John Wesley: His Time and Ministry in Savannah, GA (1735-1737)

When it comes to Christian History in what is today the United States, we have been home to Christians from all walks of life, traditions, rites and cultures - from Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, French Huguenot and much more. Early in the state of Georgia’s British Colonial history, we even see that evangelist, theologian and the later founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, briefly ministered to the city albeit unsuccessfully. His legacy still seems to live on in Savannah to this day in monuments and historical markers that mark the site of buildings associated with his years in the city during the 1730s. Originally born in Lincolnshire, England in 1703, he was originally a member of the Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, in which he became an ordained deacon in 1725 and later priest in 1728. In 1729, while he was at Oxford University, he led a group of students there, which included his brother Charles Wesley and future preacher George Whitefield, called the “Holy Club” which met for prayer, Bible study and a dedication to living a devout Christian life. It was from there where the Methodist movement would be born.

Following the establishment of Savannah by military officer and First Colonial Governor of Georgia James Oglethorpe in February 1733, Governor Oglethorpe, who knew of them since he was a friend of their father, invited John and his brother, Charles to the new settlement to serve as missionaries. Sailing for Savannah in October 1735 aboard the ship Simmonds, the Wesley Brothers first set foot on Georgia soil on February 6, 1736 after four months at sea. They landed at what is today Cockspur Island, called Peppers Island at the time, where he led a prayer of thanksgiving, and from there they sailed upriver to Savannah. Not too long after, they returned to where the ship was docked only to find many of the colonists drunk which was against the rules established by the Trustees of the Colony of Georgia. In order to set an example, Wesley was said to have picked up an axe and proceeded to destroy the rum kegs and punish the colonists for their misconduct. On March 7th, Wesley preached his first sermon in Savannah in a hut that operated as both a church and courthouse.

Once in Savannah, Charles briefly became Governor Oglethorpe’s secretary, a job that he was not suited for, and with this he ran into numerous problems particularly when he confronted the Governor on his misconduct with women, and he is also said to have run into problems with other colonists and suffered from bouts of illness which caused him to return home to England in August 1736. As to John, he became the rector of Christ Church in the settlement (taking up residence on the lot today occupied by the later 19th Century Oliver Sturges House) where he seems to have experienced some success since communion attendance is said to have risen while he was there. While in Savannah, he not only preached the gospel to European settlers in the colony, he also spent some time evangelizing the local Native Americans in the area. He also published an Anglican hymnal called Collection of Psalms and Hymns, the first Anglican hymnal published in what is today the United States as well as a Protestant Sunday school. Wesley’s approach called for strict adherence to the practice of the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, Confession and living a Christian life filled with worship, penance and preaching to the Native Americans.

Engraving: John Wesley preaching to the Indians (Artist Unknown)

John Wesley, however, was a man like everybody else and troubles soon came to him in the form of a woman. You see, there was a local woman named Sophia Hockey, who was the niece of the chief magistrate Thomas Causton, that he tutored in Christian doctrine and practice and Wesley formed feelings for her and he was thinking of proposing to marry her. However, at the time, Wesley practiced clerical celibacy and he also felt that his missionary work needed to come first and thus he did not end up proposing to her. Sophia, however, got tired of waiting for his proposal and instead accepted the proposal from another man named William Williamson. Wesley was left completely devastated by the experience and while it is not known whether this was coming out of his emotions, he felt that Sophia’s Christian devotion began to wane and thus he told her not to present herself for Holy Communion. It appears that she decided to present herself for Communion anyway and Wesley denied it to her which caused such a scandal in the Savannah community. Seeing that the denial destroyed Sophia’s reputation in the community, Wesley was accused of publicly defaming Hockey without due cause. He was even brought before a bailiff wherein Wesley argued that the matter was not a legal issue but rather an ecclesiastical one. Despite the case not going to trial, from that moment on, his reputation in the community was all but completely destroyed and the inhabitants of Savannah no longer respected him.

Statue of John Wesley taken at the historic Reynolds Square in downtown Savannah, Georgia during my first visit in May 2024, © Christian G. Martinez, 2024.

Wesley was already quite unpopular with the city’s inhabitants due to him being very strict with his congregation and so the scandal likely served as the final boiling point in what was likely already a very tense relationship between him and the inhabitants of the city. Accordingly, he decided to leave the colony on December 2, 1737 where he

returned to England where his ministry would become very successful. Ironically, Wesley would later give up the practice of clerical celibacy and marry a woman named Mary Vazeille in 1751. He would later end up becoming influenced by and converted into the Moravian Church, who he first had contact with onboard the Simmonds, which would influence his theology much more. When Methodism was officially born out of his revivals and ministry in Europe and later arrived in North America during the 1760s, Wesley played a role in its expansion there. It is also said that his influence likely played a role in what would become the First Great Awakening.

For further reading, I suggest the following:

Fraser Jr., W.J. (2003). Savannah in the Old South. The University of Georgia Press.