From the United Methoist Church web site:
"Savannah was a planned city, founded in 1733 by philanthropist and reformer General James Oglethorpe and laid out according to his design. In 1735, Oglethorpe invited John Wesley to come to Georgia as the colony's chaplain. Wesley sailed for Georgia on October 14, 1735, along with his brother Charles, who was to serve as Oglethorpe's private secretary.
Others in the party included Benjamin Ingham and Charles Delamotte, members with the Wesleys of "The Holy Club" at Oxford. The faith of a group of Moravian Christians on board the Simmonds with the Wesleys made a deep impression on John.
On February 6, 1736, the ship's passengers set foot on Peeper (now Cockspur) Island, and John Wesley led them in a prayer of thanksgiving. (A monument now marks the spot.) Exactly a month later, on March 7, he preached his first sermon in Savannah, at the courthouse.
The next two years were very difficult ones for the Wesley brothers. Charles was not temperamentally suited to be Oglethorpe's secretary. He also was not suited to be the parish priest to the new settlement at Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island, about seventy-five miles south of Savannah. He ran into trouble with the colonists, had bouts of illness, and became so disheartened that he returned to England in August, just six months after their arrival.
John faced his own problems. He, too, was at times unpopular with the colonists, and a disastrous love affair with Sophy Hopkey only made his situation worse. Continued contact with the Moravians led him to question the state of his soul, and he failed to realize his hopes of a mission to the American Indians in Georgia. He wrote in his journal, "I came to convert the Indians, but, oh, who will convert me?"
John Wesley sailed for England on December 2, 1737, discouraged and uncertain about his future. He later said that he was only "beating the air" during his time in Georgia.
However, the time was not wasted. The questions that drove him from Georgia brought him "very unwillingly" to a meeting in Aldersgate Street in May 1738, where he had his famous "heart-warming" experience. One could say that his months in Georgia were an important apprenticeship for the work that would be his for the next fifty years.
Points of interest at this Heritage Landmark: There are several places to visit. This first is outside Savannah on Cockspur Island. A marker near historic Fort Pulaski notes the arrival of the Wesley brothers on this island on February 7, 1736. The rest of the places are within easy walking distance of each other in downtown Savannah. This landmark is described on a marker at the John Wesley Statue in Reynolds Square. Facing the statue, the site of Wesley's parsonage and garden is to the left. The Oliver Sturges house is on the parsonage site at the corner of Julian Street. While Wesley had no church building, the visitor should see Christ Episcopal church on Johnson Square. Continuing around Johnson Square to the right is the site of Wesley's first worship service, now the U.S. Customs House. The site of the Town Hall where Wesley held regular services is now the US Post Office at Wright Square on Bull Street."
The historical marker across the street in the park reads:
"Christ Church
The Mother Church of Georgia
This Episcopal church was the first house of worship established with the founding of Georgia in 1733. Early rectors included the Rev. John Wesley (1736-37), who began the earliest form of Sunday school and published the first English hymnal in the colonies, and the Rev. George Whitefield (1738-40), founder of Bethesda Orphanage. The cornerstone for the first building on this site was laid in 1744. James Hamilton Couper designed the current and third structure in 1838. The 1819 Revere & Son bell continues in use today. One of many prominent members was Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts of America."
From the Church's web site:
Founded in 1733 with the establishment of the Georgia colony, Christ Church has known different buildings and different rectors, but it has always stood on one foundation, Jesus Christ her Lord.
The present location of the church was designated by General James Oglethorpe in his distinctive plan for the Savannah settlement. On the east and west side of each square in this plan, ‘trust lots’ were set aside for public buildings. The colony’s house of worship was assigned to an east trust lot on the first square on Bull Street, the central street of historic Savannah, then and now. Initially, the church had neither a building nor a name. Divine services took place in the courthouse building of the colony. Here the two most famous rectors of Christ Church parish exercised their ministry.
John Wesley, the third rector of the parish, served from 1736-1737. Although he desired to be a missionary to the Indians, Oglethorpe assigned him to serve in Savannah. In disagreement with many in his congregation, Wesley believed in weekly Sunday Communion and baptism by immersion. He taught a Sunday School program for children (reputedly the first in America) and in 1737 published a Collection of Psalms and Hymns, the first English hymnal in America. His famous conversion experience occurred after his return to England, where he continued to serve as an Anglican priest.
George Whitefield succeeded Wesley as priest responsible for the church in Savannah, serving intermittently from 1738-1740. He traveled extensively during this period, preaching with intensity and length that often exceeded the conventions prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer. His travels and preaching raised money for the colony’s Orphan House, which he named Bethesda."