The "Sweet Singer of Methodism"
Yes, that's the nickname that's been given to Charles Wesley. But although he was many things: a priest, theologian, co-founder of Methodism, and more . . . he wasn't a musician. What he was, was a prodigious writer of sacred poems. But it wasn't his singing that reformed Britain, then changed the spiritual history of North America. It was writing: his sacred poems, or "hymns."
Hymn expert Erik Routley has calculated that Charles wrote 8,989 such poems. Because some are only one stanza (or short set of verses), maybe those are not "hymns" properly so called. Applying a bit more rigorous criteria, Routley arrives at an output of hymns totaling merely . . . 6,000!
As the Right Reverend Timothy Dudley-Smith writes for the Christian History Institute, "In the English-speaking world, we probably sing hymns by Charles Wesley more often than we sing the work of any other hymn writer. But more than quantity is usefulness."
He continues,
In so many ways his hymns are indispensable to our worship. Where would we be at Christmas without “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”? At Easter without “Love’s Redeeming Work Is Done” or “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”? At Pentecost without “Come, Holy Ghost, Thine Influence Shed”?
Or think of his great hymns of universal praise and of Christian discipleship: “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”; “Come, Thou Almighty King”; “Jesus, Lover of My Soul”; “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”
Charles's brother John assembled the groundbreaking Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodists in 1780. Of the 525 hymns all but 47 are written by Charles. The current United Methodist Hymnal (issued over 200 years later) still presents 51 of Charles's hymns with music and eight more as printed verse.
John, Charles, and the other founders of that reform movement known as Methodism were all about God's offer of entire sanctification (see "The Big Idea" on this site). Therefore, many of Charles's hymns are vehicles whereby the person who is singing invites the Holy Spirit to work and convert the heart, soul, and mind to be fully love. In the 1780 Collection, John titled the section containing these hymns, "Groaning for Full Redemption." Though "groaning" certainly has different connotations now, it's these wonderful hymns about wanting to be fully in tune with the Divine, that Phil has chosen to highlight in this project.
In an era before Netflix, TikTok, or even radio, entertainment of course was live. People in England wanted to attend the Methodist assemblies and services because of stirring preaching, yes, but especially for the rousing collective singing. A phrase that made the rounds in the 20th century says, "Methodism was born in song." John Wesley, himself, attributed much of the movement's success to Charles's great hymns. Perhaps even more so than the preaching, it was Charles's hymns that taught the ideas of the Christian faith to new and experienced believers alike. John referred to the 1780 Collection of hymns as "a little body of experimental and practical divinity." He praised music's "power to affect the hearers; to raise various passions in the human mind."
It is our prayer here at the project that Charles's verse, coupled with new music, might inspire people anew, to the glory of God and to the benefit of God's Creation.
