It's Pentecost Sunday and I'm in Bristol
to celebrate the legacy of two brothers
whose lives, faith and music changed the world.
Today, I'm going to be exploring the story of John and Charles Wesley
and the profound spiritual experience that inspired them.
Welcome to Songs Of Praise.
Coming up in today's programme,
we hear the remarkable story of John and Charles Wesley
and a transformative spiritual experience
that happened this week in 1738.
And he had this Pentecostal...
..Holy Spirit moment.
The knowledge, the understanding went from his head to his heart.
I lend a hand at a charity which is still embodying
the Wesleys' principles of faith in action.
It's not like we work here.
It's like a sanctuary for the people who come here.
It's not only the homeless but vulnerable people as well.
And we lift our voices with some of Charles Wesley's iconic hymns.
# Jesus, and all in Him, is mine... #
This is John Wesley's New Room in Bristol -
a city that meant so much to both the brothers.
It's actually the oldest Methodist building in the world
and it's where much of our music comes from today.
We're going to start with the hymn O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing.
# O for a thousand tongues to sing
Wasn't that fabulous?
Today is Pentecost - a day that commemorates the moment
when those early followers of Christ first experienced
the mysterious power of God's Holy Spirit.
50 days after the Resurrection, tongues of fire descended
on the disciples in a locked room,
filling each of them with the Spirit and inspiring them
to spread the good news of Jesus to all nations.
Because of that moment,
Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church.
Well, on this day in 1738,
a young clergyman in London had a similar spiritual experience
that transformed the way that the word of God was passed on.
That clergyman was John Wesley, who, with his brother Charles,
went on to found what we now know as the Methodist Church.
Today, the New Room is a museum,
and I'm meeting one of its expert tour guides, Paul Marshall.
Paul, great to see you. Hi, Aled. Welcome to Bristol.
Thank you very much. Being looked down upon
by John Wesley immortalised in bronze. An amazing man,
but the impact that he had worldwide was absolutely incredible.
However, John's early life as a priest didn't suggest he'd go on
to have the transformative effect that he did.
If we look at the background of John Wesley,
he had knowledge of Scripture,
he walked like a Christian, he looked like a Christian,
he acted like a Christian,
but there are two aspects in his life that he lacked.
He lacked a personal relationship with Jesus.
He didn't quite understand the need for the power
of the Holy Spirit to do what he was called to do.
So, 1738, something seemed to change within him.
Tell us what happened exactly.
So, on the 24th of May, 1738,
John was taken to a meeting in Aldersgate -
reluctantly, he didn't want to go -
and he had this Pentecostal Holy Spirit moment,
when he was confronted by the truth,
which he calls a conversion.
It said, "I felt my heart strangely warmed." Right.
I think what it was, Aled,
the knowledge, the understanding went from his head to his heart.
Right. That was the difference.
And he preached here in the New Room,
I'm right in saying, aren't I? Can we have a look in?
Go on, lead the way.
Wow.
Here you are, Aled, the John Wesley New Room.
So John experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in London.
So, what brought him to Bristol?
John came to Bristol
on the invitation of a man called George Whitefield.
He had been preaching outdoors,
and he was preaching in a room across the road here,
and so many people wanted to hear this message
that they were in the room, crammed in there, and the floor collapsed,
and John said, "We need to build a new room",
and this is how the name of this place came about. Amazing.
But this became the...
I suppose the cradle of Methodism.
And with a focus on helping those who needed help? Oh, very much so.
In this building was the first Methodist school in the world.
Free dispensary, free food bank, free clothes bank.
The point being that people lived in squalor,
awful conditions out there...
He was very much a man ahead of his time, wasn't he? Very much so.
He wanted to encompass the whole life of people
within the Christian message.
But John was not afraid to speak out against what he saw
as the evils of the world, and not everyone was happy with his message.
The New Room was built without windows on the ground floor
to protect it from attacks from Wesley's opponents.
So all eyes would have been trained on that pulpit there.
How was the message received?
It varied.
There were those that were full of enthusiasm and those that weren't.
There was one instance where John said that he was going to preach
on anti-slavery, and there was such an uproar
that people were actually picking up these benches here
and hurling them around the chapel,
so there was a riot that took place.
And, of course, John didn't just preach here,
he certainly got the miles in.
He took the message from here out to the people.
He certainly did.
John travelled, they reckon,
250,000 miles
on horseback or carriage in all winds and weathers.
He preached 42,000 sermons,
of which the majority were handwritten.
Now, how he did this, he developed his own shorthand code,
which enabled him to write on horseback.
Just imagine John and Charles in their respective pulpits.
Now, it's a tough question, this,
but is there a hymn that you associate with their work?
It's got to be a Charles Wesley hymn.
For me, it was the hymn that Charles and John sang together
when they had experienced this Holy Spirit encounter,
and, to me, it's a hymn of joy -
And Can It Be?
# And can it be that I should gain
Days before John's experience at Aldersgate,
his brother, Charles Wesley, had a similar one.
For 20 years, Charles lived just down the road
from the New Room in Bristol.
After his own encounter with the Holy Spirit,
Charles Wesley went on to become one of the greatest hymn writers
in history, and many of his hymns
were written right here in his study.
From Hark! The Herald Angels Sing to Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,
Wesley's hymns have lived on and had a huge impact on Christian worship.
Charles was incredibly prolific.
He wrote thousands of hymns.
Some say as many as 9,000 hymns in his lifetime.
And this next one, apparently,
was one of his brother John's favourites,
summing up the spiritual fire that burned within their hearts.
There are around 75 million people around the world
who call themselves Methodists.
Generations have built on those early foundations
laid by the Wesley Brothers,
including a group in Tiverton in Devon,
who are bringing history to life.
At St Paul's Church, one young group have been invited
to immerse themselves in the Wesleys' story,
including when their message wasn't so well received.
Some of you gamble away your wages,
but I believe that God can change you.
So how do you respond to my message?
CHILDREN: Boo!
Go away!
ALL: Go away!
These volunteers are re-enacting key moments from the lives
of John and Charles Wesley so their audience can step back in time.
# O for a heart to praise my God... #
These sessions are put on once a year for local schools.
Roz Thomas is from Lifepath, the project that organises them.
The Wesley family were an amazing family.
Obviously, the hymns that Charles wrote, we're still singing today,
but it's amazing that we can learn from these people in history
and that it challenges us today to think about
how we can live more radically.
Once this group has seen Charles Wesley's hymn writing,
they get the chance to try it for themselves.
# O for a heart... #
And it seems that getting up close to the Wesleys
has helped them learn.
Today's been really, really fun. I've enjoyed every part of it.
My favourite part of today has been rewriting a song with Charles.
The thing I learned about the Wesleys is, if you have a skill,
you should use it to, like, tell people about God.
Even though they went through hard times, they kept on preaching.
For Roz and the rest of her team,
the message of the Wesleys is as relevant as ever.
And, for me, it's most important
that the children learn through the Wesley story
who God is and what Jesus did for each one of them.
A great hymn that would sum everything up
that we do here at Lifepath is Holy Spirit, You Are Welcome Here,
and in the same way that happens today for each one of us.
# Holy Spirit...
Wesley's preaching always went hand-in-hand with a determination
to help others, and those values are still going strong to this day.
100 years ago, the Methodist Church started this project in Bristol.
Now called Turnaround, four days a week
it offers food and support to the homeless in the city.
When in the kitchen!
It's run by seven members of staff and today I'm going to lend a hand.
What could possibly go wrong?
Thank you very much.
There's that one. You got it? Yeah.
Do you want any tomato on that or not?
He doesn't want tomatoes, you said? No. OK.
Sorry, we're having a chat. We're holding everyone up.
I'm getting told off.
Is that enough? Yeah, perfect.
Typical chef. Did you see? He had to move it around.
There we go, lovely. All yours.
Ross Jeffery is the manager here.
Ross, tell me a bit about what happens here.
So we're open for homeless and vulnerable, which encompasses a lot,
and during that time people can come here
for breakfast in the morning, lunch during the day,
we have showers, laundry, a clothing store,
lots of other, kind of, services.
We're doing, yeah, like, between 85 to 100 meals.
But I think they keep coming back because they feel safe, comforted.
This is a place founded on Methodist principles. Mm-hm.
Here we are talking in a chapel. You've even got your own chapel.
Erm, is that still the case?
Is the Methodist message still kind of alive here? Yes.
So, we changed in name recently, so we're called Turnaround now,
but for, well, 99 years,
we were the Bristol Methodist Centre,
and, you know, all the kind of Wesleyan principles
like, you know, social justice and looking after the poor
and caring for those that need your help,
all of that is still ingrained in everything that we do.
Do you think this is God's calling for you,
to be doing the job you're doing? Yeah.
I rely on God's strength each and every day.
All of that as a vision that I had for this centre,
I believe that vision has come from God.
Thanks, Paul. There you go.
The team here are also supported by 20 volunteers.
One of them is Mark, who's helping me dish up.
I started here five years ago to kind of give back.
It was part of my own recovery.
To be blunt, I was kind of in addiction for many years
and I... I wanted to change my ways, basically. Yeah.
And... And it's opened so many doors for me
and it's just been amazing, really.
What's so special about this place?
It's not like we work here.
It's like a sanctuary for the people who come here.
It's not only the homeless but vulnerable people as well.
Of course.
And some people just come here for company
or just want people to listen to them, you know?
And I understand their difficulties
because I've been there myself many years ago.
Aled, can I have one with no tomatoes, please?
There you go. All yours.
Thank you very much.
For those who come here, the service seems to offer
much more than a square meal.
It helps me focus on things.
Like, I've got things going on in my head
and I come here and have a little prayer.
And, like I said, I talk to Jesus
and I think he helps me.
I don't think... If the Turnaround wasn't here,
I don't think that I would really be here and alive
because they helped me so much
because I was on the streets for eight months.
It was very hard to exist without the Turnaround.
Last year, Ross' personal experience gave his work here extra meaning.
It sounds quite ironic to say it, but, erm...
..since working here, I was made homeless last year.
So our landlord in Bristol put our rent up by £1,000 in one fell swoop.
Like, God's hand was in that because,
yeah, it was a dark time.
But, luckily, working here, I knew all the avenues
of, kind of, what I could do, what I couldn't do, how to go about it,
so although it was a stressful time, very stressful,
I had all the kind of skills and...
And then I also saw what I do from the other side.
So... Right. ..accessing a centre where you come when you're homeless,
and I was able to see it and be like, "Oh, right, OK,
"I'm currently homeless, what do I need to do?
"Right, I need to do this, this and this. Where can I get that?
"Oh, I can get it at Turnaround." And we made it through. Yeah.
With dignity. Yeah. Which is also what this place
is all about as well, isn't it? Yeah.
We try and give everybody the dignity that we feel they deserve.
Is there a piece of music that, sort of, you link to this place?
Erm... I would say Cornerstone.
I think that's quite personal to me as well.
But I think the work that we're doing here
is laying those kind of...
The foundation, the cornerstone, for people to turn their lives around.
Next week, Claire McCollum celebrates the unsung volunteers
at the heart of many churches and communities.
And now a prayer based on the teaching of John and Charles Wesley.
Holy Spirit, we ask you to ignite us with fire and with power,
that our hearts may be strangely warmed through your grace.
Give us the inner confidence that we are truly yours today,
so that your holiness shows up in every word we speak and say.
Finding your presence in the streets and meeting you everywhere.
Amen.
Well, it's been fascinating hearing about the parallels
between Pentecost and the story of John and Charles Wesley.
We're going to end with one of Charles' most triumphant hymns,
all about the love of God. Until next time, goodbye.