The Wesley Papers

A condensed history of John Wesley and the Methodist Church
Compiled by John H. Evans

From October 2006 to May 2007 these papers were written and shared with the people of Christ United Methodist Church to help in understanding our Methodist roots.

The papers below are presented in web pages and in pdf files. PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available as a free download.

John Evans grew up as a preacher's kid. His father was born in 1888 in London, England. As a young man John's father was converted by Oswald Chambers and as a result gave up his nursery business and became a Baptist preacher. After some years he realized he would be more comfortable in the Methodist system. He emigrated to this country just after WW1 and served churches in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

John's mother, also born in 1888, grew up in central Illinois. She was converted by Billy Sunday, an evangelist of the early 1900's. She trained as a nurse and ultimately worked in the Methodist Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin where she met her husband.

John grew up in southern Minnesota and graduated from Hamline University with a major in physics. He did graduate work in astronomy and physics at U.C.L.A. and Indiana University. After ten years of work in industry and government, he taught astronomy and physics at a branch of the University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

A condensed history of John Wesley and the Methodist Church Compiled by John H. Evans

A condensed history of John Wesley and the Methodist Church
Compiled by John H. Evans