Aldersgate Day, or Wesley Day, is an anniversary observed by

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Christians on 24 May. It recalls the day in 1738 when

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

priest

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

attended a group meeting in Aldersgate, London, where he received an experience of assurance of his

New Birth Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

. This was the pivotal event in Wesley's life that ultimately led to the development of the Methodist movement in Britain and America. In the calendars of the

Methodist Church of Great Britain The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestantism, Protestant List of Christian denominations, Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodism, Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, an ...

and the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

the event is publicly commemorated in

church service A church service (or a service of worship) is a formalized period of Christian communal worship, often held in a church building. It often but not exclusively occurs on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sa ...

s on the Sunday before 24 May (or on the anniversary itself if that date falls on a Sunday), called Aldersgate Sunday. __TOC__

The "Aldersgate experience"

According to his journal, Wesley found that his enthusiastic

gospel message The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefits ...

had been rejected by his

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

brothers. Heavy-hearted, he reluctantly attended a group meeting that evening in a Moravian meeting house (the Fetter Lane Society) on

Aldersgate Street Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, named after one of the northern gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersgate Within and Aldersgate Without, the suffix den ...

in London. It was there, while someone was reading from

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Reformation, Protestant Refo ...

's Preface to the

Epistle to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of J ...

, that he felt that his heart was "strangely warmed". 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.

Daniel L. Burnett called this event Wesley's "Evangelical Conversion", even though he was already a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. 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 24 May; churches will also mark it with

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

. The

has produced a special

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

to be used for Aldersgate Day. The United Methodist Church also celebrates Heritage Sunday on Aldersgate Day or the preceding Sunday. Previously Heritage Sunday was held on 23 April (the date in 1968 of the church union which created the United Methodist Church) or the Sunday following that date, but in 2004 the United Methodist General Conference moved Heritage Day to coincide with Aldersgate Day. In Britain, Wesley's Aldersgate experience is celebrated publicly on the Sunday preceding 24 May if that day is not a Sunday. John Wesley was a priest of the Church of England. In that church's ''

Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical Movemen ...

'' service book, published in 2000, Aldersgate Day was included in the calendar as a commemoration of both John Wesley and his brother,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

. Shirley Murray's hymn "How small a spark has lit a living fire!" celebrates Wesley's Aldersgate experience and was written in 1988 for the 250th anniversary of the event.

References

External links

Wesley's account in his journal of the Aldersgate experience
{{authority control Protestant holy days Methodism May observances