Methodist church founder John Wesley dies on …
Years: 1791 - 1791
March
Methodist church founder John Wesley dies on March 2, 1791, in his eighty-seventh year.
As he lay dying, his friends gathered around him, Wesley grasped their hands and said repeatedly, "Farewell, farewell."
At the end, he said "The best of all is, God is with us", lifted his arms and raised his feeble voice again, repeating the words, "The best of all is, God is with us."
Wesley is entombed at Wesley's Chapel, which he built in Greater London, in England.
The site also is now both a place of worship and a visitor attraction, incorporating the Museum of Methodism and John Wesley's House.
Because of his charitable nature he died poor, leaving as the result of his life's work 135,000 members and 541 itinerant preachers under the name "Methodist".
It has been said that "when John Wesley was carried to his grave, he left behind him a good library of books, a well-worn clergyman's gown," and the Methodist Church.
