Founding
Methodism
The Gilbert's
Estate was owned by Nathaniel Gilbert, a lawyer and politician
in Antigua in the early 1750s. He was the Speaker of the House
of Assembly and also managed this former sugar estate owned
by his family.
Nathaniel was introduced to Methodism by his brother, Dr.
Francis Gilbert, who was converted by the teachings of John
Wesley, the founder of Methodism in England. In 1758, Nathaniel
Gilbert took his family and household slaves to England to
be baptized by John Wesley. When he returned to Antigua one
year later, he retired his political and legal ambitions and
devoted his time to preaching to both whites and
blacks. He held services in his Estate house, which is now
the Gilbert's Ecumenical Center. The original staircase leading
to the back courtyard, still intact, is where Nathaniel used
to preach.
After he died in 1774, three of his servants, Bessie, Sophia
Campbell, and Marry Alley, started their own ministry among
the slaves and kept the religion alive for many years before
John Baxter, Methodist Local Preacher and shipwright, arrived
from England.
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