“I went to America to convert the Indians; but Oh, who shall convert me…” 

—John Wesley 

Placed in the center of Reynold’s Square in 1967 sits this impressive statue celebrating the Reverend John Wesley. While Wesley would go on to become the indispensable founder of Methodism, just after his acceptance as a missionary for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts at the age of 33, he would set sail to the new English colony of Georgia in 1735 on the ship The Simmonds.  

On this voyage, James Oglethorpe, who was making his second sail to Georgia, accompanied Wesley. Oglethorpe had returned to England only a year after he founded the Georgia colony at Savannah. He brought with him to meet the Colonial Trustees as well as the elite of England, including the King and Queen, several of the native Indians from the ‘new world’ — including their leader Tomochichi, whose assistance was so essential to the initial success of the settlement.  

Wesley began his ministry in Savannah on March 7, 1736. At that time, the Savannah settlement had over 500 inhabitants. A few hundred additional colonialists had settled nearby. 

His personal dream in coming to Savannah was to be a missionary to Indian inhabitants and not to be merely the Chaplain to the English colonialists. Oglethorpe thought better of Wesley’s wish and demanded that he fulfill the appointment the Trustees made of him as the Minister of Savannah. 

In addition to preaching, John Wesley would intermediate disputes between North Carolinian and Georgian gentlemen over rights each had to trade with the local Creek, Cherokee, and Chickasaw tribes. 

Fortuitously for John Wesley, a young woman, Sophia Christina Hopkey, would soon place him in the middle of a severe and controversial scandal that would quickly end his Georgian missionary plans. The experience resulted in bitter disappointment for Wesley — but favorably changed his destiny. 

It appears Miss Hopkey impatiently misconstrued the interest Wesley showed in her education and spiritual welfare. When a marriage proposal was not more quickly forthcoming, she broke away from Wesley’s guidance and soon became Mrs. Williamson.  

She made an official complaint about Wesley. A grand jury was called forth, with forty-four jurors sworn in instead of the usual fifteen. A list of grievances against Wesley was presented, which was altered by the grand jury to a ten-count indictment presented to the Colonial Trustees.  

The primary charge was that Wesley had refused the Sacraments to Mrs. Williamson, among others. A large part of the grand jury dissented, arguing the main charge against Wesley was a gimmick of revenge to punish him for doing his duty and used purely in an effort to blacken his character and name. Still, John Wesley would sail back to England. Fortunately, his true God-given destiny awaited him there. 

While the scandal over Mrs. Williamson would fade away after Wesley returned to England, the disappointing experience of his missionary work in Georgia likely rescued him from the limitations he would have encountered with a humble parish life in Savannah, Georgia in the mid-1730s 

Had Wesley found success in the Colony of Georgia, the Methodist revival he would lead never would have happened. A wise person once suggested: “Along our Path, we make plans, and God laughs.”