Aldersgate or Fetter Lane

to the phrase “many fell to the ground,” Curnock includes a drawing of a Moravian
25
service showing an orderly “feet-washing” and a “prostration before the Lord.” Even
though Curnock notes that “not a single Moravian minister” attended the January 1
meeting, he still implies that “fell to the ground” must actually be a planned prostration as
would occur in a Moravian service. 87 Curnock seems to downplay the Pentecostal-like
manifestation of the Holy Spirit in deference to a more organized response of worshipers.
As will be shown, a reading of Wesley’s journal in the months following the January 1
love feast reveals many occurrences of people disorderly falling to the ground.
Fortunately, other modern historians are more willing to discuss the January 1
event. Henry D. Rack, at the time the Bishop Fraser Senior Lecturer in Ecclesiastical
History Emeritus at the University of Manchester, describes how “Wesley himself was
caught up in a scene at Fetter Lane reminiscent of the day of Pentecost.” 88 Dr. Frank H.
Billman, adjunct professor in supernatural ministry at United Theological Seminary,
includes the New Year’s Day love feast as the first in a series of events showing the
“manifestations of the presence and power of God … in Wesley’s ministry.” 89
Wesley’s Early Angst Following His “Pentecost” Experience
As with the Aldersgate experience, there seems to be no apparent change in
Wesley immediately following the outpouring of the Spirit on January 1. The spiritual
87
Nehemiah Curnock, The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., Volume II, ed. Nehemiah
Curnock (London, UK: The Epworth Press, 1738), footnote 1, 122-3.
88
Henry D. Rack, Reasonable Enthusiast: John Wesley and the Rise of Methodism
89
Frank H. Billman, The Supernatural Thread in Methodism: Signs and Wonders Among
Methodist Then and Now (Lake Mary, Fl: Creation House Press, 2013), 25-6.