Jim Jones 
John Wesley left America under threat of indictment, but history shows he triumphed
Special to the Star-Telegram
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- A bearded street musician played Amazing Grace on a flute as an imposing statue of John Wesley looked down on us in the heart of Savannah.
We were on a Wesley pilgrimage recently to this colonial city, which has numerous memorials to the founder of Methodism. Our first stop was at Reynolds Square, one of the tree-lined squares for which Savannah is famous. Wesley's statue is near the spot where he had a residence and garden.
When we first walked into the square, Marion May, a street musician, was playing jazz tunes. But he switched to Amazing Grace when he saw us standing at Wesley's statue.
Wesley landed near here Feb. 6, 1736, with high hopes of converting the Native American population, or "savages" as he called them in his diary. He made little headway. But the 33-year-old Wesley did preach to colonists and fell in love with 18-year-old Sophy Hopkey, one of his parishioners. But while Wesley vacillated between getting married or devoting all his love to the church, Sophy married another.
The drama took on soap-opera proportions when Wesley refused Communion to her, saying she had not registered for the rite. It brought on a defamation lawsuit. After only two years in America, Wesley abruptly left Savannah under the threat of indictment. He sailed back to England, considering his mission to America a failure.
But don't tell that to the people of Savannah.
Noted presence
The name of Wesley is emblazoned on churches, historic buildings, crosses and statues throughout the city.
Others, including George Whitefield and Francis Asbury, carried on his work in America while Wesley, traveling thousands of miles on horseback in England, forged a network that became worldwide Methodism.
Wesley is important today, said Ted Campbell, author of John Wesley and Christian Antiquity: Religious Vision and Cultural Change.
Campbell, professor of church history at Southern Methodist University's Perkins School of Theology, said Wesley's words will be quoted often by people on all sides of issues during the quadrennial General Conference of the United Methodist Church from Wednesday through May 2. It's being held for the first time in Fort Worth.
"Many of our fights are framed as fights over John Wesley," he said. "Some say he was conservative; others say he was liberal. In a sense, this honors Wesley, because we all want to claim him."
A 'social progressive'
Campbell's opinion is that if Wesley were alive today he would be a conservative in theology and moral teachings and more progressive on social issues. Wesley was a strong abolitionist and reached out to the poor during England's industrial revolution.
United Methodists have many, many outreaches to the poor and oppressed, but they could still take lessons from Wesley today, said Bill Vance of Fort Worth, a retired airline pilot and Methodist layman who for 25 years donned a costume and portrayed Wesley at many churches and conferences.
"John Wesley didn't sit in his church, dress nice and all that good stuff," Vance said. "He went down into the mines, into the jails, where there was real filth. That's where the people needed him. And he's saying to us today, 'Go where the people need you.' That may be as close as a member of your own family or as far away as Africa."
The Rev. Mark Winter, a Methodist evangelist in Hurst who portrays historic Methodist figures, said Wesley wasn't perfect.
"Wesley was just authentic," Winter said. "He lived as Jesus lived, gave away his money and walked the walk."
Tracing the steps
In Savannah there are guided Wesley tours.
"I always show them where Sophy lived," said Cindy Doehring, who guides people to Wesley sites in Savannah and nearby St. Simon's Island, where Wesley's famous hymn-writing brother, Charles, did missionary work.
Charles Wesley had conflicts with Savannah founder James Oglethorpe and others and left even before John Wesley returned to England.
Our self-guided tour took us to worship at the magnificent Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church near Calhoun Square, which is dedicated to Wesley. In its balcony are stained glass images of both John and Charles Wesley.
Our last stop was Cockspur Island, called Peeper's Island in Wesley's day, where Wesley first landed in America.
He writes in his diary that the small British contingent made it to higher ground "where we all kneeled down and gave thanks."
It was the beginning of Wesley's American journey that first looked like failure, but ended in triumph.
John Wesley
Wesley was a priest in the Church of England until his death and never intended to form a new denomination. His goal was to develop a reform movement inside the Anglican Church.
Wesley was the third pastor of Savannah's Christ Church, which began without a building but now is a handsome, columned Episcopal Church on Bull Street not far from Wesley's statue.
A plaque in front of Christ Church states: "Wesley's first sermon on American soil was delivered on this street. Christ Church members met with him at his house in Savannah when he was still an Anglican priest. James Oglethorpe planned the new town of Savannah and asked John Wesley to be his chaplain."
General conference
When: Wednesday through May 2
Where: Fort Worth Convention Center, 1201 Houston St., Fort Worth
Cost: Free
Information: www.gc2008.umc.org; www.umc.org; www.ctcumc.org
