Charles Wesley

1957 – Washington National Cathedral – South Trancept, Southwes Turret Staiway

This is a joyous window, one of three honoring the Wesley family.  The main figure here, Charles Wesley, has his hands raised in celebration.  You can almost feel the breeze that is causing the paper his hymns are written on to come floating down.  In this very animated composition, it looks as if, in his exuberance, he has just launched his collection of hymns into the air.

Iconography

Charles Wesley, younger brother of John, was a prolific hymn writer and one of the founders of the movement that eventually became the worldwide Methodist Church.  While studying at Oxford, Charles formed a “Holy Club” of like-minded students who prayed and methodically studied the Bible; his brother John later joined them. Other students gave them the pejorative title of “Methodists” because of their meticulous method of Bible study and disciplined lifestyle. Like his brother, Charles was ordained as an Anglican priest and spent several years in the mission field in the colony of Georgia.

A few days before his brother’s famous Aldersgate conversion in 1738, Charles also experienced a conversion that led him, like John, to spend countless hours traveling, preaching, and spreading the Word throughout southwestern England and into Wales. Charles always sought to reform the Church of England from within, and he remained a practicing Anglican throughout his life.

Whereas John is principally remembered as a preacher, Charles’s particular gift was hymn writing. Over the course of his life, he authored more than 6,500 hymns that illustrate his faith and the joyous outlook that Rowan and Irene have caught in their portrayal. Among these are familiar hymns that are still sung today, such as “O for a thousand tongues to sing,” “Love divine, all loves excelling,” and the familiar Christmas carol “Hark! The herald angels sing.”  

Charles and John are commemorated in the Episcopal Church each year on the third of March and in the Church of England on May 24.

Year Completed

1957

Artists

Rowan LeCompte

Irene Matz LeCompte

Fabricator

Rowan LeCompte

Irene Matz LeCompte

Location In Building

South Trancept

Southwest Turret Stairway