This survey of the Wesleyan movement in the eighteenth century is the story of many people whose lives and thoughts are woven together in the developing theology, organizations, and mission of Methodism. Wesley's own pilgrimage of faith is, of course, central to the emergence of Methodism, but we also see the contributions of many others, friends and critics alike, whose lives and thoughts helped shape the movement.

Conflict as well as courage helped forge the distinctive Wesleyan emphases that constituted for them the "scripture way of salvation." We see the evolution of practical ways to nourish "holiness of heart and life" through the development of societies and schools, classes and bands, conferences and clinics, and many other forms of organization and mission that eventually secure Methodism into the social and religious fabric of British society.