Introduction & Contacts

Methodism began as a renewal movement within the Church of England. It’s beginnings are associated with the work of John and Charles Wesley, both of them Anglican clergymen who were so diligent and methodical in their religious life whilst students at Oxford University, that people called them mockingly ‘Methodists’.

Both men were soundly converted in May 1738 and soon they established themselves in the Foundery, a ruined ordnance factory on the edge of the City of London. John Wesley, at the instigation of his friend George Whitfield, had begun speaking in the open air. This brother was soon putting Methodist theology and spirituality into the form of hymns. Methodism was in the process of being born.

The simple and accessible way in which the Wesleys and their followers preached and exemplified the Christian life attracted thousands of followers. The doctrine which was preached from the pulpit and sung lustily by those early congregations centred upon the universality of God’s grace and the need for all believers to grow in love towards that perfection which is God’s goal for all people. This teaching was accompanied by practical action too – healthcare, micro finance, a ragged school, prison visiting, and literacy.

When the Foundery lease ran out, the building we now know as Wesley’s Chapel was constructed and opened in 1778. By then, there were Methodist meeting houses across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Charles Wesley died in 1788, his brother John three years later. By the end of the following century, Methodism was a major force on the British social and religious scene as well as having a global presence of some consequence.
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The Leysian Mission takes its name from The Leys School in Cambridge. This school was opened in 1875 and was intended to be “the Methodist Eton”. Non-Anglican students had only recently been allowed to study at Oxford and Cambridge.

The Mission was started in 1886 by former pupils of The Leys School who were concerned about the social and housing conditions in the East End of London. Its first premises were in nearby Whitecross Street but in 1912 The Mission moved into grand purpose-built premises in Old Street (just round the corner from Wesley’s Chapel). It had vibrant evangelical and social ministries and encouraged alumni from the Cambridge school to give time to programmes that reached out to the poor. In the early days, there was a medical mission, a “poor man’s lawyer”, a relief committee, feeding programmes, meetings for men and women, and a range of services and musical activities.

The ravages of World War II and the post war Welfare State saw a change in circumstances that led, eventually, to a disposing of the buildings and a successful merger with Wesley\’s Chapel in 1989.

Links with The Leys School remain very strong. A number of children from the congregation in London have studied with full scholarships at The Leys. A programme of special events ensure that the Leysian Mission continues to flourish in its new setting.
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