John Wesley was born in England in 1703. After being ordained as an Anglican priest, he joined a spiritual organisation formed by his brother Charles at Oxford University. This organisation formed the basis of what would become an international, evangelical religion, Methodism; so-named because of its emphasis on discipline and method.

From J. W. Nichols, A Century of Methodism in St. John's, Newfoundland, 1815-1915 (St. John's, 1915).