harles Wesley has been called “the poet of Methodism.” Born in Epworth, England in 1707 he was educated at Westminster School and Oxford University, where he took his degree in 1728. It was while a student at Christ Church College that Wesley and a few associates, by strict attention to duty and exemplary conduct, won for themselves the derisive epithet of “Methodists.”
Godfrey Thring, an English clergyman, was born in Alford, England in 1823. He graduated from Oxford in 1845 and served different charges as curate and rector until his death in 1903. He wrote many hymns and published several hymn compilations including Hymns Congregational and Others, 1866; Hymns and Verses, 1866; Hymns and Sacred Lyrics, 1874; and Church of England Hymn Book, 1880.
Thomas Kelly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1769. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin University and entered the ministry of the Established Church. His evangelical preaching proved too strong for the Established Church and he was forbidden by Archbishop Fowler to preach in the city. He became an Independent and preached in various Dublin locations for more than sixty years.