This week in Christian history: John Wesley rescued from fire, James MacDonald ousted

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Sunday, February 09, 2025

John Wesley rescued from fire — Feb. 9, 1709

A 19th century painting by H.P. Parker depicting the 1709 parsonage fire in which future Methodism founder John Wesley was rescued, along with his siblings and parents. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when John Wesley, the future founder of the Methodist movement, was rescued from a parsonage fire in Epworth, England, when he was a child.

John Wesley was only 5 when the fire occurred late in the evening, while his younger brother, the prolific hymn-writer Charles Wesley, was only an infant.

While most of the family and servants made it to safety, John Wesley remained trapped on the upper floor, eventually being rescued by neighbors who had to stand on each other’s shoulders to reach him.

“[John’s mother] Susanna sometimes referred to her Jacky as a brand plucked from the burning, a reference to Zechariah 3:2. She believed God saved her young son for a reason, a lesson Jacky learned well,” wrote Joe Iovino of United Methodist Communications in 2017.

When planning an epithet for himself while seriously ill, Iovino noted that the Methodism founder chose “Here lieth the body of John Wesley, a brand plucked out of the burning.”

“In summarizing his life, he could have talked about the Oxford Holy Club or the societies he had organized across England,” Iovino added. “Instead, he summed up his remarkable life with the words his mom ascribed to him when he was 5. Here lieth a brand plucked from the burning; a man rescued for a purpose.”