Charles Wesley, Jesus jingles and the orange beaker

Charles Wesley (pictured right) was born in 1707 and this year Methodists are celebrating his tercentenary. Our own local celebration, at which I was present but not actively participating, took place at Shoreham Parish Church. Vincent Perronet, the vicar of Shoreham for 57 years was a great friend, supporter and father figure to John and Charles Wesley.

Last night the parish church was packed with Anglicans and Methodists from outer London and northwest Kent. The present vicar welcomed 'John and Charles' (actors) and was heckled and pelted with scrunched up paper by a rabble in rural costume who objected to their presence. Several Methodist dignitaries attended or contributed to the service, including the Rev. Dr. Colin Morris who preached a cracking sermon about the role of the minstrel.

His key point was that ideas alone are not enough. The minstrel is able to encapsulate the key ideas of a movement into powerful songs. He finds ways to express the thoughts of a people in contemporary language and melody so that the words and images sink into their very souls. The combination of poetry and music can make an impact beyond mere reason.

Towards the end of the sermon, Colin Morris made a comment about 'Jesus jingles' whose words were too trite to carry the weight of the Christian gospel. A murmur of approval ran through the congregation. In a different context, I would have argued that the point of 'Jesus jingles' was not to encapsulate good theology (though hopefully they would avoid bad theology), but rather to set a mood of worship and praise in simple terms which would be accessible to all, includig the uneducated or even illiterate.

On later reflection, my mind returned to the start of the sermon when Dr. Morris paused to drink from an orange plastic beaker. In such an old and distinguished setting, the beaker struck an amusing but jarring note. Couldn't they afford a nice glass tumbler? I realised that for some members of the congregation trite words and child-like tunes strike the same jarring note as the orange plastic beaker.

I still believe there is a place for ephemeral worship songs alongside more profound material (both old and new), but I have made a mental note that such songs need to be right for the context and should not be an off-putting intrusion. All this is very pertinent for today, because tonight is the first (after a six month break) 'Song Workshop' where we learn and practise a few contemporary songs for use in upcoming services.