John Oxtoby

Who was John Oxtoby?

John Oxtoby was an English evangelist and Primitive Methodist preacher.

A call for revival presupposes the decline and weakness of the Church. The rise of the Primitive Methodists in the 19th century was the result of the decline of England's early Methodism. The Primitive Methodist movement, strived to return to the Christianity as taught and practiced by John Wesley.

Sixteen years after John Wesley's death, the English Methodist Conference found itself in conflict with some of its most zealous ministers. These ministers were eventually expelled from the Conference for holding camp meetings and open-air services. Many in the Conference considered such meetings out of order and void of proper supervision. What had been esteemed by Wesley had become despised by his successors. The Primotive Methodists thought that, like the Wesley's, they followed the pillar of fire, rather than the logical traditions of men which make void the commandments of God. In their view, this pillar of revival fire is always best seen from the heights of bent and callused knees.

Chief among the Primitive Methodists' praying men was John Oxtoby, affectionately known as "Praying Johnny".