Back in 1992 Ben Quant wrote an opinion piece for The Voice as a 20 year-old Christian, new to his faith and new to The Connexion, having just ridden to all its churches, bar one, to raise money for a new school in Fufu Water, Sierra Leone.
As we approach the Conference and The Connexion Review that we plan to undertake during our time together, Ben thought it might be interesting to revisit what he wrote 32 years ago.
Ben's article December 1992
'Ben Quant from Ely completed over 1000 miles in the summer cycling in aid of Sierra Leone. During the three weeks he spent on his journey he visited all the churches in the UK Connexion, bar one. Following this experience, Ben agreed to share his impressions of the Connexion and some of his thoughts about the future in The Voice.
1761
In 1761, the Countess of Huntingdon opened her first chapel in North Street, Brighton, Sussex. England was undergoing its last great revival. The likes of John and Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield, were preaching an evangelical gospel which was to be heard in all spheres of life. One of those that heard the call was Lady Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, who has become the forgotten heroine of the Methodist revival. Embarking upon a programme of evangelism and church planting, she was forced out of the Church of England. In 1828, forty years after her death there were around 200 chapels and preaching stations, 35,000 attending worship and 72 ministers in the Countess' Connexion. At the time of writing, there are now only 25 chapels and a handful of ministers.
1990
Two and a half years ago, I discovered Jesus Christ at the Countess of Huntingdon's church in Ely. Since then I have been at college for two years. This has not, however, taken me away from "the Countess", rather I have been brought much closer and feel 'proud' to call myself a "Huntingdonian", like the members of the Connexion in Sierra Leone. This summer has been a pinnacle with my cycling tour around our churches. This, coupled with my work for the Youth Conference, and of course at my home church in Ely, has given me a good overview of the Connexion and its history.
1992
Upon returning from my travels, I initially agreed to write an article on the Connexion and my impressions of it with enthusiasm, knowing that my head was buzzing with views and feelings about it. But having sat down to write it I have found it very hard to condense these feelings into a single article and, for that matter, words at all. I have also become increasingly aware that although I have learnt a lot about the Connexion, there is so much that I do not know about it and the way it runs. I am also conscious that this article is written from the viewpoint of an idealistic youth, eager and enthusiastic, yet with little experience of the world!
I have many precious memories of my travels. The Connexion I discovered is a beautiful creation. It is so easy to look to the future, to Christ's return, but to forget that his Kingdom is here already. Everywhere I went I was welcomed with love, generosity and enthusiasm. I also discovered the rich heritage that we have, especially in the Countess herself. Her vision is one we can also learn from, beginning with her determination and single-mindedness in establishing the church as God's family. Also I experienced in a very real sense the battle that the Church in this country faces at this time.
Fewer churches
I was saddened to find that in the 230 years since the Countess opened her first chapel we have shrunk dramatically. It is true that some of the churches did not die, but joined other denominations such as the United Reformed Church, but many did close, and considering the number of people in this country who don't attend church, this is a shame indeed. How can God's people reach out to a community if God's people aren't there? A.H. New comments, "Had the Connexion been regularly organised and legally established during her life time, and had the Trustees and ministers been compelled to adhere to a Constitutional Order, the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion would at this time have occupied one of the most conspicuous positions among the religious denominations in England." I believe that, in common with much of the church in general, the Connexion is entering an important point in its history. I can forsee that within ten years it is very probable that only a handful of our chapels will remain. Unless we return to being a Connexion in more than just name I fear the end is in sight. On the other hand, I sincerely believe that if we do return to this, then we will again grow as a church and a powerful force in God's army. It is our choice.
Our chapels in both appearance and operation vary tremendously. Each has its own character, personality and strengths. I'm not suggesting that we iron these out and become a uniform church as in these difference lies our strength. Paul said that the church is like a body, made of different limbs, each with its own function as part of the whole, giving a greater overall strength. But this can only work if the different limbs operate together coordinated by the head. The same is true of God's family. If we unite to operate together, then the strength of the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. If we fail to operate together then we will wither and die. We are all members of a family, God's people, and within that, the Connexion of the Countess of Huntingdon. Surely it is in this that the way forward lies.
Dwindling congregations
As a Connexion, we are suffering from often small, dwindling congregations, many chapels with a lack of youth. Why is this? There are a great variety of possible reasons, some of which I shall now outline, together with some possible answers.
Many of our chapels are positioned in situations which are less than ideal. Originally they may have been in the centres of their respective communities, but communities have changed, leaving the chapel perhaps either in shopping centres (such as Eastbourne) or literally on their own (such as Copthorne). Many of our buildings are beautiful in construction and situation, but we must ask ourselves in these cases whether it is worth staying where they are. If the congregation is active and strong, the answer may be yes, but if not, we should seriously consider moving back to the people. What good is a church if it is not used?
If the church isn't prepared to go to the people, why should the people be prepared to go to the church?
Once the church is in the community, it is important that the community knows that it is there, and just as importantly, what it stands for. There were occasions on my travels, surprisingly in some of the villages, when I asked people where the church was they had never heard of it. In college in London I have been asked what sort of "cult" this Countess of Huntingdon is! This is hardly surprising when there is no Countess church in London, but in our own towns and villages we have no such excuse. Clearly linked with this is evangelism, obviously a major topic and way beyond the scope of this article. But it is vital that we reach out to the people around us, and if we unite we can be a powerful force indeed. Imagine the effect of sending representatives of each church in the Connexion to one particular church where they would spend time getting to know each other and then take say a concentrated fortnight evangelising in that neighbourhood.
Building a future
It is also important that we don't rest secure in what we have, but build for the future. I am a great believer in church planting. After all, it is the result of church planting by the Countess that I myself have found Christ. As well as consolidating the churches we already have, I believe we must look to expand to areas where there is need. I'm sure you will agree that there is plenty of scope.
Another reason for dwindling congregations is the perception of the average "man on the street" that the church is outdated and irrelevant to life and the everyday situations he finds himself in. So far as the Connexion is concerned, I have certainly not found this to be the case: the teaching I have received and the communities I have been involved with have in most cases been very practical and relevant to our life styles today. But it is obviously important that this extends beyond the church as, unless the outsider sees that this is so, he will not change his views.
Lack of Pastors
One problem we have as a Connexion is the lack of Pastors. Having stayed with most of the Pastors in the Connexion, I can safely say that we are privileged to have such a dedicated group of people. I was constantly challenged by their vision, ideas and determination. On the downside, however, we have many churches without pastors, and a number have to serve more than one church or are part time. This is far from ideal since they must have to spend much time simply running the church, limiting any time available to spend on working for expansion. I feel that as a Connexion we should work towards helping each other financially so that the pastors we do have can be set free to work full time in their respective churches. Lack of pastors generally is a nationwide problem, and perhaps the shortage can only be overcome by prayer, a prayer that God will surely answer.
Way forward
I believe that the best way forward for us now is to increase links between the churches, giving the Connexion greater overall coordination and vision. One possible way of bringing this about would be to employ people to do just that. For example, take the Chairman of Youth Conference. Youth Conference is the highlight of the year for many young people, a spiritual boost and very enjoyable. The advantages are clear. But at the moment we only meet twice a year. This summer some of us met up at Broad Oak for the weekend to help the church there. It was a great success - if only there could be more events like it. Unfortunately these events take a lot of planning and despite the Chairman's enthusiasm a full time job greatly limits what he is able to do. Perhaps we should consider employing someone, even if only part time, to co-ordinate youth work across the Connexion, taking on such events and also youth evangelism, teaching, etc...
Other such roles that could usefully be filled include evangelism and church planting. I'm not suggesting the introduction of a hierarchy! These people would be answerable to the members through Conference, but we could achieve much more if we shared direction.
What we are, God's people, and what we are involved in, God's church, of which the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is an important part, are beautiful things. Let us push forward and share this with those around us.' (End of 1992 article)
32 years later
Some 32 years on (where did that time go?!) it is fascinating to return to what I wrote. Some of it makes me wince, such as my male bias at the time, and some of it is clearly naive and simplistic; experience has told me that it isn't so easy to simply move a church or to get together a group from across the movement, although I still find myself wondering why this should be. I think I would also want to shift my emphasis from pastors to leaders who are committed to equipping their congregations for mission, a move from caring from those on the inside to outside.
There is much I still agree with. I still love the sense of family that exists in the Connexion; this is something precious that I enjoy wherever I go. We still believe in mission and church planting; since I wrote this, we have planted churches in Rosedale and High Barns, Ely (we should still celebrate this, even if its season has finished), and welcomed the church plant in Slough, and reached out through a myriad of activities, programmes, and the daily witness of our members. I still believe that we would thrive more easily if we could find ways to work together more and recognise in a deeper sense that we belong to a common movement, in a light-touch organic way, rather than something enforced from the centre.
More observations
I think I would now want to add to my observations that as a Connexion we have a shared love of the Bible and are committed to reading it, interpreting it, and applying it to our daily lives. It's centrality is clear from our services and gatherings. We may come to differing opinions of what it means, but this doesn't mean imply any lack of commitment to it, instead the differing contexts from which we read and grapple with it. If we can hold onto this dedication to it along with a respect for others who are see it similarly but reach different conclusions, this can only deepen and enrich our faith and strength.
Above all, however, I rejoice that decades after I had pronounced our doom, we're still here. One joy of having been involved in the Connexion for so many years, is being able to look back and see that God has been working amongst us and is with us. Some may say why bother with the Connexion? I say if God sees it as worth bothering about, then that's good enough for me! The risk of decline may continue to be real, but so to does the possibility (faith says probability) that God will continue to be with us, his people, and continue to work in and through us. The heritage he gave us through the Countess of a family committed to the Bible and mission is still of great value - although perhaps it can sometimes be a treasure too hidden in a field. I believe our task is to celebrate this treasure and find ways of expressing it in new and relevant ways in our different contexts today.
I wonder where God will take us in the next 32 years...?
Ben Quant
