Charles Simeon

Charles Simeon (24 September 1759 – 13 November 1836) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and biblical commentator who led the evangelical 'Low Church' movement, in reaction to the liturgically and episcopally oriented 'High Church' party.

Life and career He was born at Reading, Berkshire, in 1759 and baptised at St Laurence's parish church on 24 October of that year. He was the fourth and youngest son of Richard Simeon (died 1784) and Elizabeth Hutton. His eldest brother, named Richard after their father, died early. His second brother, John, entered the legal profession, became an MP and received a baronetcy. The third brother, Edward Simeon, was a director of the Bank of England.

Simeon was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge.

Simeon received the living of Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, in 1783. The appointment, technically a curacy, followed the death of the Rev. Henry Therond. Simeon's father intervened with James Yorke, the Bishop of Ely, and he was appointed, under the age of 23, as a curate-in-charge for the bishop. He was at first unpopular, and indeed the congregation would have preferred John Hammond (died 1830), who had been curate there, and became lecturer. Services were disrupted, and he was insulted in the streets. Simeon remained there for the rest of his life, eventually with a crowded church. His memorial by Humphrey Hopper in Holy Trinity, Cambridge, was described by architectural critic Nikolaus Pevsner as an "epitaph in Gothic forms."

Influence

Simeon gained influence among the undergraduates of the university. He became a leader among evangelical churchmen, and was one of the founders of the Church Missionary Society in 1799. He also helped found the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews (now known as the Church's Ministry Among Jewish People or CMJ) in 1809, and acted as adviser to the British East India Company in the choice of chaplains for India.

Works In 1792, Simeon read An Essay on the Composition of a Sermon by the French Reformed minister Jean Claude. Simeon found that their principles were identical and used the essay as the basis for his lectures on sermon composition. Claude's essay also inspired Simeon to make clear his own theological position. He published hundreds of sermons and sermon outlines (called "sermon skeletons"), still in print, that to some were an invitation to clerical plagiarism. His chief work is a commentary on the whole Bible, entitled Horae homileticae (London).

Legacy Simeon is remembered in the Church of England with a lesser festival and in the Anglican Church of Canada, as well as the Anglican Church in North America, with a Commemoration on 13 November. He is commemorated in the Episcopal Church of the United States with a Lesser Feast on 12 November.

He established a trust for the purpose of acquiring church patronage to perpetuate evangelical clergy in Church of England parishes.

There is also a Charles Simeon Trust, founded in 2001, and the Charles Simeon Institute, established in 2014, that operate in the United States and Canada.