The Germans elect a bishop

JOHN WESLEY MOMENTS
DAVE HANSON

One of the most thrilling experiences John Wesley had with his German neighbors in Georgia was being present when these Moravian Christians elected a bishop. John Wesley spent a lot of time with these German Christians learning their language, singing, and sharing Christian fellowship.

He watched as the German congregation elected a new bishop. It seemed to him that he had been transported back in history to the early church where fishermen and tentmakers simply prayed and chose their pastoral leader. It was done without the pomp and circumstances of the modern church. It was, for Wesley, a realization of his dream to recapture primitive Christianity out here on the Georgia frontier.

The Rev. Dave Hanson is a retired pastor and John Wesley scholar.