Namesake

The name "Wesleyan" is in honor of John Wesley, a priest in the Church of England who became the inspiration behind the Methodist movement. It was their disciplined routine (or method) of spiritual devotion and social work which earned Wesley and a few of his friends in ministry the nickname "Methodists" beginning in 1735. The name stuck later to the unique new organizational structure Wesley designed to provide prayer and spiritual care for tens of thousands of converts who found Christ through his work.

Wesley was an outstanding scholar, yet regarded himself as "a man of one book," the Bible. It was while studying the Bible that he received assurance of his own salvation through faith. It was the Bible which motivated his vision for offering Christ to the common people of England in a way that led to that nation's greatest spiritual revival. It was biblical truth which inspired Wesley to develop a school for orphans, job programs and medical assistance for the poor, efforts to reform inhumane prisons, and arguments for the abolition of slavery, a great evil of his time. Confidence in the Bible as "the only and sufficient rule for Christian faith and practice" (to use Wesley's own words) is still a hallmark of The Wesleyan Church today.

Although we respect his example, John Wesley is not the person Wesleyans worship, however. "A Methodist," he said, "is...one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind, and with all his strength." In fact, "perfect love" for God and for other people is the priority goal for Christian disciples emphasized in our churches.

The first Methodists came to America in 1766 and organized the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1784. In 1843 a group of pastors and local churches left that denomination because of their strong antislavery convictions and their preference for a more democratic form of church government. They adopted the name, the Wesleyan Methodist Connection; later it was changed to The Wesleyan Methodist Church in America. A number of smaller groups of churches merged with them over time, especially between 1948 and 1966, including the Alliance of Reformed Baptists of Canada.