Tag Archives: Charles Wesley

The place of John Wesley’s conversion: The Fetter Lane Society in London


I am about to post my grad-school summaries and comments on the Nine Discourses of Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, which the Moravian founder gave at London’s Fetter Lane Chapel in 1746. Before doing so, I thought it would be good to say (or rather, steal, from Wikipedia; and it looks like the data here is good) a few words on the Fetter Lane Society: nerve center of British Moravianism in the mid 1700s:

Fetter Lane Society

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Fetter Lane Society was the first flowering of the Moravian church in the UK, and an important as a precursor to Methodism. A short time before the great Methodist revival of the 18th Century in England, Moravians were avidly ministering throughout London. Peter Böhler, the London Moravian leader, and his followers established the Fetter Lane Society in May 1738 for the purpose of discipleship and accountability.

They began with the purpose of meeting once a week for prayer and fellowship. Most of their members consisted of Anglicans, most prominently John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield. John Wesley records in his journal for 1 January 1739: Continue reading

Holiness in different guises: Charles Wesley and Charles M. Sheldon


Here’s another “People Worth Knowing” column from the pages of Christian History & Biography. Again we have brief, linked profiles of two people with a thematic connection. This time: holiness.

Holiness of heart, life, and pen
Charles Wesley and Charles H. Sheldon
Chris Armstrong

Charles Wesley (1707-88). Charles M. Sheldon (1857-1946). Separated by 150 years and a continent, these two men shared traits deeper than a common first name. Both believed Christians must respond to their Savior’s amazing love by loving others in practical ways. And both, desiring that others be captivated by a higher vision of life in Christ, expressed that vision in words that galvanized millions. Continue reading

Tavern tunes in church music and “Why should the devil have all the good music?”


After I posted the Gregory piece, a friend, Michelle Myer, chimed in with the following on my Facebook page:

“You missed the bit where the dove landed on his shoulder and taught him the basics of Gregorian chant. 😉

“I’ve also heard him credited (through his adoption of Roman forms of chant for worship) as being the very first to say ‘Why should the Devil have all the good music?’ Larry Norman said it best, but maybe Gregory said it first?”

As Michelle knows, the bit about Gregory inventing Gregorian chant–dove or no dove–doesn’t have an ounce of evidence to support it (and much evidence goes against it). But since she has brought up the topic, here’s a reflection I posted back in the Christian History online newsletter days (2003), related to the origin both of the use of tavern tunes in church music–usually Luther is credited with doing this, but did he?–and the phrase “Why should the devil have all the good music?” The facts may surprise you. And some of the links may not work–this was posted over 5 years ago:

From Oratorios to Elvis
Pop culture has been coming to a church near you for hundreds of years.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has entered the (church) building.

Part II: Caveat Gyrator

Imagine a mutton-chop-whiskered, white-jump-suited Anglican priest, posed dramatically on one knee, arm raised skyward, belting out, before a cheering crowd of the pious and the curious, the Elvis hit “Where Could I Go But to the Lord.” (Yes, Elvis covered that song in 1968. His Majesty is not in the Gospel Hall of Fame for nothing—he garnered all three of his Grammies for gospel hits, not rock tunes.) Continue reading