Home Worship Planning Music Resources The Meaning and Message of Wesley Today

The Meaning and Message of Wesley Today

I was recently contacted by someone writing an article on Wesleyan spirituality today for the 300th anniversary year of Charles Wesley's birth. He was contacting people in various leadership positions in the church to ask two questions. Since I am a layperson and a musician by calling and by training, that is the context out of which I responded. Here are his two questions and my responses.

  1. What of the Wesleys' teachings and music has touched you the most in your ministry, encouraging you to move forward with Christ?

    I have been inspired and strengthened by a number of things in the Wesleys' lives and hymns, including the following:
    • They used music as a tool rather than a goal, a means rather than an end. They always placed music in the service of something else: evangelism, nurture, education, proclamation, sacramental observance, theological commentary.
    • Despite their understanding and use of music as a servant, the music that they used and created was always of utmost excellence -- of text, tune, singability, scriptural and doctrinal soundness, and suitability of association. By that last quality I mean that the tunes, harmonizations, rhythms, musical settings, and the origins of the music were always suited to carry the sacred words and ideas, always appropriate for the worship of God, never tainted by the vulgarities and associations of popular tavern songs and the questionable lifestyles that were sometimes lived by those who wrote, performed, and enjoyed such music.
    • Charles's hymns provided people with the opportunity and the words to express the full range of human experience and emotion, and John's hymnal editing and publishing confirmed that principle. In our singing we are to make use of praise, lament, confession, repentance, contemplation, and so much more. And we are to do so as a community and as individuals.
  2. What do you believe is the message of John and Charles Wesley to United Methodists today?

    Very simply:
    • Love God and one another.
    • Know that Jesus is the savior of the world and each individual.
    • Live holy lives and practice the means of grace.
    • Share the gospel with your neighbor and the world.
    • Serve the needs of the poor, hungry, sick, suffering, and needy.
    • Oppose injustice, oppression, and evil wherever it exists.
    • Be faithful to and supportive of The United Methodist Church.

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