Editing Kingdom of Great Britain (section)

====Evangelical religion and social reform====
{{Further|Church of England}}
The evangelical movement inside and outside the [[Church of England]] gained strength in the late 18th and early 19th century. The movement challenged the traditional religious sensibility that emphasised a code of honour for the upper class, and suitable behaviour for everyone else, together with faithful observances of rituals. [[John Wesley]] (1703–1791) and his followers preached revivalist religion, trying to convert individuals to a personal relationship with Christ through Bible reading, regular prayer, and especially the revival experience. Wesley himself preached 52,000 times, calling on men and women to "redeem the time" and save their souls. Wesley always operated inside the Church of England, but at his death, it set up outside institutions that became the [[Methodism|Methodist Church]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Anthony |title=The Church of England: the Methodists and society, 1700–1850 |date=1973}}</ref> It stood alongside the traditional nonconformist churches, Presbyterians, Congregationalist, Baptists, Unitarians and Quakers. The nonconformist churches, however, were less influenced by revivalism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Briggs |first=Asa |title=The age of improvement, 1783–1867 |date=1959 |publisher=Longman |pages=66–73 |author-link=Asa Briggs}}</ref>

The Church of England remained dominant, but it had a growing evangelical, revivalist faction in the "Low Church". Its leaders included [[William Wilberforce]] and [[Hannah More]]. It reached the upper class through the [[Clapham Sect]]. It did not seek political reform, but rather the opportunity to save souls through political action by freeing slaves, abolishing the duel, prohibiting cruelty to children and animals, stopping gambling, and avoiding frivolity on the Sabbath; evangelicals read the Bible every day. All souls were equal in God's view, but not all bodies, so evangelicals did not challenge the hierarchical structure of English society.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rule |first=John |title=Albion's People: English Society 1714–1815 |date=1992 |chapter=Chapters 2–6}}</ref>