How do Methodists share good news in such a way that people receive it and respond to it?
After decades of conversation serving up a mosaic of understandings ofWesleyan evangelism (focusing on proclamation, initiation, andembodiment), Jack Jackson offers a clearer portrait of Wesley’sevangelistic vision, understood through the lens of “offering grace.”
Anydiscussion of Wesley’s vision of evangelism must center on theproclamation of the story of God in Christ. But for John Wesleyevangelism was much more than preaching for conversion. This book offersa fresh conception of Wesley’s evangelistic vision by analyzing hismethod of gospel proclamation. Wesley was not constrained by thetruncated vision of evangelism that has been dominant since the latenineteenth century, one that all too often centers on group preachingwith a sole emphasis on conversion. Rather, he stressed a number ofpractices that focus on a verbal proclamation of the gospel.
These practices occur in a variety of settings, only one of which ispublic preaching, and result in a number of responses, only one of whichis conversion. Of crucial importance for current theological students,clergy, and church leaders around the world, the book demonstrates thatvisitation, for the purpose of spiritual direction and evangelism, wasin many ways the critical leadership and pastoral practice of earlyBritish Methodism. This book offers important insights into earlyMethodism that inform both contemporary practices of evangelism andChristian leadership for both clergy and laity.
