For those who are less familiar with The Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion, known as The Connexion, Ben Quant’s helpful summary about the Countess’ life and works, throws light on the subject.

The Countess in question was a genuine British countess, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon. She was born into a well-connected family, the Shirley family, in 1707, and later married Earl Theophilus Hastings, meaning that between them, they were two of the movers and shakers of their day. She was brought up an Anglican, indeed, she never wanted to leave the Church of England nor found another group of churches as she ended up doing.

Although she had always been religious, it wasn’t until 1738 that she truly found faith for herself, undergoing a deep and transforming conversion experience, and discovering the power and riches of God’s love, forgiveness and grace for herself. This filled her with an urgent calling to show others God’s love through caring for them and telling them about Jesus (or, enabling others to do so – she was restricted as a woman in a man’s world, one of the reasons she is not known so well today).

As a result of her work many in need were cared for and many became Christians. To support them she started opening new churches and training ministers in a Bible college that she set up (this moved from Wales to Cheshunt to buildings which are part of the current council offices at Bishop’s College, before moving to Cambridge where it eventually amalgamated with Westminster College). At this time she became a good friend of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, his brother and famous hymn writer Charles Wesley, and the great preacher of their day, George Whitefield.

This church planting project, however, got her into trouble with the Church of England, and she was ultimately given the choice of staying within the Church and stopping planting new churches, or leaving and continuing. Reluctantly she chose to leave, the importance to her of her mission being greater than her own denominational preference. This was when her Connexion was set up (a connected group of churches).

The Connexion continues today, defined we hope by our sense of family from shared roots and a desire to continue the Countess’ legacy of sharing Gods love through social care/action and communicating his love and invitation in relevant ways to the communities we are part of. 

Ben Quant

At last year’s 2024 Conference, Ben gave a talk entitled Selina and Us: The Countess’ Legacy. 

We look forward to hearing the talks at this year’s 2025 Conference, which will follow the theme of Dwelling in Unity. There will be one talk per day to explore relevant aspects, by inspiring speakers from The Connexion.

2025 Conference Talks

Monday 27 October: Made One Through Christ (Peter James)
Tuesday 28 October: Made One Through The Bible (William McCann)
Wednesday 29 October: Made One Through The Spirit (Simon Allaby)