Epworth-by-the-Sea

We rolled on to Epworth-by-the-Sea, an hour and a half journey from Savannah to Saint Simons Island off the coast of Georgia. It was there John Wesley and his brother Charles spent their early days in the "New World." Today it is a conference and retreat center and home to the Arthur J. Moore Methodist Museum.
We enjoyed a lecture by scholar Rev. David Hanson who detailed the Wesleys' time in Georgia, which was hardly enjoyable. "It was sheer wilderness," Hanson put it. Charles lasted only a couple of months, or as Hanson remarked, "About the same time as an intern at a local church. He was very happy to leave here."
Brother John stayed 10 months and likewise left in a miserable condition. "He had a terrible time here, bad relations, a bad romance." noted Hanson. "He came here rather arrogant knowing everything and leaving a broken man. But he left here and was a seeker."
Back in England the Wesleys would go on to change church thinking forever. While they were both members of the Church of England, their thoughts and ideas inspired Methodism in its various forms today. Charles became the great poet; writing as many as 8,000 hymns. John started Sunday School, and the Small Group movement as he wanted to build a Christian Community like the early church. While Hanson says John Wesley is often called the "Billy Graham of his day", he adds there are differences. "While Graham is known for being an anointed evangelist, Wesley was that too, but an organizing theologian. In terms of organization, John Wesley was without peer."
Following lunch, the group then toured Christ Church Frederica on the site where the Wesleys preached. The church is Episcopalian by denomination, but like Methodism, its roots are of the Church of England as well. Originally deeded in 1808, the first Christ Church Frederica was built in 1820 but it was destroyed during the Civil War, or like they say in the South, "During the War Between the States." The current structure was built by Rev. Anson Green Phelps Dodge in 1886 as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. Four Presidents, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Jimmy Carter and George Bush have attended services there.
Tomorrow our schedule includes a trip to Savannah's "Low Country" and Trinity United Methodist Church.