The Mockery of Methodism

The Mockery of Methodism

In 1843, the great Methodist movement was shaking the foundations of Great Britain.  John Wesley traveled the country on horseback, living modestly, worshiping devoutly, and preaching fiercely.  His mannerisms and his teaching engendered both praise and ridicule.  The following circumstance is recorded in Wesley’s personal journal.

On Monday, October 31^st, Wesley and his companions entered the city of Newcastle.  That Wednesday an advertisement was published for a comedic play that Friday which was scheduled which stated that there would be an added portion to the play, a ‘farce,’ which they called “Trick Upon Trick, or Methodism Displayed” intended as open mockery to Wesley and his work.

That Friday, Moot Hall in Newcastle was packed to the max.  They literally had to construct seats on the edges of the stage to handle the overflow.  The crowd was estimated to be 1,500 people.

As the comedians began the first act of farce, the newly constructed seats collapsed, the supports giving way “like a rotten stick.”  It took some time, but order was restored and the play went on.  During the second act, the more expensive seats, the ‘shilling seats’ also cracked and sank down several inches.  This caused a mild panic and a number of people ran for the door and did not return.  Once order was restored, they continued the play.

When the third act began, the entire stage suddenly sank six inches.  The actors retreated to the back and had to be coaxed back onto the stage.  Near the end of the third act, the cheaper ‘sixpenny seats’ collapsed to the ground without warning.  More people fled the hall.

With only 200-300 people remaining in the hall a man named Mr Este, who was playing the irreverent Methodist in the farce, announced to those remaining that the cast was resolved to continue the production.  Literally as he was speaking, the stage suddenly sank six more inches, sending Mr Este fleeing to the safety of the back and the few remaining patrons to the door.

Wesley was careful to note that not a single person was injured - a fact he attributed directly to the mercy of God.  He concluded the account in his journal with a wry statement: “Which is most surprising – that those players acted this farce the next week – or that some hundreds of people came again to see it?”

https://ccel.org/ccel/wesley/journal/journal.vi.v.xvi.html

 

 

 

Fifty-Seven Cents

57 Cents

The Temple Baptist Church of Philadelphia today has a seating capacity of 3,300 people.  The church is the origin of Temple University and the Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Temple Baptist was a growing church in 1886 under the leadership of their pastor, Dr. Russell Conwell who is well known for his sermon entitled ‘Acres of Diamonds.’  Dr Conwell was walking to church one Sunday morning when he came across a young, shabbily-dressed girl, alone on the street, crying.  When he stopped and asked her what the matter was, she told him that she couldn’t go to Sunday School because the classrooms were full.  Dr Conwell learned her name was Hattie May Wiatt and that she lived in one of the city’s run-down tenements. 

Demand for the children’s’ classes was significant, and the church at the time had no choice but to turn many children away once classroom space was full, but his heart went out to this particular girl.  He picked her up, escorted her into the church personally, and walked her to a class she could be a part of.  As they walked to class, the Pastor told her, “someday we’re going to have a building big enough for all the little children who want to come hear about Jesus.”

Two years later, Pastor Conwell officiated Hattie May’s funeral after a sudden illness.  Her heartbroken mother handed him a small, worn-out purse she said had belonged to her daughter.  The pastor opened the purse to find 57 pennies (no small savings for a girl from a poor family at that time) and a scribbled note which read, “This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School.”

Dr Conwell took those pennies and the note back to his church and issued a challenge to build.  He auctioned off the pennies one-by-one and immediately raised over $250 – enough to buy a nearby house which was the church’s first expansion.  For many years, Sunday School classes for children were held there and later, the first classes of Temple University.   As the building program took off, some members of the church formed what the called the “Wiatt Mite Society” with the goal of making Hattie May’s little offering grow as much as possible.  They raised a great deal of money, in large and small donations, toward the expansion of their church building and other needs of the church and eventual University.

Later, when the church was ready to build a new campus, the church leadership was negotiating with the bank to finance the purchase of the land.  Knowing the story of Hattie May, the banker offered the land, worth ten thousand dollars, to the church for a down-payment of fifty-seven cents.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/57-varieties-of-truth/

https://www.truthorfiction.com/hattiemaywiatt/