In 1729, in Oxford, England, a group of fiery, compelling preachers began the religious movement that would become Methodism. Preaching a message of repentance and conversion, men like Captain Thomas Webb and Francis Asbury led a religious revival in the colonies as well. Old St. George's played an important role in the beginnings of Methodism. Today it stands as the world's oldest Methodist Church building in continuous service.
Philadelphia's first Methodists were a small, dedicated group of eight men, mostly merchants and artisans, and their wives who met in a sail loft on Dock Street in 1767. As their numbers grew, the congregation purchased, in 1769, an unfinished shell with a dirt floor that had been erected in 1763 by a German Reformed congregation and already named St. George's. An estimated 2,000 attended the first service. Before the Revolution, though, Methodists still considered themselves a "society" and part of the Anglican church. Members received their Sacraments at local Anglican churches until the Methodist Episcopal Church was officially formed in 1784.
In 1771, St. George's became the base of operations for Francis Asbury, "the father of American Methodism," who traveled on horseback all over the country, ordaining more than 4,000 ministers in 35 years. One of the deacons Asbury ordained was Richard Allen, the first African American licensed to preach by the Methodists. Allen left St. George's in a controversy over seating and went on to become the first Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. St. George's also spawned the first religious publishing company in America, the Methodist Book Concern, established by John Dickens, who was pastor in 1789.
During the great revival sparked by Methodism in 1836, St. George's again played a leadership role. Membership surpassed 3,000, and the basement story was excavated to accommodate a Sunday School. By the end of the 19th century, the industrialization of this part of the city led to a drastic decline in membership. In the 1920s, St. George's was almost demolished to make way for the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. A court battle saved the historic site, and now St. George's is known, among its many other distinctions, as "the church that moved the bridge." A National Park Service Shrine, St. George's today is a touchstone of spiritual renewal for Methodists around the world.