 13: ‘Writ a sermon on rash judging’. No text of this sermon has survived. 7The text of this sermon can be found in Works, 4:224–35. 8Notations on JWES, #6 show Wesley also preached it at Epworth, Wroot, Stanton, Shipton under Wychwood, and Gloucester. No certain dates can be determined from the diary, in part because the section covering Feb. 20, 1727– Apr. 29, 1729 is missing. Page 3 -- 1727 - 1730 Register of John Wesley’s Preaching Texts – Wanda Willard Smith Date Site Scripture Text Source 17271 01-15-27 Broadway 2 Sam. 12:232 JWES, #73 02-05-27 Stanton Harcourt Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 02-12-27 Stanton Harcourt Job 3:17 JWES, #1 02-12-27 South Leigh Job 3:17 JWES, #1 08-20-27 Whatton Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 10-08-27 Epworth 2 Cor. 2:17 JWES, #124 nm-nd-275 South Leigh Matt. 6:33 JWES, #2 1728 01-21-286 Epworth John 1:47 JWES, #17 1729 01-05-29 Wroot 2 Cor. 2:17 JWES, #12 1730 07-19-30 Epworth Exod. 20:87 JWES, #49 08-16-308 Pyrton Exod. 20:8 JWES, #49 11-01-30 Oxford, All Saints’ church John 13:79 JWES, #50 11-15-30 Oxford, St. Mary’s church Gen. 1:2710 JWES, #51 1Our knowledge about the actual occasions of Wesley preaching is limited in the years 1727–30 by the fact that the section of the diary covering Feb. 20, 1727– Apr. 29, 1729 is missing. JWES includes the titles of several sermons from a manuscript list that would fit within this period, but neither the texts nor any notations about these sermons survive. 2This was a funeral sermon for John (‘Robin’) Griffiths, son of the Rev. John Griffiths of Broadway; cf. Wesley’s letter to his mother (Jan. 24, 1727), Works, 25:208–209; and letter to his mother (March 19, 1727), Works, 25:214. 3The text of this sermon can be found in Works, 4:236–43. 4The date of preaching is based on a notation on the sermon that Wesley completed writing it on Oct. 6. The text of the sermon can be found in Works, 4:244–51. 5The notation on the sermon gives ‘1727’ only; the relevant section of the diary is missing. 6Wesley wrote three early sermons on John 1:47, with the manuscript of only one (#17) still extant. His notations show that he finished transcribing the sermon on Jan. 17, 1728, and preached it at Epworth, probably on the following Sunday, Jan. 21. The text of JWES, #17 can be found in Works, 4:252–61. 7The text of this sermon can be found in Works, 4:267–78. 8Notation on the sermon gives ‘1730’ only, but the diary shows that JW preached at Pyrton on Aug. 16. 9The text of this sermon can be found in Works, 4:279–89. 10The text of this sermon can be found in Works, 4:290–303. Page 4 -- 1731 Register of John Wesley’s Preaching Texts – Wanda Willard Smith Date Site Scripture Text Source 02-07-31 London, Queen’s Square Chapel Gen. 1:27 JWES, #51 02-28-311 Oxford, St. Michael’s church Exod. 20:8 JWES, #49 03-28-31 Oxford, St. Thomas’s church Exod. 20:8 JWES, #49 04-04-31 Combe Exod. 20:8 JWES, #49 04-04-31 Wilcot Exod. 20:8 JWES, #49 04-11-31 Oxford, All Saints’ church Exod. 20:8 JWES, #49 04-25-31 Epworth John 13:7 JWES, #50 05-09-31 Stanton John 13:7 JWES, #50 05-23-31 Stanton Gen. 1:27 JWES, #51 05-30-31 Stanton Exod. 20:8 JWES, #49 09-19-31 Oxford, Christ Church cathedral Prov. 11:302 JWES, #54 09-26-31 Oxford, Castle prison Mark 9:443 JWES, #56 09-29-31 Oxford, St. Michael’s4 church Prov. 11:30 JWES, #54 1Notation on the sermon: ‘St.