Our story begins with John Wesley, who with his brother Charles and George Whitfield, breathed new life into whole sections of the Christian church in Britain and beyond at a time, 250 years ago, of great social and political upheaval.

Their movement, nicknamed Methodism because of their strict disciplines, reached Jersey via America, where young Jersey fishermen, Pierre Le Sueur and Jean Tentin, heard Laurence Coughlan, a young Methodist preacher in Newfoundland, were converted and brought the message back to their native Island in 1774.  In time Wesley himself heard of this work and on a request for help, sent Robert Carr Brackenbury to further the work in the Islands.

A local, young man from St. Martin’s, Jean de Quetteville, was converted to the cause and spent the rest of his life evangelising the  Islands and even into Continental France.  The Chapel proudly houses a memorial to these good men.

A translation of the memorial plaque

To the memory
of
JEAN DE QUETTEVILLE
one of the founders of Methodism
in the Channel Islands.

Born in this Parish (St. Martin, Jersey)
22nd May 1761,
he was converted to the Gospel faith
through the ministry of ROBERT CARR-BRACKENBURY,
the first Methodist Missionary sent to Jersey,
by JOHN WESLEY

Admitted, in 1785, to the Itinerant Ministry
and ordained in 1791, by DR. COKE
he founded the Methodist movement in Guernsey,
was an evangelist in France for some time
and, after a long ministry,
he passed on to the presence of his Lord, in Guernsey
on the 1st February, 1843.
His exemplary work as a missionary,
his ardent zeal for salvation of souls,
his faithful and energetic preaching
and the hymns he composed
for the edification of the Methodist Societies in France
have gained him the right to the title of
APOSTLE TO THE CHANNEL ISLANDS.

This monument was erected on the occasion
of the Centenary of Methodism
in the Channel Islands.
 

The Rev'd John Wesley who visited Jersey in August 1787, at the age of 84.

Robert Carr-Brackenbury of Raithby in Lincolnshire was an immensely influential Methodist in his native Lincolnshire but, bi-lingual in French and English, he was an ideal choice for Wesley as a missionary to Jersey

Dr. Thomas Coke, another very influential Methodist from the early years. He ordained Jean de Quetteville and visited the Islands.  He spent some years in Jersey and the Islands before becoming a great figure on the mission field.

Dr. Adam Clarke was an eminent Methodist theologian, who shared Wesley's non-Calvinist, Arminian view of salvation.  He too had an important influence on Island Methodism. As a young man he was sent to Jersey by Wesley, but speaking very limited French, he was to find a greater mission in Guernsey, where over three formative years he restored the English speaking congregation, while sharing accommodation with Jean de Quetteville in the home of the de Jerseys at Mont Plaisir, Guernsey

On his visit in 1787, John Wesley preached in a number of houses in St. Helier, in St. Saviour and, memorably, in the farmyard of Le Marais in St. Mary.

In his Journal, Wesley comments that the "houses are exactly like those in the interior parts of Wales, equal to the best farmers' houses in Lincolnshire; and the people in general are far better behaved than our country farmers in England"

Wesley himself paid a visit to the Island in 1787.  His journal clearly reveals how impressed he was with the people he met and equally he gave new heart to the folk here. In the early days there was much persecution to be endured, but certain brave  people opened their houses to the Methodists for their meetings.  In time these were outgrown and Chapels began to appear all round the Island (up to 34).  St. Martin built its first one in 1820  but by the late 1840s that was too small and the present Chapel was built further up the hill — in a remarkable eight months from foundation to finish! - and dedicated in 1851, having cost £770!

The site of the original 1820 Chapel

The 1851 replacement

The interior as it is today