What Happened at Fetter Lane?
Most Methodists know the story of John Wesley’s experience at Aldersgate Street where his heart was "strangely warmed" on May 24, 1738. On that night, he had his evangelical conversion experience that lead to the revival that would transform British and American society over the next century. Or so the popular story goes. As it turns out, there was an even more influential event in the spiritual life of Wesley seven months later in Fetter Lane. This “Prayer Meeting that Changed the World” deserves far more credit for being the Methodism’s true spiritual launch pad.
Aldersgate was certainly an important early work of the Spirit, preparing Wesley for the work ahead. It drew Wesley into evangelical Anglicanism as he was given assurance of sins forgiven. But, over the seven months between Aldersgate and Fetter Lane, Wesley struggled with doubt… a lot. Albert Outler stated in his collection of Wesley's writings that Wesley remained in a kind of “spiritual depression” after Aldersgate. Just four days after his heart-warming experience, Wesley wrote, “I woke up in peace, but not in joy” (May 28). In the ensuing weeks, he recorded, “[I] felt a soreness in my heart” (June 6); and “I cannot find in myself the love of God or of Christ." Hence my deadness and wanderings in public prayer” (June 7). “The witness of the Spirit I have not, but I patiently wait for it” (Oct 30); and “I was troubled… I opened my Testament with those words, ‘My hour is not yet come’” (Nov 23).
It was only after his experience at Fetter Lane on January 1, 1739, that the spiritual fog began to lift. Wesley described the event this way:
Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, [George] Whitefield, Hutchings, and my brother Charles were present at our love feast in Fetter Lane, with about sixty of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the presence of his majesty, we broke out with one voice, "We praise thee, O God; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord."
This outpouring was immediately followed by two important shifts that distinguish it from the more widely-known event at Aldersgate.
First, Wesley's spiritual troubles vanished. Significantly, he does not record a single feeling of spiritual anguish in the months that followed Fetter Lane. Second, in the seven months after Fetter Lane, he recorded no fewer than 31 supernatural occurrences. He recorded only two during his spiritual depression between Aldersgate and Fetter Lane. The first of this new wave occurred on January 21. “A well-dressed, middle-aged woman suddenly cried out in the agonies of death,” Wesley records. When she heard him speak, she began to find peace.
On May 2 and 21, Wesley performed two demonic deliverances. The first was a man named John Haydon who went insane at home and yelled, “O thou devil! The devil! Yea, you legions of devils! You can not stay. Christ will cast thee out.” A group including Wesley prayed for the man and he was freed from the demon.
On the May 21, Thomas Maxfield roared and beat himself so hard that six men struggled to restrain him. Wesley reported in his journal, Except [John Haydon], I never saw one so torn of the evil one […] the greater part found rest to their souls.” Maxfield went on to become the very first Methodist lay preacher.
Three months into this supernatural season, Wesley summarized its importance, writing on April 17, “So many living witnesses have given that ‘his hand is still stretched out to heal, and that signs and wonders are even now wrought by his holy child Jesus.’”
Not everyone was convinced. Wesley’s close friend, George Whitefield, was a leading critic. Wesley was quick to defend the Spirit’s work and wrote on May 20,
“During this whole time I was almost continually asked … concerning this strange work …,‘How can these things be?’ and innumerable cautions were given me (generally grounded on gross misrepresentations of things) not to regard visions or dreams; or to fancy people had remission of sins because of their cries or tears, or bare outward professions. [...] You deny that God does indeed work these effects, or at least, that he works them in this manner. I affirm both, because I have heard these things with my own ears and seen them with my eyes.”
Just two weeks later, on April 2, 1739, John Wesley began the field preaching outside Bristol in a place called Kingswood. This bold move marked the official launch of the Methodist Revival that would last until his death in 1791 and beyond. While it is appropriate for Methodists to commemorate Wesley’s Aldersgate experience as an important moment in the history of the movement, what happened at Fetter Lane cannot be ignored. If we want to be a vibrant, Holy Spirit-fueled movement again, we need to return to our supernatural origins. If we don't—like Wesley—we will continue to languish in a spiritual wasteland until we acknowledge the Spirit’s power once again.
Aldersgate was the match that lit the fuse of the Methodist Revival;
Fetter Lane was the powder keg.