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| The New Room - The oldest Methodist building |
From The New Room - Bristol:
Part of the Museum at the New Room is dedicated to exploring John Wesley's opposition to slavery. John took a long time to publish his views but his book Thoughts On Slavery (1774) became a bestseller. He faced opposition in Bristol for his anti-slavery views which even led to a riot in the chapel when he spoke from the pulpit about the topic in 1788.
Methodism does not bear a clean slate when it comes to slavery (George Whitefield, who also worked in Bristol, at one point owned slaves) but there is no doubt that John Wesley's experiences in the USA and Britain helped him to speak powerful words in Bristol and beyond.
More information and audio clips about Wesley's views on slavery can be found here.
John's statue stands in our Broadmead Courtyard at The New Room in Bristol. He believed that #BlackLivesMatter and so do we.
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