Letter of Advice for Pastors taking a New Church
Here is a letter of encouragement to Charles Simeon, a young man taking a new and noteworthy post in the Church of England - Trinity Church in Cambridge (1782). He faced unusual and even illegal opposition from the start; opposition which lasted on and off for ten years. At one point the churchwardens locked the church so that the people could not meet for an evening service and were left locked outside. People also locked their pews (church members rented seats annaually and had control of who could sit in them)to voice opposition to Simeon. Unmoved, Simeon made his own seats and filled the aisles with other people. He outlasted and won over the opposition, enjoying 54 years of faithful ministry in this perish. The letter below was written as advice to Simeon from an older and wiser man. John Thornton was a well-respected Christian layman: Dear Sir, I was glad to hear the Books came so timely, and that the Bishop of Ely had sent you the presentation to Trinity Church; may a gra