Methodism as Evangelistic Creation of John Wesley - Essay Example

Methodism - a belief “born in song” Methodism as followed by the Methodist Churches of England and the United s was the primary evangelistic creation of John Wesley along with his brother Charles during the 1730s in England. Even while studying at Oxford, the two of them were religious in their outlook, and they used to form groups devoted to praising the Lord and helping underprivileged people of the community. What sets this Church, which is a part of the Protestant, belief is their strong belief in mass participation and extensive use of song or hymns in their prayers. History has it that this practice of using songs in prayers has its origins from an experience during a voyage in a ship to the United States. Young John was travelling to Georgia as a preacher when a big storm struck the ship, threatening the lives of the travellers. While most of them including John were worried about the prospect, a group of German Moravian Christians sat calmly through the whole period singing devotional songs (Galli et al 2000). In the end the whole party arrived safely in the United States, but it appears that the calm faith of the Moravians, their devotion, and their singing had an impact of John Wesley. This could have been one of the reasons why John brought in the concept of hymnody into the prayers of the Methodist Church. Other authors also share this belief regarding the role of hymnody in Wesley’s and the Methodist Churches’ reliance on songs. The book, ‘A panorama of Christian hymnody’ states that his contact with the German priests also inspired him to learn their language and to translate many of the German hymns into English (Routkey & Richardson 2005). This fervent hymn by John Wesley is an indication of his deep rooted belief in the power of songs in prayer. “O for a thousand tongues to sing my great redeemer’s praise, The Glories of my God and King. The Triumphs of His Grace” (Wilkinson 1992). The use of the words ‘a thousand tongues’ and ‘sing’ is indicative of this core belief of the Methodist church as founded by Wesley. As mentioned earlier, the Wesley brothers practiced an evangelical form of preaching and began to use hymn books in their weekly gatherings usually in homes and other areas not belonging to the church (Creamer 1848). There are also reports that this practice along with audience participation came in for extensive criticism from many quarters in England during that time. But his practice of Friday gatherings in order to sing the praise of the Lord began to be noticed and many other communities began to follow it over a period of time. This was despite the fact that the Methodists were accused of over-enthusiasm probably due to mass participation in singing of hymns (Glover 1994). What should be noted here is that the fears of critics of the Methodist style of prayer was justified during that period. Hymns were performed by specially selected members of a church choir and not by general members of the audience or church goers. According to Hewitt, “Church music in the medieval times belonged to the choir and not the congregation” (Hewitt 2009).In such a situation, it was only natural that mass participation of church music would have been seen revolutionary and against the practices of the Protestant church. But what the Methodists did was only an extension of this ancient practice. Hewitt adds that music in church or the concept of hymnody had existed ever since the inception of Christianity and the church. What the Methodists did was only to popularize or communize this beautiful concept by bringing in the participation of the congregation. There was fear among the clergy of the Protestant Church in England the Methodists were about to bring in a new church that was opposed to Protestant beliefs. But it is to the credit of these believers that this form of worship became a part and parcel of the Protestant Church in England and elsewhere. But whatever may the origin and practice followed by the Methodists, it was never intended to be rival to the then existing Christian Church and clergy in England. The founder brothers of the Methodist church in a sense wanted to democratize the concept of belief in Christ. They could have thought that hymnody was an ideal way of mass participation of the believers and converts. According to Jenkins, in his book, ‘Christianity’, “the Wesleys, who wrote some of the finest hymns in the Christian religion, wanted ‘to inject some life into services’. The first words in the Methodist hymn book states, ‘The Methodist was born in song” (Jenkins 1995) In this regard, the inclusion of songs sung by the audience or specifically the congregation, was a simple act of participation or a sense of belonging. There are many references that point out to the relevance of a song or hymn in Christian literature. According to Martin, in his book, ‘Worship in the holy church’, “the Christian church was born in song. The proof of this statement may be adduced along a number of different lines. First of all, it is to be expected that Christian gospel should bring with it on the scene of history an outburst of hymnody and praise to God” (Martin 1975). In that sense, any argument that the Methodist Church and its founders relied on hymns as a form of prayer is sacrilegious or is against any form of Christian worship is unfounded. Songs and music have a way of connecting with people. Coupled with beautiful lyrics that can be understood and grasped by common folk, this concept was an effective way to connect people with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Making the members of the congregations sing these songs without care about the clarity or quality of notes and other musical technicalities must have made a profound impact on the followers of the Methodist movement. Millbower, quoting musicologist Norton states that “there is no from of popular music in the modern, industrialized world that exists outside the province of mass tonal consciousness. It is the tonality of the church, school, office, parade, convention, cafeteria, workplace, airport, airplane, automobile, truck, tractor, lounge, lobby, bar, gym, brothel, bank and elevator” (Millbower 2000). Born in music is a natural transition of a religious belief. It is one of the best ways to connect the teachings of a spiritual leader and the Methodist view on this area is a brilliant approach to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. The concept of ‘born in music’ or hymnody in as envisioned by the Wesley’s and the Methodists is nothing new in human society. It is only a natural extension of human emotions that can be extended to reach out to God. It is true that at that time, there were many who were suspicious about the intentions of the founders of the Methodist church. But there is no proof that the Wesley’s and the Methodist Church had any intention to challenge the Protestant Church in England. On the other hand, their sole intention was to strengthen the religious beliefs of the citizens of England and the rest of the world towards the teachings of Jesus Christ. The role of music in the modern world cannot be disputed for its influence in capturing the attention of its creators. There are hundreds of musical groups that have thrived on the popularity of their message and the rhythm created by them. The role of music or the concept of ‘born in song’ is a brilliant concept as envisioned by the founders of the Methodist Church. As mentioned earlier, music in the church was limited to a choir until its democratization by John and Charles Wesley. If one can experience the impact of a thousand tongues singing glory to God without any restrictions, relying solely on devotion and emotion, the Methodist form of worship will be an eye opener. There is nothing like participation in a form of activity like singing, and the Methodist Church had correctly identified this concept in order to spread the teachings of Christianity and Jesus Christ. Music, rhythm and participation is an excellent way of spreading a message. It can be said that the Methodist Church is indeed born in song and there is no harm whatsoever in the belief of the power of music and hymnody. Refereneces Creamer, David. 1848. Methodist hymnology. GIA Publications.   Galli, Mark, Christian History Magazine, and Ted Olsen. 2000. Christians Everyone Should Know. B&H Publishing Group.  Glover, Raymond F. 1994. The Hymnal 1982 companion. Church Publishing, Inc.   Hewitt, Theodore Brown. 2009. Paul Gerhardt as a Hymn Writer and His Influence on English Hymnody. BiblioBazaar, LLC Jenkins, Joe. 1995. Christianity. Heinemann. Martin, Ralph P. 1975. Worship in the early church. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Millbower, Lenn. 2000. Training with a beat. Stylus Publishing, LLC. Routley, Erik, and Paul Akers Richardson. 2005. A panorama of Christian hymnody. GIA Publications. Wilkinson, Bruce, and Walk Thru the Bible. 1992. Closer Walk. Zondervan.   Read More