Recapturing the Power of Early Methodism

When Methodism began as a renewal movement within the Church of England with the Wesley brothers, George Whitefield, Howell Harris, and others, they never dreamed that what started as a small group for college students would turn into a church. It’s hard to imagine that these figures ever thought that they’d be caught up in an international movement of the Spirit, something that was much larger than anything called Methodism. There’s cause to think that the earliest form of Methodism at Oxford was a gathering for students to support one another in their academic work, in their Christian walk, and eventually to help those in need. From small beginnings, something much larger began to flourish as the early Methodists chased after the “showers of grace” that were falling across the British Isles and beyond.