Charles Wesley 

(18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of

the Methodist movement, most widely known for writing the words for over
6,500 hymns.[2] His works include "And Can It Be", "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today",
the carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", and "Lo! He Comes With Clouds
Descending".
Charles Wesley was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, the son of Anglican cleric and
poet Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna. He was a younger brother of Methodist
founder John Wesley and Anglican cleric Samuel Wesley the Younger, and he
became the father of musician Samuel Wesley and grandfather of musician Samuel
Sebastian Wesley.
He was educated at Oxford University, where his brothers had also studied, and he
formed the "Holy Club" among his fellow students in 1729. John Wesley later joined
this group, as did George Whitefield. Charles followed his father and brother into the
church in 1735, and he travelled with John to Georgia in America, returning a year
later. Following their evangelical conversions in 1738, the Wesley brothers travelled
throughout Britain, converting followers to the Methodist revival through preaching
and hymn-singing. In 1749, he married Sarah Gwynne, daughter of a Welsh
gentleman who had been converted to Methodism by Howell Harris. From 1756 his
ministry became more static and he ministered in Bristol, and later London.
Despite their closeness, Charles and John did not always agree on questions relating
to their beliefs. In particular, Charles was strongly opposed to the idea of a breach
with the Church of England into which they had been ordained.[3]

Contents

 1Biography
o 1.1Early life
o 1.2Voyage to America
o 1.3Ministry
o 1.4Marriage and children
o 1.5Death and burial
 2Hymns and other works
o 2.1Hymnody
o 2.2Psalms
 3Legacy
o 3.1Tercentenary
 4In film
 5References
 6External links

Biography[edit]
The 'Lily Portrait' of a young Charles Wesley, in the New Room, Bristol[4]
Early life[edit]
Charles Wesley was the eighteenth child of Susanna Wesley and Samuel Wesley.
He was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, where his father was rector.[3] In
1716, at the age of 8, he entered Westminster School, where his brother Samuel was
usher. He was selected as King's Scholar in 1721 and head boy in 1725–26, before
matriculating at Christ Church, Oxford.[4]
At Oxford, Charles formed a prayer group among his fellow students in 1727; his
elder brother, John, joined in 1729, soon becoming its leader and moulding it in line
with his own convictions. They focused on studying the Bible and living a holy life.
Other students mocked them, saying they were the "Holy Club", "Sacramentarians",
and "the Methodists", being methodical and exceptionally detailed in their Bible study,
opinions and disciplined lifestyle.[3] The Wesleys' future colleague, George
Whitefield joined the group. Charles tutored while studying; he graduated in 1732
with a master's degree in classical languages and literature. Charles followed his
father and brothers into Anglican orders, being ordained as a priest in September
1735.[4] That same year his father died.
Voyage to America[edit]
On 14 October 1735, Charles and his brother John sailed on The
Simmonds from Gravesend, Kent for Savannah in Georgia Colony in British
America at the request of the governor, James Oglethorpe. Charles was appointed
Secretary of Indian Affairs and while John remained in Savannah, Charles went as
chaplain to the garrison and colony at nearby Fort Frederica, St. Simon's Island,
arriving there Tuesday, 9 March 1736 according to his journal entry.[5] Matters did not
turn out well, and he was largely rejected by the settlers. In July 1736, Charles was
commissioned to England as the bearer of dispatches to the trustees of the colony.
On 16 August 1736, he sailed from Charleston, South Carolina, never to return to the
Georgia colony.
Ministry[edit]
In 1738 the Wesley brothers had religious experiences: Charles experienced a
conversion on 21 May, and John had a similar experience in Aldersgate Street just
three days later. A City of London blue plaque at 13 Little Britain, near the church
of St Botolph's, Aldersgate, off St. Martin's Le Grand, marks the site of the former
house of John Bray, reputed to be the scene of Charles' evangelical conversion. It
reads, "Adjoining this site stood the house of John Bray. Scene of Charles Wesley's
conversion by faith in Christ on May 21st 1738".[6]
Charles felt renewed strength to spread the gospel to ordinary people and it was
around then that he began to write the poetic hymns for which he would become
known. In January 1739, he was appointed as curate to serve at St Mary's Church,
Islington, but was forced to resign when the churchwardens objected to
his evangelicalpreaching.[1] Later that same year, finding that they were unwelcome
inside parish churches, the Wesley brothers took to preaching to crowds in open
fields. They were influenced by George Whitefield, whose open-air preaching was
already reaching great numbers of Bristol colliers.[3] From 1740, John and Charles
were the joint leaders of the Methodist Revival and evangelised throughout Britain
and Ireland.[7]: 91–92  They were opposed by many Anglican clergy, especially when their
appointed lay preachers began to preach in parishes without seeking permission.
In Newcastle Charles established its first Methodist society in September 1742, and
he faced mob violence at Wednesbury and Sheffield in 1743 and at Devizes in 1747.
[1][4]

Following a period of illness, after 1756 Charles made no more journeys to distant
parts of the country, mainly just moving between Bristol and London.[8]: 45–46  Increasingly
in his later years Charles became the mouthpiece of the so-called
'Church Methodists'—he was strongly opposed to a separation of Methodism from its
Anglican roots.[8]: 344–345  In the 1780s, he was especially dismayed by his
brother's ordination of priests to serve in America (see John Wesley § Ordination of
ministers), which he criticised in a published poem.[9]
Marriage and children[edit]

Plaque in Marylebone commemorating the site of Wesley's house (now a pub)

In April 1749, he married the much younger Sarah Gwynne (1726–1822), also known
as Sally.[7]: 95–97  She was the daughter of Marmaduke Gwynne, a
wealthy Welsh magistrate who had been converted to Methodism by Howell Harris.
[10]
 They moved into a house at 4 Charles Street in Bristol in September 1749.[4][7]: 95–
97 
 Sarah accompanied the brothers on their journeys throughout Britain, until at least
1753.
In 1771, Charles obtained another house, in London, and moved into it that year with
his elder son. By 1778 the whole family had transferred from Bristol to the London
house, at 1 Great Chesterfield Street (now Wheatley Street), Marylebone,[10] where
they remained until Charles' death and on into the 19th century.[11] The house in
Bristol still stands and has been restored,[7]: 95–97  however the London house was
demolished in the mid 19th century.[11]
Only three of the couple's children survived infancy: Charles Wesley junior (1757–
1834), Sarah Wesley (1759–1828), who like her mother was also known as Sally,
and Samuel Wesley (1766–1837).[12] Their other children, John, Martha Maria,
Susannah, Selina and John James are all buried in Bristol, having died between
1753 and 1768. (See monument in garden on north side of junction of Lewis Mead
and The Haymarket, Bristol.) Both Samuel and Charles junior were musical child
prodigies and, like their father, became organists and composers. Charles junior
spent most of his career as the personal organist of the Royal Family, and Samuel
became one of the most accomplished musicians in the world and is often called "the
English Mozart".[13] Samuel Wesley's son, Samuel Sebastian Wesley, was one of the
foremost British composers of the 19th century.[12]
Death and burial[edit]

Monument in St Marylebone Old Churchyard at the position of Wesley's original grave

On his deathbed he sent for the Rector of St Marylebone Parish Church, John
Harley, and purportedly told him "Sir, whatever the world may say of me, I have lived,
and I die, a member of the Church of England. I pray you to bury me in your
churchyard." At the age of 80, he died on 29 March 1788, in London.[14] His body was
carried to the church by six clergymen of the Church of England. A memorial stone to
him stands in the gardens in Marylebone High Street, close to his place of burial.
One of his sons, Samuel, became the organist at the church.[15]

Hymns and other works[edit]

Charles Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter. Among the collections (hymnals) of
Wesley's hymns published in his lifetime were Hymns on God's Everlasting
Love(1741, 1742), Hymns on the Lord's Supper (1745), and Short Hymns on Select
Passages of the Holy Scriptures (1762), together with others celebrating the major
festivals of the Christian year.[4] His hymns are marked by their strong doctrinal
content (notably the Arminianinsistence on the universality of God's love),[16] a
richness of scriptural and literary allusion, and the variety of his metrical and stanza
forms. They are considered to have had a significant influence not only on
Methodism, but on Christian worship and modern theology as a whole.[4][16]

Charles Wesley preaching, by William Gush.[17]

Wesley's poetry included epistles, elegies and political and satirical verse. A collected
edition of The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, edited by George
Osborn, was published in thirteen volumes in 1868–1872.[18]Osborn's collection has
now been supplemented by the three volumes of The Unpublished Poetry of Charles
Wesley.[19]
Jason E. Vickers states that Wesley's 'conversion experience' in 1738 had a clear
impact on his doctrine, especially doctrine concerning the power of the Holy Spirit.
The change was most prominent in his hymns written after the same year. From his
published work Hymns and Prayers to the Trinity and in Hymn number 62 he writes
"The Holy Ghost in part we know, For with us He resides, Our whole of good to Him
we owe, Whom by His grace he guides, He doth our virtuous thoughts inspire, The
evil he averts, And every seed of good desire, He planted in our hearts."[20] Charles
communicates several doctrines: the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
the sanctifying work of the Spirit, the depravity of mankind, and humanity's personal
accountability to God.[16]
Hymnody[edit]
In the course of his career, Wesley published the words of between 6,500 and
10,000 hymns,[2][4] many of which are still popular. These include:

 "Arise, My Soul, Arise" (Words)

 "And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" (Words)
 "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" (Words)
 "Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies" (Words)
  "Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown" (Words)
 "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" (Words)
 "Depth of Mercy, Can it Be" (Words)
 "Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee" (Words)
 "Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise" (Words)
 "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (Words)
 "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" (Words)
 "Jesus, The Name High Over All" (Words)
 "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending" (Words)
 "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" (Words)
 "O for a Heart to Praise My God" (Words)
 "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" (Words)
 "Rejoice, the Lord is King" (Words)
 "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" (Words)
 "Sun of Unclouded Righteousness" (Words)
 "Thou Hidden Source of Calm Repose" (Words)
 "Ye Servants of God" (Words)
The words to many more of Charles Wesley's hymns can be found
on Wikisource and in his many publications.[21][22]
Some 150 of his hymns are in the Methodist hymn book Hymns and Psalms,
including "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing", and The Church Hymn Book (In New York
and Chicago, US, 1872) where "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" is published. Many of his
hymns are translated into other languages, and form the foundation for Methodist
hymnals, as well as the Swedish Metodist-Episkopal-Kyrkans Psalmbok printed in
Stockholm in 1892.
Psalms[edit]
Wesley's hymns are notable as interpretations of Scripture.[23] He also produced
paraphrases of the Psalms, contributing to the long tradition of English metrical
Psalmody. A notable feature of his Psalms is the introduction of Jesus into the
Psalms, continuing a tradition of Christological readings of the Psalms evident in the
translations of John Patrick and Isaac Watts.[24] The introduction of Jesus into the
Psalms was often the source of controversy, even within Wesley's own family.
Charles' brother Samuel Wesley wrote a poem against such practice.[23] Of particular
importance is Wesley's manuscript Psalms, held in the archives of the Pitts Theology
Library at Emory University.[25]