The Spirit of Methodism: From the Wesleys to a Global Communion

＂I felt my heart strangely warmed.＂ That was how John Wesley described his transformational experience of God’s grace at Aldersgate Street on May 24, 1738, an event that some mark as the beginning of the Methodist Church. Yet the story of Methodism, while clearly shaped by John Wesley’s sermons and Charles Wesley’s hymns, is much richer and more expansive. In this book, Methodist theologian Jeffrey W. Barbeau provides a brief and helpful introduction to the history of Methodism--from the time of the Wesleys, through developments in North America, to its diverse and global communion today--as well as its primary beliefs and practices. With Barbeau’s guidance, both those who are already familiar with the Wesleyan tradition and those seeking to know more about this significant movement within the church’s history will find their hearts warmed to Methodism.

Jeffrey W. Barbeau (PhD, Marquette University) is professor of theology at Wheaton College. He is the author or editor of several books, including Religion in Romantic England: An Anthology of Primary Sources; Sara Coleridge: Her Life and Thought; Coleridge, the Bible, and Religion; The Image of God in an Image Driven Age; Spirit of God: Christian Renewal in the Community of Faith; and Coleridge’s Assertion of Religion: Essays on the Opus Maximum.