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2004 CWS Conference
The Fifteenth Annual Meeting of The Charles Wesley Society
The Fifteenth Annual Meeting of The Charles Wesley Society was held 30 September 30-2 October, 2004 at Point Loma Nazarene University, being jointly sponsored by the Wesley Center for 21st Century Studies, directed by Dr. Maxine Walker, one of our Board members. The theme of the conference was “Charles Wesley and Worship.” The conference formally opened on Thursday evening with a banquet and Presidential Address on “Preliminary Explorations” of the theme. Other papers delivered included the plenary keynote address by Dr. Karen Westerfield Tucker on “Charles Wesley and Worship;” “Crucifixion, Fillmore and Sagina: And Can It Be and its Circuitous Path” by Dr. Bill Clemmons, Professor of Music at PLNU; and “The Art of Hymn and Lyrical Theology,” by Dr. S T Kimbrough, Jr.
Workshops and hymn sings also gave the event a practical and uplifting ambiance. Rev. Swee Hong Lim, a doctoral student from Drew University, provided a workshop on “Re-tuning Charles Wesley for the 21st Century” and Dr. Juliette Singler, Assistant Professor of Music at PLNU discussed her experience in producing a delightful musical drama in a workshop entitled, “‘Family of Faith': A Faculty and Student Collaborative Effort in Music Narrative Portraying the Wesley Family.” At the close of the first evening of the conference, S T Kimbrough, Jr. treated the assembly to a characteristically fine hymn sing of Wesleyan Eucharistic Hymns, and President Chilcote formally closed the event with the celebration of the Eucharist, using a service composed entirely of Charles Wesley poetry/hymnody.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of the conference was a trip to the Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, where we toured the mission, participated in an early evening worship event in the basilica, and shared dinner together on the grounds. A musical feast, “‘Found' in Wonder, Love, and Praise,” followed dinner and crowned the evening. No fewer than eleven different performing groups from various churches in the San Diego area presented Wesleyan hymnody. We all felt united in Christ through the wonderful vehicle of Charles Wesley's hymns as soloists, instrumentalists, and various groups from Congregational, Catholic, Nazarene, Church of God, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Church of God in Christ, Salvation Army, United Methodist, and Episcopal traditions performed. Dr. Walker and her staff organized this event, and many thanks go to them for their fine effort.
(San Diego CA)
