Charles Wesley was born prematurely to Samuel and Susanna Wesley in December 1707 in Epworth, England. He was their 18th child. Like his brother John, Wesley benefitted from the teaching of his mother, who spent six hours a day instructing her children.
Wesley's education was impressive. He studied for 13 years at Westminster School, where he learned Latin, and also spent 9 years at Oxford, where he received his master of arts degree. There he organized the famous Holy Club, which included his brother John and George Whitefield.
In 1735 Wesley went to Georgia with John to serve as a missionary to the Indians. On the ship to America they met a group of Moravians and were impressed by their hymn singing. Singing was not worldly, they observed, but an experience of personal worship.
Unfortunately, the Wesleys did little mission work in Georgia. Charles ended up as secretary to James Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony, and after four months, sick and discouraged, he returned to England.
There Wesley became involved with the Moravians and saw a holiness among them that he wanted. He also taught English to Peter Boehler, a Moravian leader.
During his illness in May 1738, Wesley read Martin Luther's Commentary on Galatians. The Holy Spirit convicted him of his sin, and he trusted Christ for his salvation. He wrote, "I now found myself at peace with God."
Welsey immediately wrote a hymn to declare his conversion, "Where Shall My Wondering Soul Begin?" With his brother John, who also had just received Christ, Wesley sang this hymn in a worship service on May 24, 1738. Shortly afterwards, he wrote another hymn of celebration-"And Can It Be That I Should Gain?"
Wesley then began a career of open-air preaching. From 1738 to1741, he preached to tens of thousands of people in the fields, coal mines and prisons near Bristol. One historian has calculated that he preached to 149,000 people during this period! He preached throughout England for the rest of his life, especially to people whom the English Church was not reaching.
But Wesley is best known for his hymns. One historian has determined that he wrote more than 6,000 hymns and religious poems, composing an average of three hymns per week. His collected poems fill 13 volumes!
