Advent Talks 2024
Charles Wesley is one of, if not the, greatest of English hymn writers.Although his hymns are widely used in Christian worship, the ways in which Charles’ hymns reflect his own real-life Christian experience is less well appreciated.
In these three short talks, Charles Wesley the man will be brought into sharper focus. We will learn something of his struggles as well as his overwhelming sense of the all-sufficient love of God. There is much that we can learn from Charles, and a great deal that we can take away from his hymns that remains as valid today as it was when he originally composed his astonishing literary legacy.
During each talk we will sing two of Charles’ hymns.
December 3: An outline of the life, work and legacy of Charles Wesley.December 10: Charles and the tenacity of Christian faith.
December 17: Charles’ most famous hymns in context
The Revd Canon Professor Kenneth Newport (DPhil, DD) is associate priest at Bolton Parish Church and the author many articles and several books on Charles Wesley, including:1. The Sermons of the Revd. Charles Wesley: A Critical Edition with an Introduction and Notes (Oxford University Press, 2001).
2. (With Ted A. Campbell), Charles Wesley: Life, Legacy, Literature (Epworth Press, 2007).
3. (With ST Kimbrough) The Journal of Charles Wesley MA, 2 vols. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2008).
4. (With Gareth Lloyd) The Letters of Charles Wesley: A Critical Edition with Introduction and Notes volume 1: 1728-1756 (Oxford University Press, 2013).
5. (With Gareth Lloyd) The Letters of Charles Wesley: A Critical Edition with Introduction and Notes volume 2: 1757-1788 (Oxford University Press, 2021).