Wesley's Chapel

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Wesley's Chapel
Wesley's Chapel and Leysian Mission
Wesley's Chapel, Methodist church, London.jpg
Chapel and courtyard
Wesley's Chapel
Location49 City Road, St Luke's, London
CountryUnited Kingdom
Denomination Methodist Church of Great Britain
Website www.wesleyschapel.org.uk
History
Founded1778
Founder(s) John Wesley
Dedicated1778
Architecture
Architect(s) George Dance the Younger
Style Georgian architecture
Administration
CircuitCity Road
Clergy
Minister(s) The Revd Dr Jennifer Smith; Revd Steven Cooper

Wesley's Chapel (originally the City Road Chapel) is a Methodist church situated in the St Luke's area in the south of the London Borough of Islington. Opened in 1778, it was built under the direction of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. The site is a place of worship and visitor attraction, incorporating the Museum of Methodism in its crypt and John Wesley's House next to the chapel. The chapel has been called "The Mother Church of World Methodism". [1]

Contents

Along with the associated Leysian Mission, Wesley's Chapel is a circuit of the London District of the Methodist Church. As of 2018 the chapel had an average service attendance of about 320 worshippers. [2] As of 2023 the circuit membership is 447. [3]

History and architecture

Front of the chapel Wesley's Chapel from the gates (2).JPG
Front of the chapel

In 1776 Methodist leader John Wesley applied to the City of London for a site to build his new chapel and was granted an area of land on City Road. After raising funds from across the Connexion [4] the foundation stone for the chapel was laid on 21 April 1777. The architect was George Dance the Younger, surveyor to the City of London, and the builder was Samuel Tooth, a member of Wesley's Foundery society. The chapel was formally opened with a service on 1 November 1778. [4] The City Road Chapel was established to replace Wesley's earlier London chapel, the Foundery, [5] where he first preached on 11 November 1739. [6]

John Wesley preaching in the City Road Chapel. Engraving by T. Blood, 1822. John Wesley preaching in the City Chapel. Engraving by T. Bl Wellcome V0006869.jpg
John Wesley preaching in the City Road Chapel. Engraving by T. Blood, 1822.

Wesley's Chapel is constructed in brown brick laid in Flemish bond with dressings of yellow brick and stone. The building has Grade I listed status and is a fine example of Georgian architecture, [1] although it has been altered and improved since it was built. For example, the original plain windows were replaced with stained glass over the course of the 19th century. In 1864, the gallery was modernised, its front lowered and raked seating installed. [4] Around the gallery is motif in relief supposedly designed by Wesley: a dove with an olive branch in its beak encircled by a serpent following its own tail. [7] The Adam style ceiling was replaced by a replica following a fire in 1879. [4]

Another major refurbishment of 1891 was carried out by Holloway Brothers, collaborating with the Methodist architects Elijah Hoole [8] and William Willmer Pocock. (There is a memorial stained glass window dedicated to Pocock.) The foundations were reinforced, the apse windows were enlarged to accommodate the stained glass, and new pews were installed. [4] The pillars supporting the gallery were originally ships' masts donated by King George III, but these were replaced by French jasper pillars donated from Methodist churches overseas. [5] Only the top section of the original three-decker pulpit survives. [4] An organ was installed in 1882 and the present organ in 1891; it was electrified in 1905 and in 1938 its pipes were moved to their present position at the rear of the gallery. [9]

The location of the sanctuary (including the original communion table against the wall) in an apse behind the pulpit was common in the 'auditory' churches of the 18th century, but few other examples survive today. [4] The present sanctuary in front of the pulpit dates from restoration work in the 1970s. Among other alterations, the foundations were again strengthened due to subsistence and the roof was replaced. The chapel was officially reopened on 1 November 1978, by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. [4] The present communion rail was gifted in 1993 by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, [10] [11] who was married in the chapel in 1951. [12]

The chapel has always been served by two or more ministers, and local preachers lead services on occasion. The first woman to preach in Wesley's Chapel was Agnes Elizabeth Slack, in 1926. [13]

The site

Exterior of the house John Wesley's House Exterior.jpg
Exterior of the house

The chapel is set within a cobbled courtyard off City Road, with the chapel at the furthest end and Wesley's house on the right.

John Wesley's House

John Wesley's House, a mid-Georgian townhouse, was built in 1779 at the same time as the chapel. [14] It was Wesley's residence for the last eleven years of his life. He is commemorated by a blue plaque on the City Road frontage. [15] This Grade I listed building is open to visitors as a historic house museum. It was built by Wesley and designed by George Dance the younger, at that time the surveyor of the City of London.

Wesley lived in the house for the last twelve years of his life and died in his bedroom. The house was also used to accommodate travelling preachers and their families. The household servants also lived on the premises. The house continued to be used for travelling preachers after Wesley's death until it was turned into a museum in the 1900s.

In the dining room his Chamber Horse is set up which he used for exercise; on display in the study is his electric machine which was used for the treatment of illness. [16]

Courtyard, gardens and cemetery

At the front of Wesley's House is a small physic garden which contains herbs mentioned in Wesley's book, The Primitive Physic. It details ways in which common people could cure themselves using natural medicines as they couldn't afford a doctor. [17] Wesley set up the first free dispensary in London giving out medical advice and remedies at his Foundery chapel.

Wesley died on 2 March 1791. His tomb is in the garden at the rear of the chapel alongside the graves of six of his preachers, and those of his sister Martha Hall and his doctor and biographer, Dr John Whitehead. [4]

A memorial to Susanna Wesley, Wesley's mother, stands just inside the gate to the front courtyard. [18]

A bronze statue of Wesley with the inscription "the world is my parish" stands at the entrance to the courtyard; created in 1891 by John Adams-Acton, the sculpture is Grade II listed. [19] Elijah Hoole was responsible for the 10-foot high granite pedestal on which the statue stands. [20]

Victorian lavatory

The site also houses one of the few surviving examples of a gentleman's convenience built by the sanitary engineer Thomas Crapper in 1891. [21] [22]

The Leysian Mission

Leysian Mission building, City Road Leysian Mission building, City Road, EC1 - geograph.org.uk - 1087963.jpg
Leysian Mission building, City Road

In 1886 former pupils of The Leys School, Cambridge founded a mission in nearby Whitecross Street. The aim was to improve the lives of the impoverished inhabitants of this part of the East End of London. [23] In 1904 the mission moved to a new site in Old Street, very near Wesley's Chapel. [23] It provided medical facilities, legal advice, financial and dietary assistance, as well as religious services and musical events. After World War II the mission sold the buildings and merged with Wesley's Chapel in 1989. [24]

The chapel today

The chapel is home to a multicultural [25] congregation with a membership of 447. [3] It is a working church with daily prayer, Sunday Holy Communion services and several weekday services. It is known for its relatively "high church" sacramental liturgy. [26] The superintendent minister is Canon Jennifer Smith. [27] Wesley's Chapel is in an ecumenical partnership with the Anglican St Giles' Cripplegate parish church, Jewin Welsh Presbyterian Chapel, and St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. [28] It shares a close relationship with the Friends meeting house at Bunhill Fields.

Museum of Methodism

The Museum of Methodism, housed in the chapel's crypt, contains artefacts and relics relating to Methodism, including several of Wesley's speeches and essays on theology, the "warmed heart" "contemplative space", Thomas Coke's writing slope or desk and Donald Soper's portable preaching stand. [29] [30] The museum was created in 1978 and was refurbished in 2014, with the last case being installed in early 2016 thanks to a donation.

See also

Related Research Articles

Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christian tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named Methodists for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith". Methodism originated as a revival movement within Anglicanism with roots in the Church of England in the 18th century and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States and beyond because of vigorous missionary work, and today has about 80 million adherents worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wesley</span> English clergyman (1703–1791)

John Wesley was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Methodist movement that continues to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Wesley</span> English Methodist and hymn writer (1707–1788)

Charles Wesley was an English Anglican cleric and a principal leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It Be", "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing", "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today", "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling", the carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", and "Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending".

A Methodist local preacher is a layperson who has been accredited by the Methodist Church to lead worship and preach on a frequent basis. With separation from the Church of England by the end of the 18th century, a clear distinction was recognised between itinerant preachers and the local preachers who assisted them. Local preachers have played an important role in Methodism since the earliest days of the movement, and have also been important in English social history. These preachers continue to serve an indispensable role in the Methodist Church of Great Britain, in which the majority of church services are led by laypeople. In certain Methodist connexions, a person becomes a local preacher after obtaining a license to preach. In many parts of Methodism, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection, there are thus two different tiers of ministers—licensed preachers and ordained elders.

The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834).

The Presbyterian Church of Wales, also known as the Calvinistic Methodist Church, is a denomination of Protestant Christianity based in Wales.

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John William Fletcher was a Swiss-born English divine and Methodist leader. Of French Huguenot stock, he was born in Nyon in Vaud, Switzerland. Fletcher emigrated to England in 1750 and there he became an Anglican vicar. He began to work with John Wesley, becoming a key interpreter of Wesleyan theology in the 18th century and one of Methodism's first great theologians. Fletcher was renowned in Britain for his piety and generosity; when asked if he had any needs, he responded, "...I want nothing but more grace."

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Coke (bishop)</span> Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church

Thomas Coke was the first Methodist bishop. Born in Brecon, Wales, he was ordained as a priest in 1772, but expelled from his Anglican pulpit of South Petherton for being a Methodist. Coke met John Wesley in 1776. He later co-founded Methodism in America and then established the Methodist missions overseas, which in the 19th century spread around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wesley's New Room</span> Church in Bristol, England

John Wesley's New Room is a historic building located between between The Horsefair and Broadmead, Bristol, England. Opened in June 1739, it housed the earliest Methodist societies, and was enlarged in 1748. As the oldest purpose-built Methodist preaching house (chapel), it has been designated by Historic England as a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain</span> Organisational basis of British Methodism

The organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is based on the principle of connexionalism. This means that British Methodism, from its inception under John Wesley (1703–1791), has always laid strong emphasis on mutual support, in terms of ministry, mission and finance, of one local congregation for another. No singular church community has ever been seen in isolation either from its immediately neighbouring church communities or from the centralised national organisation. Wesley himself journeyed around the country, preaching and establishing local worshipping communities, called "societies", often under lay leadership. Soon these local communities of worshipping Christians formalised their relationships with neighbouring Methodist communities to create "circuits", and the circuits and societies contained within them, were from the very beginning 'connected' to the centre and Methodism's governing body, the annual Conference. Today, societies are better known as local churches, although the concept of a community of worshipping Christians tied to a particular location, and subdivided into smaller cell groups called "classes", remains essentially based on Wesley's societies.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Fletcher (preacher)</span> Early Methodist preacher, 1739–1815

Mary Bosanquet Fletcher was an English preacher credited with persuading John Wesley, a founder of Methodism, to allow women to preach in public. She was born into an affluent family, but after converting to Methodism, rejected its luxurious life. She was involved in charity work throughout her life, operating a school and orphanage until her marriage to John Fletcher. She and a friend, Sarah Crosby, began preaching and leading meetings at her orphanage and became the most popular female preachers of their time. Fletcher was known as a "Mother in Israel", a Methodist term of honour, for her work in spreading the denomination across England.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Foundery</span>

The Foundery, in Moorfields, was the first London foundry for casting brass cannon for the British Board of Ordnance. The building subsequently served as the first Wesleyan Methodist house of worship, and an important meeting place for the early Methodist community. In 1778, the Methodist congregation was moved to the nearby purpose-built Wesley's Chapel on City Road.

References

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  30. "Museum of Methodism" leaflet, available at the Museum

Further reading

51°31′25″N0°5′13″W / 51.52361°N 0.08694°W / 51.52361; -0.08694