Monday, September 30, 2013

John Wesley Home and Chapel

Any Methodist can tell you who John Wesley is, but for those outside the denomination he started Methodism. While in London I got a chance to look inside Wesley Chapel and tour his home. I had planned on just taking a quick peek, but then T and I somehow ended up on a private tour with a very old and knowledgeable man. How do you skip out on that? Of course the entire time we were trying to speed things along, as we had left Sis and Aunt in the Underground station.

Here are the highlights with captions.
Inside the chapel hang flags from countries with Methodist congregations.There is the US flag on the right.

You can pull out these extra wooden seats when there's a crowd.
This is the home. It is just to the right of the church and it is only two windows wide, but 5 stories including the basement.
The most impressive thing, to me, in John Wesley's study was the electric shock machine in the corner. He invented it himself and used to administer shock treatments to people suffering from depression, or melancholy. It supposedly created a sense of euphoria. WooHoo!
This was my favorite room in the house. It is the prayer room, or closet, just off John Wesley's bedroom. He used to get up and pray at 4 am every morning. I asked if there was a view out the window when the house was built and our guide said the adjacent building was already there, so no distractions.
This is just a group of partyers on a peddle bike that we passed on our way back to the Underground.
That is the grand tour. If you're ever in the neighborhood, you should check it out. It's free!

2 comments:

Lady Jane said...

It's only free if you have the London Pass, isn't it?

m.e. said...

Nope. Free to everyone, donations welcome.