04/06/2026
John Wesley Meets the Moravians
In 1736, John and Charles Wesley were on board a ship headed to America when they encountered a terrible storm. The Wesley’s were commissioned as Anglican missionaries and were headed for the colony of Georgia. Also, on board the ship was a group of Moravians, a protestant community from Germany. It was this encounter with the Moravians that would forever change John Wesley’s life.
As the storm began to develop, the individuals on board were aware that they were in danger of being ship-wrecked. With most of the individuals, including the Wesley’s, panicking for their lives, John could not help but to notice the peace that the Moravians displayed. In the midst of this brutal storm, he was awestruck by the fact that the Moravians were hosting a worship service, praising God with great intensity.
On January 25th, this is what John wrote in his diary: “In the midst of the Psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the main-sail in pieces, covered the ship and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on. I asked one of them afterwards; ‘Were you not afraid?’ He answered, ‘I thank God, no.’ I asked: ‘But were not your women and children afraid?’ He replied mildly: ‘No, our women and children are not afraid to die.’” The storm was boisterous, but the Moravians kept praising God. Finally, the storm subsided.”
After reaching Georgia, John sought spiritual counsel from the Moravian Bishop, A.G. Spangenberg. Though he had been sent as a missionary, he realized he lacked the spiritual comfort and certainty that the Moravians had displayed. He wrestled with this over the next few years, and it was not until 1738, back in England that he found that certainty. He wrote in his diary, dated May 24th: “On Wednesday, May 24 in the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, (A Moravian meeting) where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to Romans. About a quarter to nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart Strangely Warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and felt an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
John Wesley would go on to have an enormous impact on the Christian world, having a large theological influence on the Methodist denomination. He and his brother Charles also had a great impact on George Whitfield, who was an influential vessel that God used in America’s Great Awakening. John and Charles also composed numerous hymns, many of which are still sung by churches today.
