Charles Wesley and the Methodist Church

Charles Wesley did many things in his lifetime but he is not recognized for all that he did. He made a huge impact with all he did for the church and religion as we know it. He created the Methodist, wrote over 6 ,500 hymns, and made an impact on the church. Charles Wesley never really cared about becoming famous and getting his name out there. All he wanted to do was be a disciple of God and spread his word. He did just that with growing religion and the thought of praising and understanding God. Which all his ideas all started with his childhood and how his family impacted the rest of his life.

Charles Wesley was born December 18th, 1707, the youngest son of Samuel and Susanna Wesley. Samuel was a parish priest in Epworth until 1735 because of his death. Charles’s father believed he had to have control over his family at all times which made his childhood very unhappy. His mother was an exceptional woman who was educated which was not normal for women during that time period. She cared for the children very much and protected them as much as she could. She taught them how to read and write and to pay attention to detail which at the time she didn’t know but that helps Charles find his passion for the Methodist.

They grew up poor because of Samuel’s job. They were even threatened at one point to be thrown out onto the streets. Charles did not get to see his sister much because they were sent away to do schooling somewhere else, the father did not care for his daughters. He never showed them any affection and would just send them off any chance he got. Charles got his love for the church from his father because they were always a part of a church their whole childhood.

Charles also became very strong-willed like his father, which was not always for the best, and stood strong in his beliefs. Samuel was very hard to get along with, thankfully Charles did not take that trait with him. One thing that Charles’s parents did right for him and his brothers is they made sure that Charles Wesley was spiritually grounded. They were taught to pray all throughout their days and they were even given a book of prayers which is what sparked Charles’s ideas for writing Hymns. They were taught to read the bible at a very young age, also they were taught the Lord’s Payer the moment they could speak. For these reasons, this is how Charles created the Methodist. ( Lloyd, G. (2007)

Charles Wesley was brilliant but mainly stood in the shadow of his brother John Wesley. This is a name many people in the church know because he is believed to have started the Methodist, but this is wrong. Charles Wesley actually started the Methodist club in college. He started a group called the Holy Club that was created to study the method of religion. Later on, Charles got the nickname Methodist which then, later on, is what the group became called, The Methodist.

The group started to grow and that is when his brothers got involved, John Wesley got the most involved. John saw the potential in the group and what it could become. John believed that it would be best for Charles to have a bigger step in leadership and expand the group to a bigger scale. This was not something that Charles had in mind, he did not want to go big, as we will see later on Charles never wanted to become popular. This is when Charles gave the group over to his brother John, and he took over the leadership. This is the main reason people see it as John is the one who created the Methodist because he made it grow into what it is today. (Lloyd, G. (2007)

John Wesley might be the one who helped the methodist grow but he is not the one who created them. Charles is the true methodist because he is the one who created the group. Charles wanted to study the method of religion which takes very deep thought into God’s word. Understanding what true religion is and how we should be doing it the right way, the way God wants. John really only cared about growing the group, he was not even a part of the group Charles Wesley before he joined leadership. John believed in God but was not as invested as Charles was. Charles was the true Methodist and I don’t think he ever believed John would fully understand his love for this group but didn’t want to compete with his brother. As Charles was taught when he was younger was to pay attention to detail which is how the Methodists were created. He wanted to make a group where they could dig deeper into God’s word which the church was not doing. This is really what makes him the real Methodist because of his attention to detail and the whole reason he created it. Just because he gave up the leadership does not mean he gave up the study. He continued his works even without being in charge of a group. One way he got his creative tick out was through hymns. (Wesley, C.(1989)

Charles began to create hymns based on his Christian beliefs of life. He wanted to show his faith and praise through the hymns he created. His most known is “ Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”, “And Can it Be”, and “Christ the Lord is Born Today” . He really wanted his hymns to reflect real-life whether it was the hardships or the joys of life. He never wanted to become famous with his hymns which is why he let go of being in charge of the Methodist. When Charles would publish a hymn, which he didn’t publish many, he always had another name with his because of how much he didn’t want the fame. With the chance of it becoming popular, he just couldn’t fathom that so he made sure to not be the only one on the composer portion. He never made much money from his hymns which he didn’t expect to. Until 1749 when he met the love of his life, Sarah Gwynne. His future mother-in-law demanded that he have more money than he had. This forced him to publish a book of hymns called Hymns and Sacred Poems. When he would go out preaching he would sell his hymn book and once he got enough money he never published the book again.

Charles was truly in love with his wife Sarah and they began a family. He became the father of eight children which sadly only three survived into adulthood. He had been traveling for a while preaching the word with his brother John. He started to realize the hardships of finding a good balance between family and work. He tried to convince Sarah to come on his travels with him but it did not always work out. He lost many children while he was away and the fear that Sarah would die also scared him. Once his health started to fail him and with how much he loved his family he finally decided to stop traveling and stay with his family. He had his own idea of how he wanted to father his children and was in a way down the same road his father treated him. They learned how to read and write at a young age and read the bible. They located them selfs in London and went to church religiously which helped their children choose what they wanted to do. His children followed in his legacy with music and the church. Two became preachers and leadership within the Methodist church. Another son continued in becoming a musician and write music for God. His children did at some point steer away from what Charles wanted them to be doing. One began to attend a Roman Catholic church and Charles did not agree with that. In the end, his son converted to the Roman Catholic church. That was one of the last battles he fought with his son.

In his ending days, his wife would have him if he needed anything and he would respond “I don’t need anything but Christ”. (Baker, F. (2017). He was ready to go to Christ and be in heaven with him. He would pray quite often for he knew his time was coming. In his hours of praying, he forgave the people that converted his son and hoped for peace in their coming days. Many hymns were written during his dying days about judgment day and funerals. Charles Wesley was in perfect peace and fixated on God which made his last days hopeful. He died peacefully in his home in London and was buried in the yard of his church.

Charles Wesley really did make a difference in the church through his hymns and the beginning of the Methodist. His hymns are still used to this day in church and even Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! Is being used outside of the church as a Christmas song. Music can impact people and changes people’s minds