Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement.

Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime.

His works include "And Can It Be", "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today", "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling", 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.

He was the father of musician Samuel Wesley and the grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley.

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.

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.

The Wesleys' future colleague, George Whitefield joined the group.

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 tutored while studying; he graduated in 1732 with a master's degree in classical languages and literature.

Charles followed his father and brother into ministry in 1735, and he travelled with John to Georgia in America, returning a year later.

Charles followed his father and brothers into Anglican orders, being ordained as a priest in September 1735.

That same year his father died.

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.

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.

Following their evangelical conversions in 1738, the Wesley brothers travelled throughout Britain, converting followers to the Methodist revival through preaching and hymn-singing.

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, 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 evangelical conversion, May 21st 1738".

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 evangelical preaching.

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.

From 1740, John and Charles were the joint leaders of the Methodist Revival and evangelised throughout Britain and Ireland.

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.

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.

Charles Wesley was the eighteenth child of Susanna Wesley and Samuel Wesley.

He was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, where his father was rector.