“I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation” – John Wesley.

At a point in time, John Wesley realised that ‘the Church of England was stuck. It had somehow lost touch with the Holy Spirit.’ This was the genesis of Wesley’s renewal movement from church to church preaching against sin and dead religion hence, he was kicked out into open fields that resulted in mass conversions of souls.

Wesley’s open fields preaching was opposed by other ministers ‘demanding that he stay out of their parish.’ Wesley in his response to one of the opposing pastors wrote one of his famous lines, “The world is my parish.” Wesley in effect was saying, ‘I have an option. I can obey church law, or I can obey God’s law. Since I have no parish, then the world is my parish”

The reflection on this famous lines for us is that Wesley stood against dead religion and preaching, ‘lifeless forms that keep people stuck in their spiritual numbness.’ Wesley as a priest in the Church of England, ‘experienced a restlessness with “church as usual,” finding himself frustrated with what he saw as lifeless religious rites that lacked power to transform lives.’