Charles Simeon

1759-1836. Evangelical leader. Educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, on entering the latter he discovered that attendance at Holy Communion was compulsory. His preparation for taking the sacrament was the main factor in his subsequent conversion. His own adoption of Evangelical views was fostered by his friendship with Henry and John Venn.* Appointed vicar of Holy Trinity in Cambridge in 1782, he ministered there until his death. He overcame early opposition mainly through his pastoral care, and while firmly attached to the Church of England, he became the center of evangelicalism in Cambridge. He had immense influence with undergraduates both from the pulpit and in small groups. As well as encouraging the British and Foreign Bible Society, he helped to found the Church Missionary Society and the London Jews Society (later the Church Mission to Jews), and his curate, Henry Martyn,* as a chaplain of the East India Company became one of India's best-known pioneer missionaries. He established the Simeon Trust (which still exists) which purchased livings for Evangelicals. His own sermon outlines, Horae Homileticae, were collected and published in twenty-one volumes in 1840.