Aldersgate Day
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Aldersgate Day is a holiday celebrated by Methodists on May 24 to commemorate the day in 1738 when John Wesley experienced his conversion in a meeting room on Aldersgate Street, London.
According to his journal, Wesley found that his enthusiastic gospel message had been rejected by his Anglican brothers. Heavy-hearted, he went to the evening society meeting on Aldersgate-street unwillingly. It was there he experienced, as he describes in his journal, a 'strange warming of the heart'. He describes it as:
I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.[1]
May 24th is recognized by Methodists as the day Wesley 'experienced confirmation of his salvation by the grace of God'. There exists some confusion in the Methodist calendar between Heritage Day and Aldersgate Day. This confusion was only compounded when in 2004 the United Methodist General Conference moved Heritage Day to coincide with Aldersgate Day[2]. Aldersgate Day is occasionally celebrated on the preceding Sunday.
