WESLEY GUILD (SA)Today is 117th birthday for our movement. Wesley Guild was established on the 30th of July 1896. OUR BRIEF HISTORY:A certain minister by Rev. W. Blackburn FitzGerald who was stationed in Bolton Circuit between 1889 and 1891 had been working on an idea of establishing a society which would , in his own words, ‘co-ordinate all aspects of young people’s life.’ When he introduced his idea to his congregation in Edgworth Chapel it received no encouragement. He later moved to Roscoe Palace in Leeds where he introduced the subject in 1892 in Leeds Brunswick Circuit under the grand heading: GUILD OF THE GOOD LIFE, and here it was received with good favour. He started working with young people here focusing on Prayer, Bible reading, Evangelism, Overseas missions and later included look out committee that would deal with young people who were moving from one circuit to the other and seek new comers to the scheme as well.In 1894, the Rev. Charles H. Kelly who was the Book steward at the time addressed the London Wesleyan Methodist Council. He had prepared a paper that he read there and It was titled: HOW TO RETAIN OUR YOUNG PEOPLE . The paper dealt with all aspects of church life and Kelly emphasised his concern over the annual loss of young people from the church. He cited the Boy’s Brigade, the Band of Hope, the Christian Endeavour Societies, the Epworth League, the Mutual Improvement Societies and even the Junior Society classes and he said “the future of Methodism is bright in hope and promise” as he noted that the Wesleyan Church alone had almost one million Sunday scholars. What Kelly envisaged was not necessarily the formation of a new organisation, but he wanted the church to make determined effort to win this mass of young life for Christ. His paper sparked off action by the Conference of 1894 that immediately appointed the committee that would deal with the whole question of “Youth of Methodism”. Kelly was appointed as the convenor of the committee and they were to report on the next conference.Same year in 1894, Rev. Charles H. Kelly visited the Leeds for Mission anniversary and he met Rev. FitzGerald and they shared notes: They both shared one thing in common: The Youth of Methodism. Kelly was quick to recognize the gifts of his fellow colleague and requested he joins the committee that was working on the whole subject. The committee met in1895 and welcomed Rev. FitzGerald who had established the very thing that was needed.It was in 1895 when the name : WESLEY GUILD was suggested and it would be defined as a young people’s society closely linked to the church. The committee then suggested the Wesley Guild should be launched in 1896 at the next Wesleyan Methodist Conference scheduled for Liverpool. Same year in 1895, the Rev. FitzGerald wrote a letter to all the chairmen of the synods in the Northern Districts to discuss the Subject of Wesley Guild when their synods sit in September as he further explained how much the Wesley Guild would help retain young people and be useful at the church. The Districts debated the matter and in May 1896 there were 29 Synods that supported the formation of the Wesley Guild while a few synods suggested a caution and some didn’t see the need for change.At the conference the subject was debated with other Ministers objecting it while other saw the need for the organisation to be established. It was on the tenth day of the conference that the organisation was established; on Thursday 30th July 1896. My good friends: We are 117 years old!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 21:32:56 +0000
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