METHODISTS across Hampshire are ready to mark John Wesley's 300th anniversary.

Representatives of churches in the county are to join Methodist President the Rev Ian White at a national service of thanksgiving for the life and ministry of Wesley, one of Britain's best-known evangelists and hymn writers, at Lincoln Cathedral on 17 June.

Throughout the UK, more than 6,000 Methodist churches are organising their own services, exhibitions and other festivities to mark the anniversary.

Murray White, a spokesman for the National Methodist Church, told the Daily Echo: "John Wesley was born in 1703 in Epworth, Lincoln, where he spent his formative years.

"In 1709, Wesley narrowly escaped from a devastating fire that destroyed the original rectory where Wesley's father, Samuel - a Church of England clergyman - and the family lived.

"The Old Rectory now houses a popular museum in one of the most tranquil parts of rural Britain. Wesley became a renowned preacher and spiritual leader of the Methodist revival.

"He lived and died as a Church of England clergyman, keeping his vow to remain with the church of his birth. But the movement that he founded eventually became the largest Free Church in Britain.

"And with some 70 million followers, Methodism is today one of the world's largest Christian Churches."