Interdenominational Efforts

1798Protestant Unionfund for relief of older clergyParticular Baptist John Rippon (wrote How Firm a Foundation) of Southwark church in London was a charter member 1799Religious Tract Society Baptist Joseph Hughes of Battersea was 1st secretary

Interdenominational (cont.)

1804British and Foreign Bible SocietyHughes was also 1st secretary of this organization

The Baptist Union

organized in London in 1813 for Particular Baptists 1831reorganizationUnion now welcomed General Baptist churches of the New Connectionsome New Connection pastors even presided 1863further reorganizationmore centralized bodyby now one-third of affiliated churches were from New Connection

Baptist Union (cont.)

1873doctrinal changessoftening of Calvinism 1891full merger of Baptist Union and New ConnectionUnderwood suggested (in A History of the English Baptists) 3 factors behind merger:

continuing decline of Calvinism among

Particular Baptists

Baptist Union
movement toward open communion and

open membership among both groups Baptist Union already had provided Particular and New Connection Baptists a common meeting-ground
1899Baptist Union Handbook listed 2697 Baptist churches in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, with 355,218 members (Baptist Union today includes England & Walesseparate Union in Scotland)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)

born in Essex County, England, 10 days after Carey diedhis father John was a businessman and preacher at the Independent Church (infant baptism) at Tollesburyhis grandfather was also an Independent pastor (Spurgeon lived with grandparents for 6 years because of parents economic problems)

Spurgeon (cont.)
Spurgeons first contact with Baptists was at age 15 while serving as an assistant at a school in Newmarket 1850conversion at Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester during a snowstormwithin 4 months he was immersed 1851moved to Cambridge to teach schoolattended St. Andrews Street Baptist Church

Spurgeon (cont.)
Spurgeon began to preach in St. Andrews Streets mission chapels soon he was called to pastor chapel at Waterbeach, where he served 185254 1854at 20, he was called to New Park Street Baptist Church in London (Southwark church previously pastored by Keach, Gill, and Rippon)

Younger Spurgeon

Spurgeon (cont.)
church had dwindled down to 232 members Spurgeon was never ordained he married Susannah Thompson, a member, in 1856she became an invalid in 1868 New Park St. grew rapidly as Spurgeons preaching drew large crowds

Spurgeon (cont.)
1861Metropolitan Tabernacle was completed, seating 5500membership of church grew to 5000 by Spurgeons death (a total of 14,000 additions during his ministry in London) Spurgeon a voluminous writer sermons, commentaries, monthly Sword & Troweltoday there is more available written by him than by any other Christian author, living or dead

Tabernacle Today

Tabernacle Interior Today

Spurgeon (cont.)
book lover12,000 volumes in his own libraryusually read 6 books per week he organized over 20 social & evangelistic ministries through the TabernacleStockwell Orphanage, Pastors College, Colportage Association and Book Fund (for ministers who could not afford bookshis wife helped with this)

Spurgeon (cont.)

characteristics of his ministry:

evangelical Calvinist who admired the

Puritans warm preaching, evangelistic fervor humility, sincerity, appeal to common people poor health (gout, kidney inflammation), bouts of depression, esp. after people were trampled to death when someone cried fire while he was preaching

Spurgeon (cont.)

political interests:
opposed slavery, alienating some Baptists in

American South (who edited out refs. to slavery in his published sermons) identified with Liberal Party (classical liberalism)a friend of William Gladstone, although Spurgeon opposed him on Home Rule for Ireland (Spurgeon called it Rome Rule)

Down Grade Controversy

conservatives in Baptist Union concerned about doctrinal drift with impact of Darwinism, biblical criticism, and universalism Spurgeon feared a downgrading of orthodoxy in the Unionin 1887 several articles appeared in Sword & Trowel protesting liberal inroads in Baptist Union

Spurgeon (cont.)
later in 1887 Spurgeon withdrew from the Baptist Union, upset that the Union would not establish a specific creed in place of its Declaration of Faith 1888Union passed a resolution critical of Spurgeon for not giving names of those in Union he thought were liberal

Spurgeon (cont.)
Spurgeon was given names of liberals in confidence by Samuel Harris Booth, secretary of Union Spurgeons friends interpreted resolution vs. Spurgeon as a censure Spurgeons main antagonist was John Clifford, president of the Union conflict foreshadowed later ones in U.S. (1920s; 1979ff.)

Spurgeon

Spurgeons Tomb in London

Grave Marker

SPURGEON RAP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z5R kyAIWYM

Postscript

Baptist Union declined significantly in 20th century:

19213068 churches, 442,000 members 19812058 churches, 170,000 members

(a 57% decline) todayabout 2150 churches, 140,000 members (another 172 churches with 14,000 members in BU of Scotland) conflicts over doctrine, ecumenical relations