Here in the days of COVID-19, with many churches are not yet able to gather, Christians are finding themselves increasingly adjusting to the isolation. After all, there are perks to being able to livestream a service and not have to leave the comfort of your home. Yet virtual relationships are hardly conducive to deep relationships. And podcasts and livestream services are no substitute for accountability and discipleship. As we need to be reminded again and again, this cannot be the new normal. Christians have always needed to be connected in meaningful relationships with other believers in the church. A good reminder of this is found in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.
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Summer Reading Recommendations
Summer is here and the HistoricalTheology.org crew has book recommendations to add to your summer reading list. Here’s something for all the historians and theologians in your family!
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The Tie That Binds: John Fawcett's Decision to Stay
We’ve heard this story before: A small church calls an inexperienced young man to serve as their pastor. The congregation patiently encourages him, bears with his immaturity, nurtures his gifts, sacrifices for his seminary education, and over time the young man grows into a capable minister. But one day, the church learns that the pastor has been called to a larger church for a bigger salary and greater influence. Before long, the small church is back to square one and the future is uncertain.
This is a story that has been told many times, in our day and throughout church history. As success-driven Westerners, it’s easy to admire pastors who leave small churches for wider spheres of influence. But is this the only model for a successful ministry? Why don’t we hear more stories of pastors who have chosen to remain in the small church for decades? For pastors who are contemplating a move, are there any examples of ones who stayed?
Let me introduce you to the story of John Fawcett.
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Reflections from W. B. Hinson during the Cancelation of Services at East Side Baptist Church
During the fall of 1918, church services throughout Portland, OR were canceled in response to restrictions placed by the city on large gatherings because of the Spanish flu epidemic. Beginning on October 13, 1918, East Side Baptist Church was unable to gather together for worship. This timing was particularly difficult because the church had just purchased a new building on the corner of SE 20th & Salmon and gathered for worship in it for the first time on October 6. Not allowed to meet with his congregation, Pastor W. B. Hinson agreed to preach at a church in Hillsboro on October 13. But still, he longed to be with his congregation. In the following weeks, Hinson would send out weekly bulletins at his own expense in order to remain in contact with his people and encourage them in the faith.
In the bulletin for October 20, Hinson shared the following comments. Here was an opportunity for them to stop and reflect on the privilege and responsibility of worshiping as a church.
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Ask Pastor Charlie - On Congregational Singing
In this episode of Ask Pastor Charlie, we focus on questions related to congregational singing. Churches these days have more access to technology, resources, media, and all kinds of other enhancements to our worship services. But are our churches singing better? How do we get our people to sing? What’s the job of the worship leader? What kind of songs should we sing? Let’s listen in:
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Adoniram Judson's First Missionary Test
What does someone need before being sent out by the church to serve in cross-cultural missions? Certainly, one should have a clear profession of faith and give some evidence of fruitfulness in evangelism and discipleship. One should have a sense of calling for the work, both subjectively and objectively. There will need to be a team of financial and spiritual supporters. Anything else?
Here’s something that often gets overlooked: Ecclesiology! Before being sent out, they should have a biblical, convictional understanding of the church. This was a lesson that Adoniram Judson learned the hard way.
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Was the Reformation a Success?
This talk was given at Hinson Baptist Church in Portland, OR on Oct. 29, 2017, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Was the Reformation a success?
That probably seems like a strange question for us to think about. Here on this historic Reformation Sunday, this is a question worth considering. How do we know the Reformation was a success? Megachurches? Political church alliances? Rapid church multiplication? New York Times bestsellers? What could we point to?
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Pastoral Transitions at the New Park Street Chapel
Founded in 1652, the New Park Street Chapel had been around for over 200 years when they called 19-year-old Charles Spurgeon to be their pastor in 1854. Like many other churches, this historic Baptist church went through many ups and downs throughout its long history. Reflecting on those pastoral transitions, Spurgeon shares nine lessons for pastors and church leaders to consider as they prepare their churches for the next pastor.
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Summer Reading Recommendations
Summer is here and the HistoricalTheology.org crew has book recommendations to add to your summer reading list. Here’s something for all the historians and theologians in your family!
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Small Beginnings: C. H. Spurgeon at Waterbeach
Before he was the pastor of the largest of church in London, president of the Pastors’ College, founder of an orphanage and dozens of other charitable institutions, and read by people from all over the world, C. H. Spurgeon pastored a small Baptist church in the village of Waterbeach, about five miles outside of Cambridge. At that time, few could have predicted what was to come. And yet, God used his faithful ministry to bring about a transformation to that village during his short time there.
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Confessing Our Sin By Faith
Prior to his conversion, Martin Luther wrestled with the reality of sin in his life. Luther devoted himself to the Roman Catholic system of good works in order to appease his sinful conscience, but none of those works ever satisfied his guilty conscience. Only when he discovered Paul’s teaching of justification by faith, did he discover “the gate of heaven” and receive the grace of God that is found in Jesus Christ. He would devote the rest of his life to proclaiming this good news that justification is to be received by faith alone.
But Luther’s message was not limited simply to preaching about God’s free grace in Christ. Luther understood that before justification by faith made sense, one also had to embrace Scripture’s teaching regarding sin. While Luther experienced deep conviction of his own sin, he knew that not everyone shared his experience or sensitive conscience. Therefore, the acknowledgment of sin could not ultimately be rooted in subjective experience. Rather, like justification, our sinfulness also has to be received by faith based on God’s Word.
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Small Beginnings: J. C. Ryle in Exbury
When we think of some of church history’s great preachers, we naturally think of them at the height of their ministries: preaching to thousands, organizing conferences, publishing books. But this is not where their ministries began. At one point in time, the greatest of men were unknown and inexperienced, and they had many things to learn before they became the preachers we know.
One such person was J. C. Ryle. As the Bishop of Liverpool, he would defend orthodoxy within the Church of England against modern theology, Anglo-Catholicism, and the growth of the Keswick Conference. But long before he ever became a bishop, his first ministry position came in 1841, the curacy in the district of Exbury within the parish of Fawley, “a dreary, desolate, solitary place.”
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How Did Spurgeon Fence the Lord's Table?
The sermon is over. The lights dim. As music begins to play, the pastor issues an invitation, “The tables are now open. No matter who you are or where you’ve come from, if you’ve responded to Jesus, then you can come. As the band plays our last song, feel free to make your way up to one of the tables. This is between you and Jesus.” Here in the 21st century, this has become a standard part of evangelical liturgy – an individualized view of the Lord’s Supper, with minimal accountability.
This practice can be traced back to a debate which began in the 17th century and reached a turning point in the 19th century.
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A Tale of Two Associations
Baptist churches have always understood that though every local church is complete in itself, each church may pursue voluntary associations in order to promote their health and the work of the gospel. But with cooperation comes new challenges. How big can an association get? How broad or narrow should doctrinal standards be? How do you balance denominational influence with congregational authority?
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HistoricalTheology.org Version 2.0
Welcome to our newly redesigned HistoricalTheology.org! Since our launch in 2017, we’ve enjoyed sharing these riches from church history through our blog. Who knew that Puritan women could encourage us in our Bible reading? Or that early church sermons could be so edifying? Or that Charlemagne had something to teach us about grief? Or that Karl Barth loved kids’ music? Or that Charles Spurgeon could get so worked up about church membership?
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The Mill Yard Women and the Counter-Cultural Witness of the Church
The church has always been a counter-cultural witness to the world. We normally think of the church’s witness in her preaching and good works, and rightly so. But sometimes, it’s her very structure and polity which bear witness to God’s kingdom here in this world.
We see this in the story of the Mill Yard Seventh Day Baptist Church in the 19th century. Founded in the 1600s this church had dwindled just to seven women by the 1820s, and they were without a minister.
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Spurgeon’s Church Planting Strategy
Charles Spurgeon lived during a time of theological upheaval. A new theology had come over from Germany which disguised itself as Christianity, and yet was “no more Christianity than chalk is cheese.” For in it, “the Atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth.” Spurgeon would give himself to fighting this new theology in the best way he knew how: planting vibrant, gospel-preaching churches.
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The Pastors’ College: A Vision for Pastoral Training Tied to the Local Church
Since the early days of his pastorate, C.H. Spurgeon tutored and trained up gifted young men for the ministry. Over the first seven years of his ministry, Spurgeon would send out seven ministers, and yet more men were approaching him for training. By the spring of 1861, with sixteen men under his care, the financial cost of training these men was becoming too much. So at a special meeting on May 19, 1861, Spurgeon shared with his congregation his vision for pastoral training and took up a special offering to support the work. But the congregation would do more than just give an offering…
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Ask Pastor Charlie: On Joining a Church
Today, on Ask Pastor Charlie, we address the issue of joining a church. In this day of consumer churches, online sermons, and endless conferences, church membership seems like a thing of the past. Should a Christian join a church? What are some common objections? Does it even matter? Let’s listen in:
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James Paton and the Impact of Fathers
What impact can a father have on his kids? In the everyday experience of fatherhood, it’s not always clear. Leading rowdy kids in prayer, or disciplining a child yet again, or bringing a tired family to church, it can sometimes feel like all that effort isn’t making a difference.
And yet, when we read John G. Paton’s memories of his childhood, we’re reminded of the lifelong impact fathers can make on their children. John was a missionary to the New Hebrides in the 19th century, and in his autobiography, he gives a moving tribute to his father and a model for how fathers can raise their children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). Here are six ways James Paton left a lasting impression in his children’s lives:
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