Christian churches fall into two main divisions: those of the East (the Greek Orthodox, the Russian Orthodox, and so on), and those of the West. The historic Western church can also be divided into two: the Roman Catholic and the many Protestant denominations.

    Protestantism began with Martin Luther's reaction against the excesses of the Catholic Church. From there, a torrent of new denominations arose. Some of the more notable ones (besides Lutheranism) being the Anglican Church (Church of England) started by Henry VIII of England; the Church of Scotland, a form of Calvinism and known in America as the Presbyterian Church; and, somewhat later, the Baptists and the Methodists.

    This last, the Methodists, was founded on the teachings of an Anglican minister named John Wesley. Though a separate church was not created until after his death, the "method" upon which it is based was practiced by Wesley and the other leaders of the movement. One of these was John Wesley's younger brother Charles (1707-1788), also an Anglican minister.

    It is difficult to say what causes one movement to die, and another to live on into the following generations. There is no doubt, however, that Charles made a unique and lasting contribution to the success of Methodism. He wrote over 6,000 hymns. In a time of limited literacy, not everyone could read the Bible or theological writings, but anyone can learn a song.

    Some of Charles's more famous hymns include the popular Christmas song "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" (1739); the Advent hymn "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" (1744); and the 1739 Easter song "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today" with its rousing (and hard to sing!) "A-a-a-a-a-le-lu-u-ia" at the end of each line.

    The Wesley brothers were the sons of Samuel, a Church of England minister. Their brother Samuel Jr. was also a minister. Charles's son Samuel became a church musician, known as "the English Mozart," and his grandson Samuel Sebastian Wesley was also an organist and composer (his middle name was due to his father's admiration of Johann Sebastian Bach). Those holy, musical Wesleys!

    Vocabulary: Which word above means:

    1. the ability to read

    2. actions beyond what is proper

    3. listen, pay attention

    4. related to the Church of England

    5. an old-fashioned form of "you"

    6. separate groups of Christians

    7. stirring, exciting

    8. flood, overabundance

    9. the Christian season before Christmas

    ANSWERS: 1. literacy 2. excesses 3. hark 4. Anglican 5. thou 6. denominations 7. rousing 8. torrent 9. Advent