Dear brothers and sisters,
The churchwardens didn’t like his preaching. As they could in those days they locked all the pews in the church. He still preached but with his hearers standing or sitting in the aisles, the side chapel and on the tombs of great ones.
He kept preaching and one day the churchwardens changed the locks on the church building. He moved with his congregation to a local field and carried on preaching.
In many ways Rev Charles Simeon, under God, was a trailblazer. Brought up with strongly High Church of England views he was influenced by Reformed writers on the Christian life and the sacraments and on Easter Day 1780 experienced the New Birth. At the age of 23 he became assistant minister (curate) at Holy Trinity Church Cambridge and a couple of years later the rector. Unofficial chaplain to the University, he remained at Holy Trinity for 50 years.
Initially the response was as I’ve described above, but Simeon’s determination won the day. He concentrated on preaching the gospel to undergraduate students and hundreds were converted. He never married but gospel came to Australia through one of his “boys”, Richard Johnson, chaplain to the First Fleet and was strengthened by others including Samuel Marsden. Simeon was part of the group that commenced the Church Missionary Society in 1799, and what became known as the (Anglican) Church’s Mission to the Jews. Simeon constantly challenged young men to give up the comfortable prospect of a cosy life in an English parish and go to the ends of the earth with the gospel. Many did. Many stayed in the UK however, not only leading some of the most significant churches in the land, but commencing all kinds of “lay societies” for the advancement of the gospel. Such groups, though composed mostly of Anglicans, were not under the control of bishops, involved a majority of lay people and planted churches, served the poor and outcast, proclaimed the gospel to the marginalized and enlisted more undergraduates for gospel ministry. Many survive to this day.
Simeon was not only a great evangelist and a simple preacher whose sermons are a model of faithful, inspiring and passionate Bible preaching. He was convinced of the need to raise up the next generation of gospel workers. Classes on preaching, experience at open air gospel proclamation, a disciplined life of prayer and Bible reading and what we call one-to-one ministry were all part of his ministry to and equipping of those who would come after him.
Ministries amongst University students all over the world in our day focus on exactly the same aim and use almost exactly the same methods. Simeon’s practice was (drumroll Richie Benaud verse) Bible practice: 2:2:2: (2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 2): ‘Paul writes: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
Pray that God will raise up more and more gospel workers, women and men, from the next generations.
Pray for the wisdom to see those in our midst who should be encouraged to see gospel ministry as their life’s work. Simeon saw that the harvest in his day was great, but the workers few and he did something about it.
Pray for increasing prayerfulness and sacrificial involvement of us all in that the Lord may send more workers into the harvest fields of the world.
Yours in Christ,
Deryck
Acting Rector