Charles Simeon

Charles Simeon was a contemporary of William Wilberforce and John Wesley. His father was a successful barrister and he was sent to Eton at age 8. After Eton, he went to King’s College, Cambridge. Although raised in a nominally Anglican family, he had no real religious interests until he had a conversion experience at King’s. Simeon sought ordination in the Church of England and was appointed to Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge in 1783, a parish he would serve for 53 years. Simeon’s appointment was opposed by many in the parish who disagreed with his Evangelical views and for the first ten years of his ministry his opponents waged war against him. They locked him out of the church and when this did not work, they locked the doors of their boxed pews and left the church, making it impossible for others to sit. Still, Simeon’s preaching attracted new people to the church who sat in the aisles or on window ledges. Simeon was also heckled by irreverent undergraduates. None of this deterred him. Simeon was not only a gifted preacher but he also divided up the parish into pastoral care groups, each overseen by a layperson. To help fellow preachers, Simeon published sermon outlines on the whole Bible. The complete series ran to 21 volumes. Simeon was involved in the founding of the Church Missionary Society, which focused on sending Anglican missionaries to India. Simeon’s greatest contribution to the Church of England was that he served as mentor to hundreds of young men who entered the priesthood. With Simeon’s encouragement and guidance, hundreds of Cambridge undergraduates sought ordination in the Church of England and went on to become parish priests and missionaries.