The history of Methodism in America begins in 1735 with the efforts of James Edward Oglethorpe to rescue some unfortunate debtors from a debtors' prison in England (Daniels 105). Oglethorpe was grieved that "thousands of men in Great Britain rotted in prison for the misfortune of being poor" and relocated a number of them to the Colony of Georgia in America (Daniels 105). John Wesley was subsequently sent to the colony by a British society as a missionary chaplain, and he expressed his mission thus, "My chief motive is the hope of saving my own soul. I hope to learn the true sense of the Gospel by preaching it to the heathen" (Daniels 106). On the voyage to America to fulfill this mission, Wesley encountered Moravians who displayed fearless courage in the face of a terrible storm (Daniels 109). Their lack of fear impressed Wesley greatly and made a lasting impact on him. He worked diligently in Georgia and gained many followers, but in 1737 sailed off to return to England following much persecution in America (Daniels 120).
Wesley's departure did not end the Methodist movement in America, however, because just prior to his leaving, newly ordained George Whitefield, responding to the letters of the Wesleys in Georgia, decided to travel to America to help with the efforts there (Daniels 124). Whitefield, whose preeminent preaching topic was salvation, found a warmer reception in America among "the Dissenters" than the Wesleys had, primarily because he determined that the best way "to bring them over was not by bigotry and railing, but by moderation and love and undissembled holiness of life" (Daniels 129). Whitefield converted Charles Wesley just before he died, and then John as well (Daniels 129, 134).
In 1784, the Methodist Episcopal Church was organized and sent forth a Missionary Society into the wilds of America between the Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi River, subsequently establishing a headqu...