Short answers, pulled from the story.
John Wesley experienced his heart strangely warmed inside a small meeting house on Aldersgate Street in London on the 24th of May 1738. This visceral physical sensation of trust in Christ alone for salvation transformed him from a rigid moralist into the architect of the Methodist movement. The event marked the beginning of a movement that would eventually claim 80 million adherents worldwide.
John Wesley and his brother Charles were initially branded Methodists by their peers at Oxford University as a mockery of their overly systematic approach to living a holy life. They were accused of being Methodists because they used rule and method in their religious affairs, treating their faith with the precision of a military drill. This label stuck even though the movement they built was far more than a set of rules.
John Wesley taught that Christians can achieve entire sanctification or Christian perfection in this life as the grand depositum of the Methodist faith. This teaching stood in direct opposition to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination and argued that salvation was available to all people through an act of free will. Wesley believed that Christians could enjoy a second blessing, a state of pure love that expels sin and governs the heart and life of a child of God.
Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of Methodism, and his theological and doctrinal content became a primary vehicle for expressing the movement's emphasis on salvation for all. The first Methodist hymn book was published in 1779, and the hymns served as a catechism for the uneducated, teaching complex theological concepts through simple, memorable verses. These hymns were tools for spiritual formation, helping believers to understand their need for grace and their potential for holiness.
Methodists took a leading role in the temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries, seeing alcoholic beverages and alcoholism as the root of many social ills. The movement was particularly prominent in the old mill towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire, where preachers stressed that the working classes were equal to the upper classes in the eyes of God. Methodists also supported the abolition of slavery and the creation of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens, and schools to follow Christ's command to spread the gospel and serve all people.
Early Methodism experienced a radical and spiritual phase that allowed women authority in church leadership, a role that sharply diminished after 1790 as churches became more structured and male-dominated. Women were encouraged to testify their faith and to lead class meetings, which were the backbone of the movement's organizational structure. In the Caribbean, women like Sophia Campbell and Mary Alley kept the flock together with class and prayer meetings after the death of their male leaders.