Susanna's granddaughters - women hymn writers in the Methodist tradition

What interests modern women hymn writers? What are their themes? How do they continue within the line of Methodist tradition?

These were some of the questions explored by Bonni-Belle Pickard (right), a Methodist superintendent minister, during a Conference on Methodist Women Preachers that took place in November 2019 at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, England.

The conference was one way in which Methodism marked the 350th anniversary of the birth of Susanna Wesley, mother to John and Charles, the founders of the Methodist movement.

We are grateful to Bonni-Belle that she has shared her paper with us and allowed StF+ to produce edited extracts for this website. Read our edited version of Daughters of Charles and Granddaughters of Susanna: women who preach through Methodist hymnody.

The complete paper is available from Bonni-Belle on request:. Contact her at bonni-belle.pickard@methodist.org.uk

See also Valentine Cunningham's 2002 article in The Guardian, The hymns were hers: how Victorian women gave the Anglican Church its greatest hits. She concludes: "Because of all the women hymn writers, so many. . .  potent verses in men's lives have been hymns of women's lives. As small victories for women go in the long war of the sexes, this is a sweet one indeed."