Congregationalism in the Court Suburb

COLMER

8

May, I accepted a call from the Church in July; Dr. Raleigh's removal to Kensington was about six months after his predecessor left; Dr. Raleigh died in April, his successor was elected at the beginning of November. The comparative brevity of these intervals, when placed beside the history of many other Congregational Churches, is remarka

's successor. The course adopted was the same as on the last occasion. The Church passed a resolution, unanimous and cordial, that Mr. Symes should be requested to accept the pastorship; then the deacons were to con

rs in Mr. Symes' reply on t

ristian

r the undeserved honour which you have done me, and to recognise the increased value of your invitation thro

me to take involves the very gravest results, both to you and to my beloved congregation at Exeter. Such a step is a crisis in a man's life; and the consideration of it penetrates one through and through with the conviction, 'It is no

interpret that guidance, I now accept your invitation to the pastorate as cordially as you have given it; and while utterly unconscious of any fitness, me

week, partly to correct or confirm what might have been a hasty judgment, and partly that I might rise to the level of that Apostolic charge, in which we pastors are urged to take the oversight of the flock of God, 'not by constraint, but willingly.' A week ago I was conscious of Divine coerc

regation, who have laid me under the deepest indebtedness by their sensitiveness to my ministry, by their love in my deep sorrow, by their unbroken harmony, and by their zealous fellowship with me in all service to Christ. I have never received one harsh word or one cold look from them; and I should be less than human if I could part with such people painlessly. Still I do feel very distinctly that t

; and therefore I preached to you in August. Since then I have felt that I must maintain a very passive attitude; and, at every subsequent stage, I have earnestly prayed that God would allow your action to express His will to me. I pledged myself to Him that I

esponse which I have given. May God so generously help me in my ministry, and in His great condescension use me to impart unto you such spiritual gift

t I mean my ministry to be; but you would see at once that the picture was painted with the trembling brush of a human purpose, and that it was scarcely worth your while to examine it. I would rat

ediates for us to-day before the throne; who now ministers to us through the Spirit with wisest teachings and gentlest comforts and holiest inspirations; that living Christ who is the Alpha and the Omega of all that is noblest and truest in human life, and who will help us to fulfil our purer purposes

r Christia

in Chri

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ministers and friends present were the Rev. Dr. Allon, the Rev. Dr. Hannay, the Revs. J. C. Harrison, Newm

ed, it might have been hoped that the former would have survived the latter. "I feel how great your loss has been, and deeply do I sympathize with you in this respect; and I am anxious to say so now, because on account of my being in Italy at the time of Dr. Raleigh's interment, I had not an opportunity of then tendering in public my sincere condolence. But whilst I mourn over what you have lost, I would rejoice on account of wha

lessed him very much. We have about three hundred and fifty members, and during Mr. Symes' short pastorate of five or six years, about two hundred have joined our Church." "The young especially have

lowed, saying, amo

f all His believing people in His renewed life, and vitalizes all as the vine can vitalize its branches. In preaching such a Christ as this, there need be no narrowness in the ministry: it will be my own fault if there is. Christ touches human life at all points. To preach Christ fully is to raise the most profound intellectual problems, for Christ has localized the thoughts of men in every race. To preach Him fully, is to assert His claims, and to press those claims upon every sphere of human life, the personal and the political, the domestic and the congregatio

mmary of truth was volunteered and delivered in a spirit which left nothing more to be desired; and wha

f November, 1882, a large number of friends assembled to witness the ceremony performed by the venerable and catholic-spirited Ear

ork was arrested by the lamented decease of Dr. Raleigh, but when the Rev. C. B. Symes entered on his ministry he gave new impetus to it, and liberally subscribed ￡250 toward the fund. The building to be erected was from the design of Mr. J. Cubitt, and the work had received the approval of many friends not connected with the district, two of whom had subscribed ￡500 each, and another noble citizen of London ￡200. The gifts by individuals ranged from ￡1,000 to five farthings from a little boy not quite eight years old! In that work they were trying to solve the problem how to penetrate the population with the spirit of true religion, and the bui

ht, J.P., Dr. Hannay, the Rev. C. B. Symes, Mr. J. H. Fordham, Mr. Robert Freeman, Mr. William Holborn, and Messrs. H. and E. Spicer supported the chairman.

during those ten years. If they added another ten years for paying off those debts, they would see that ￡30,000 or ￡40,000 was expended in chapel building work during that period. The fathers were not quite asleep, and the sons had very grateful recollections of what they did in days that were past. He referred to it as an example for them to emulate, and to go on during the next ten or twenty years as their predecessors did. If they laid out ￡30,000 or ￡40,000 outside their church, it would be a noble thing. The debt on Allen Street was paid off five years after it was opened, and he was then very anxious to see a new chapel spring up in South or West Kensington, where there was much vacant lan

ions follow in years to come,-the activity and self-sacrifice of Kensington Christians keeping pace with the wants of the neighbourhood! The results at Notting Hill ought to be combined with those at Kensington, in order to estimate the value of what was done more than thirty years ago. The congregations, the members, the contributions since, should be reckoned together in a sum total; and a proportionate increase continued through coming days will secure an aggregate most blessed to contemplate, illustrating the true law of progress in Congregationalism. It will be God's building, God's husbandry, a working together with Him and under Him: ministers and people being one with the Church's Lord. What purity of communion, what brotherly love, what self-sacrificing zea

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ections of Hyde Park,"

s of London,"

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"History of Ken

s that Saunders contributed thirty pounds annually. N

at Hornton Street Chapel was the Rev. Mr. Hall, of Edinburgh, who was not, however, ordained over the

Isaiah

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"History of Kens

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n Leifchild, D.D.,"

Memoir,

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"History of Kens

e Rev. John Clayton and Dr. Red

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now seem superfluous, may in years t

solved, 'That it was desirable an Independent Chapel should be built in the neighbourhood of Notting Hill.' Two of their number were deputed to look out for ground; and, after much difficulty and delay in selecting a suitable site for the building, the present very eligible piece of ground was secured at a price of ￡630, on lease for eighty-eight years, at a peppercorn rent." The freehold was subsequently purchased. "The name of Horbury Chapel was given to the building as a mark of respect

ned afterwards by

ords by the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, in th