Why “Kingswood”?

Kingswood… the name sounds regal, but by John Wesley’s time it referred to a desperate stretch of land outside Bristol, England—pocked with coal pits and populated by poor families who mined them by hand. These soot-covered laborers, known as colliers, lived without schools, churches, or much hope. Society had written them off as unruly and unredeemable.

Into this unlikely place came George Whitefield, a fiery young preacher and friend of John Wesley. In February 1739, challenged to bring the Gospel to the “heathens” of Kingswood, Whitefield took the bold step of preaching outdoors—on what many considered “unhallowed ground.” His message of grace and new life through Jesus drew two hundred listeners the first day. When he returned, thousands came. Tears cut white streaks down coal-blackened faces as hardened men and women encountered the transforming love of God. This was the beginning of what history would call the Methodist Revival or Evangelical Revival. As it spread across the Atlantic, it was known in America as the First Great Awakening. 

When Whitefield soon departed for America, John Wesley came to continue the work. On April 2, 1739, he too “consented to be more vile” by preaching in the open air to those who would never enter a church. The results were remarkable. Within a year, Wesley could write that Kingswood was no longer filled with cursing, drunkenness, and fighting but with peace, love, and the songs of people praising God. Kingswood became the unlikely birthplace of a movement that combined spiritual renewal with social transformation.

Wesley’s passion for holistic ministry took root there as well. He built Methodism’s first school in Kingswood for the children of the colliers, believing they too should “know the things which make for their peace.” Even the Methodist tradition of watch-night services began among those same miners, who replaced Saturday-night drinking with prayer and worship that lasted till morning.

Kingswood—once a wasteland—became a symbol of redemption and revival. That is why our church in Geneseo bears its name. Kingswood Church stands as a reminder that God still transforms broken places and people, turning dark pits into fields of grace where His light shines anew.