Six Articles of Wesley’s Covenant

In 1752 a group of men, including John Wesley, who were nicknamed Methodist, signed a covenant which every man might hang on his study wall. The six articles of the solemn agreement follow:

1. That we will not listen or willingly inquire after ill concerning one another.

2. That, if we do hear any ill of each other, we will not be forward to believe it;

3. That as soon as possible we will communicate what we hear by speaking or writing to the person concerned.

4. That until we have done this, we will not write or speak a syllable of it to any other person;

5. That neither will we mention it, after we have done this, to any other person;

6. That we will not make any exception to any of these rules unless we think ourselves absolutely obliged to in conference.

– Evangelistic Illustration, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, p. 526.