John Wesley spent just two years in the American colonies, and he had a pretty dismal time of it. Yet that trip led to major changes in Wesley's life, and his work in turn did much to shape the religious climate in America.

When he boarded an ocean-going ship in 1735, bound for Georgia, John Wesley was already a very religious man. Son of an Anglican minister, he had studied at Oxford, where he co-founded The Holy Club, a group of students who aimed to be methodical about their personal holiness. Within this group were Charles Wesley (John's hymn-writing brother) and a young preacher named George Whitefield. Their methodical approach is what caused them to be called "Methodists."

Despite his striving for righteousness, John Wesley was missing something. Before his American voyage, he wrote: "My chief motive is the hope of saving my own soul. I hope to learn the true sense of the Gospel of Christ by preaching it to the heathen."

The colony of Georgia was quite new. James Oglethorpe led a group of settlers there in 1733, intending to establish it as a non-slavery colony. John Wesley was asked to serve there as a minister to the English settlers and a missionary to the friendly native tribes in the area.

Serenity in the Storm
He set out in October, 1735, on a ship carrying 80 English colonists and 26 Moravians. John got to know these Moravian Christians, appreciating their radiant joy and deep devotion. This was especially apparent one night just as the Moravians had begun their evening psalm-singing. The wind-swept sea lashed at the ship, ripping the mainsail and pouring through the decks. The English passengers were screaming, but the Moravians kept singing.

"Weren't you afraid?" he asked one of the Moravians after the storm was over. "Weren't your women and children afraid?"

The Moravian gently responded, "No. Our women and children are not afraid to die."

After the ship landed, Wesley continued similar conversations with a Moravian pastor named Spangenberg, who launched some challenging questions of his own. "Have you the witness within yourself?" the pastor asked John. "Does the Spirit of God witness with your spirit that you are a child of God?" Wesley didn't know what to say. "Do you know Jesus Christ?" the pastor pressed. "I know he is the Savior of the world."

"True," the Moravian responded, "but do you know he has saved you?"

John Wesley was clearly a very religious man. He had not only trained for the ministry, but he formed a club devoted to finding new levels of righteousness. He was not only an Anglican minister, but a missionary, traveling across an ocean to spread the Christian faith. But what was this Christian faith he was spreading? Was it merely a matter of seeking righteousness? Or was there more? What was it that gave those Moravians such confidence in the face of death? How could they sing joyfully when others were shrinking with fear? Whatever they had, John Wesley feared he didn't have it.

Yet he powerfully preached a message of spiritual discipline, railing against vanity and fancy clothes. Initially, many colonists responded out of curiosity more than anything else. Someone said to Wesley, "The people say they are Protestants, but as for you, they cannot tell what religion you are of. They never heard of such a religion before, and they do not know what to make of it." John began holding a sort of Bible study group on Sunday afternoons, a feature he would later use in England with great effect, but in general Wesley's Georgia ministry was difficult. He fell in love with Sophia Hopkey, the niece of the chief magistrate, and courted her for some months. Perhaps fearing that this relationship would inhibit his ministry, he decided not to marry her, and she soon wed someone else. This caused Wesley great pain, and he took it out on her, publicly rebuking her for various sins and refusing to offer her communion. Her new husband took Wesley to court for this, and soon others were filing complaints as well. In December, 1737, he left for England.