I had occasion recently to address a highly evangelical seaside gathering on the seven questions people ask most often about hymns. Some, I confess, are a bit tricky: What is a hymn? Others are almost equally complex. Balancing the real snorters, however, come one or two simpler ones, and I have been asked to share some of the material (honestly!) with a wider audience.
So, at some risk of repeating what you already know, I face Question Number Four on my list, which is simply: Who is the next (or the new) Charles Wesley? It is often put to us in these days of our literary pygmies, but the marks of such a figure are far easier to spot than, for instance, those of the new Don Bradman or the next Bobby Charlton. How may we recognise CW2 when he comes?
First, is he a Church of England clergyman? You think that is irrelevant or marginal; Charles did not.
