John Wesley

John Wesley (1703–1791) was an English Anglican priest and the principal founder of the Methodist movement. He helped shape Methodism through extensive itinerant preaching, organized societies for prayer and practical religious discipline, and produced a large body of sermons and other writings. His brief 1735–1737 mission in Georgia influenced his later evangelical work, while his leadership helped Methodism develop from a renewal movement within the Church of England into a worldwide Christian tradition.