Charles Wesley

English religious leader and writer

• Born: December 18, 1707
• Birthplace: Epworth, Lincolnshire, England
• Died: March 29, 1788
• Place of death: London, England

A prolific hymn writer, Wesley joined with his brother John to instill new life in the Anglican Church, or Church of England. Although Wesley remained an Anglican priest, seeking a renewal of faith and piety, his brother founded and developed the Methodist movement. Charles also was known for his inspiring preaching among the working class of London.

Early Life

Charles Wesley grew up in a large, poor family, and was overshadowed by his older brother John Wesley. The youngest of eighteen children, Charles was born two months premature, leading to a sickly childhood and periods of illness throughout his life. His classical education was a result of his mother’s kitchen-table school while his preacher-father struggled to stay out of debt. After their Anglican parsonage-home in Epworth burned to the ground, a traumatic mark was left on the young brothers. At the age of eight, Charles left home to attend school at Westminster. Although he was given the opportunity to be adopted by a wealthy Irish relative, he surprisingly rejected this offer when he found out that he would struggle financially through school.

He seems to have been a rather outgoing individual who was the center of attention with his singing voice. His own journals speak of wasting his early college years at Oxford in “popular diversions.” A change took place, though, as he gathered around him several friends who followed a methodical routine that centered around daily Bible study, prayer, and weekly communion. The group was derided by classmates, and Charles was dubbed the first “methodist.” Brother John, by this time an ordained clergyman, returned to Oxford in 1729 as a fellow and joined Oxford’s Holy Club. As would be typical throughout his life, John took over leadership of the group while Charles followed.

When a family friend, Governor James Edward Oglethorpe, traveled across the Atlantic with freed prisoners to establish the colony of Georgia, he enlisted John Wesley to accompany him as chaplain and missionary. At John’s insistence, Charles signed on as the governor’s private secretary. Charles was ordained as a deacon and priest in the Church of England in October, 1735, prior to departure. The brothers tried to follow the regimented method of devotion, but both were disillusioned by their work and returned to England within a year as failures.

After having returned to England, Charles nearly came to despair life, and he was combating illness. His only encouragement was his contact with Moravian Pietists. While in Georgia he had encountered Moravian missionaries from Germany, who had impressed him with their devotion and commitment to the faith. For three months in early 1738, the Moravian missionary Peter Böhler stopped in London en route to Georgia and offered the Wesleys the individual mentoring they needed. Following Böhler’s departure, Charles moved into the home of Peter Bray, who read to Wesley both scripture and Martin Luther’s Commentary on Galatians. On Pentecost Sunday, May 21, 1738, Charles had a religious experience that changed his life—a feeling of complete peace came over him. Three days later, his brother John had a similar experience. Soon the brothers began a successful ministry together.

Life’s Work

For the next forty years, Charles Wesley became one of the most powerful preachers in England, bringing new life to the church. Initially, his focus was on a personal testimony to those around him. Then it extended to a ministry among prisoners in Oxford and London. This was a natural growth from his childhood experience, when his father had been placed in debtors’ prison, and also an extension of his work among freed prisoners in Georgia. In July he ministered to ten men scheduled for the gallows. His journals describe his feeling of satisfaction in this ministry and the realization of sincere conversions among the imprisoned and condemned.

In September, 1738, he was invited to preach at Westminster Abbey, conducting the communion service as an ordained Anglican clergyman. What he discovered during the next few months was that church attendance was down and enthusiasm was lacking. He left the confines of the churches for the streets and open fields. There he was joined by his Oxford friend George Whitefield, who would later be known for his role in the Great Awakening movement in New England.

Wesley and Whitefield were immediately brought before the Anglican authorities on charges of antinomianism (believing faith alone will lead to salvation), and they were challenged by local pastors who felt their territory was being infringed upon by the duo’s popular style of preaching. Wesley’s message emphasized personal faith and a pious lifestyle of service while downplaying the importance of regular church attendance. Nevertheless, Wesley always saw himself as part of the Anglican Church, unlike his brother John, who would come to consider himself part of a separate movement that became the Methodist Church.

In 1844, together with his brother, he helped to organize a gathering of laymen whom they trained to assist in preaching. This led to further criticism from the ranks of the clergy. Yet the success of lay preaching led to annual conferences that prepared lay preachers and sent them throughout all of England, Ireland, and North America.

The influence of the Wesley brothers on American Christianity was especially significant. Although Charles’s experience in Georgia had been disastrous, he always wanted to return as a missionary. While never fulfilling that wish, John and Charles together helped arrange for several hundred preachers to cross the Atlantic so that Methodism got a foothold on the American continent and flourished with its expanding frontier.

Charles Wesley continued his work as an itinerant preacher and often attracted crowds in the thousands. Only in 1749, at the age of forty-one, did he marry Sarah (Sally) Gwynne and settle down in Bristol, where the couple raised eight children. In 1771 he moved his family to London, where he continued preaching at the City Road Chapel.

In his later years, Charles parted ways with his older brother, who was separating himself from the Church of England. The disagreement reached a climax when John independently ordained two clergymen who were to be sent to America. In 1784, on the fortieth anniversary of the successful lay conferences, John drew up legal documents to guarantee the continuation of this movement. Many date the establishment of a separate Methodist Church to this date. Charles, however, was not in agreement with this move and continued to see himself as an Anglican priest whose role was that of leading a revival movement within the Church of England.

Significance

Despite his work as a preacher, Charles Wesley is best remembered for his role as a hymn writer. The impact of his ministry is clear from a list of a handful of his most popular hymns, including the following: “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus,” “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today!,” “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today,” “Rejoice, the Lord Is King,” “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” and “Oh, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.”

He began his hymn-writing while still young, and in 1739 he published his first collection, Hymns and Sacred Poems, which was so successful that a new volume was published in each of the next ten years. John wrote hymns as well, but in this area, Charles outshone his brother. It is estimated that Charles wrote between four thousand and eight thousand hymns. Although his publications were more prolific than any other English hymn writer, many of his hymns remain in manuscript form and were never published. Charles clearly understood the importance of these hymns for missionary, devotional, and instructional purposes. Yet he could not have imagined their continued popularity among Protestants into the twenty-first century.

Bibliography

Baker, Frank. Charles Wesley’s Verse: An Introduction. London: Epworth Press, 1964. An introductory work that focuses on Wesley as a hymn writer.

Brailsford, Mabel R. A Tale of Two Brothers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1954. A traditional biography with a primary focus on older brother John.

Chilcote, Paul Wesley. Recapturing the Wesleys’ Vision: An Introduction to the Faith of John and Charles Wesley. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2004. The author considers the Wesleys’ contribution as one of providing a balance between contrasting aspects of the Christian life, seen in terms of “both/and” rather than “either/or.” The book is thus arranged in four pairs of chapters: preaching (grace and love), community (experience and discipleship), discipline (instruction and guidance), and servanthood (mission and service).

Crichton, Mitchell T. Charles Wesley: Man with the Dancing Heart. Kansas City, Mo.: Beacon Hill, 1994. In this thorough summary of Wesley’s life and work, the author seeks to correct the common view that Charles was a lesser figure following in the shadow of his older brother John. This work provides depth in a readable style.

Kent, John. Wesley and the Wesleyans: Religion in Eighteenth-Century Britain. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. This work challenges the view that the Methodists created a much-needed evangelical revival in eighteenth century Britain. Kent argues that Methodism was a “primary religion,” a normal human search to bring supernatural power into individual lives, and not a religious revival. He analyzes the emergence of Wesleyan societies and the role of women in those societies.

Noll, Mark A. The Rise of Evangelicalism: The Age of Edwards, Whitefield, and the Wesleys. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2003. This thorough study places the Wesleys, along with Edwards and Whitefield, in the context of British and American Christianity and explains their relations with contemporary Evangelists.

Tyson, John R. Charles Wesley: A Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Utilizing Wesley’s own journals, sermons, letters, and hymns, thirteen chapters document the reformer’s life and theological thought. A lengthy introduction and short chapter summaries make this material highly accessible.