Church Planting is trendy, but is it new? Every heard of C.H. Spurgeon’s involvement in Church Planting? What was the purpose of the Pastor’s College?
“Twenty-Seven churches were founded by students form the Pastor’s College between 1853 and 1867. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the number of Baptist churches in London doubled and nearly all of these were founded, in one way or another, under Spurgeon’s influence. Students were sent out to new areas or existing churches, normally at the command of “the guv’nor,” as students called Spurgeon…Spurgeon joined with two other London Ministers, Landels of Regent park and Brock of Bloomsbury, to found the London Baptist Association, with the goal of building one new chapel each year. Both Brock and Landels had planted their churches and started local missions, but Spurgeon’s vision was London-wide.”
From: Michael Nicholls, “Missions, Yesterday and Today: Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92) Church Planter, ” in Five ‘Til Midnight: Church Planting for A.D. 2000 and Beyond, ed. Tony Cupit. Quoted in Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches (2006) p. 67
After forwarding this quote to a few friends, I received this email from Robert Briggs- a Scottish pastor in Sacramento California. AMAZING!!!
“Matt
I thought you might be interested to know.
My home church as I call it, the one I was nurtured in, near Edinburgh Scotland, was planted by David Tait who was 77 years old when he planted it, in 1933.
He was a student at the Pastors College under Spurgeon in his 20’s back in the 1880’s. Your article was spot on and I like to think of myself in a nostalgic sort of way as being part of the fruit of that wonderful ministry over a century later.
The Pastors College model has been the one I have been looking into for us here in Sacramento. Two years of training proven, gifted men and sending them out.
Enjoyed the fellowship yesterday.
Warmest regards
RB”
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