History of The Wesley Centre

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The Wesley Centre is an initiative of Wesley Church, Melbourne—a church with a long history of advocating for justice for the poorest and most marginalised people in society.

Wesley Church is on Lonsdale Street, which in the nineteenth century was the heart of Melbourne’s red light district. In April 1893, in the midst of a severe depression, the minister of the Wesley Church, Alexander Edgar, joined a small delegation to see the Premier of Victoria. They asked him to do something about what was then called the ‘sweating evil’—the exploitation of poor and vulnerable workers in dangerous and unpleasant conditions in the factories and back rooms of ‘Marvellous Melbourne’.

When the Premier declined to help, the delegation conferred on the steps of Parliament House. What next? Someone suggested a public meeting, and the Reverend Alexander Edgar offered his church as the location.

Thus was born a series of public conversations known as ‘Pleasant Sunday Afternoons.’ These were not mere talkfests. They helped to change the nature of our state and our nation. The Victorian Government eventually succumbed to pressure to set up its own inquiry into the ‘sweating evil’, and in 1896 amendments were passed to the Factories and Shops Act—one of the first pieces of legislation in the world to set minimum wages through wage boards.

Through Wesley Mission (1893-2016), now called Uniting, Wesley Church has been a leader in the welfare sector for more than 130 years, combining social welfare with policy critique and justice advocacy. As Rev. Arthur Preston (Superintendent of Wesley Mission 1968-1981) wrote, ‘the Gospel is concerned with the dignity and worth of every individual person and with the right of every person to fully share in the good things which [God] has provided.’

Today, the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy exists to once again speak words of hope and justice into the public conversation in Australia. Our logo is a nod to the intersection of the traditions of Wesley Church and the

contemporary urban landscape in which it sits. Like the congregation at Wesley Church, we believe that the Christian message is not just about the liberation of individuals, but about the transformation of the whole of life, including our communal and political life.