Aldersgate Day
| Aldersgate Day | |
|---|---|
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This monument marks the approximate location of John Wesley's "Aldersgate experience", in London. It features Wesley's account of the experience, taken from his journal.[1] | |
| Type | Christianity |
| Significance | Commemorates the founding of John Wesley's ministry and the Methodist movement |
| Celebrations | Church services |
| Date | 24 May |
| Next time | 24 May 2017 |
| Frequency | annual |
| Related to | Aldersgate Sunday |
Aldersgate Day is a holiday celebrated by Methodist Christians on May 24 or the nearest Sunday. It commemorates the day in 1738 when Anglican priest John Wesley attended a group meeting in Aldersgate, London, where he received an experience of assurance of his salvation.[2][3] This was the pivotal event in Wesley's life that ultimately led to the development of the Methodist movement in Britain and America.[4]
In the calendars of the British Methodist Church and United Methodist Church the event is publicly commemorated in church services on the nearest Sunday to May 24, called Aldersgate Sunday.[5][6]
The "Aldersgate experience"
According to his journal,[7] Wesley found that his enthusiastic gospel message had been rejected by his Anglican brothers. Heavy-hearted, he reluctantly attended a group meeting that evening in a Moravian chapel on Aldersgate Street in London.[8] It was there, while someone was reading from Martin Luther's Preface to the Epistle to the Romans, that he felt that his heart was "strangely warmed."[7] He describes it as:
I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.[2][7]
Daniel L. Burnett called this event Wesley's "Evangelical Conversion", even though he was already a priest.[4] In 1739 Wesley broke with the Moravians and founded a new society, which would become the Methodist movement.
Date and commemoration
Methodists may privately commemorate the event on May 24. Churches will also mark it on the nearest Sunday. The United Methodist Church has produced a special liturgy to be used for Aldersgate Day.[2] There exists some confusion in the United States Methodist calendar between Heritage Day and Aldersgate Day. This confusion was only compounded when in 2004 the United Methodist General Conference moved Heritage Day to coincide with Aldersgate Day.[5]
In Britain, Wesley's Aldersgate experience is celebrated on the Sunday preceding 24 May if that day is not a Sunday.[6][9]
References
- ↑ "John Wesley's Conversion Place Memorial – The 'Aldersgate Flame'". Methodist Heritage. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 "What is Aldersgate Day?". umc.org. The United Methodist Church. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- ↑ Dreyer, Frederick A. (1999). The Genesis of Methodism. Lehigh University Press. p. 27. ISBN 0-934223-56-4.
- 1 2 Burnett, Daniel L. (15 March 2006). In the Shadow of Aldersgate: An Introduction to the Heritage and Faith of the Wesleyan Tradition. Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- 1 2 "Heritage Sunday and Other Heritage Events 2016 May 22, 2016: "Roots, Shoots, and Branches"". gcah.org. United Methodist Church. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
HERITAGE SUNDAY shall be observed on Aldersgate Day (May 24) or the Sunday preceding that date (2012 Book of Discipline, par. 264.1).
- 1 2 "Diary". The Methodist Church in Britain. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- 1 2 3 "John Wesley the Methodist: Chapter VII – The New Birth". wesley.nnu.edu/. Wesley Center Online / Northwest Nazarene University. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- ↑ John Wesley's Heart Strangely Warmed, www.christianity.com. Accessed on 21 May 2016.
- ↑ "Aldersgate Sunday". The Methodist Church in Britain. Retrieved 21 May 2016.