John Wesley: The World His Parish

The angry mob demanded that John come out of the house. Soon John found himself being marched in the dark to a neighboring town, flanked by three hundred people. In the next town, the mob grew and its mood turned uglier. "Are you willing to hear me speak?" John yelled. "No, no!" many yelled back. "Knock his brains out. Kill him."

Pursuing his calling with singleness of vision, John Wesley defied the strength of angry mobs and longstanding traditions to offer the hope of Christ to millions of people who were outside the influence of the churches of his day. Passionate and tireless, this Anglican clergyman rode a quarter of a million miles on horseback during his lifetime, stopping to preach more than forty thousand sermons in open fields, churches, and barns.

Focused on God's love and holy living, the movement Wesley founded quickly multiplied in vibrant Methodist societies all over England and would soon influence far-flung nations for Christ.