The Religious Life of LondonRitchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
Religion
The Religious Life of London
Ritchie, J. Ewing (James Ewing)
London (England) -- Religion; Religious thought -- England -- London
There is one Sandemanian church in London, up in Barnsbury, at the corner
of one of the streets running out of the Roman Road. The original church
was founded in the year 1760, in the Barbican. City improvements
necessitated its removal to this site, where it has now been erected four
or five years. It was in the old chapel that Professor Faraday used to
take his turn in preaching. In the new chapel his widow is still one of
the worshippers. As you pass the place you would not see anything very
extraordinary. It is a neat, simple structure, of white brick, with no
architectural pretensions of any kind. It only differs from other places
of worship in having no board up announcing to what denomination it
belongs, nor the name of the preacher, nor the hours of assembly, nor
where applications for sittings are to be made, nor to whom subscriptions
are to be paid. Indeed, the only reference at all to an outside world
seems to consist in the putting up a caution intimating that the building
is under the guardianship of the police, and persons evilly disposed had
better mind what they are about. Thus, and thus only, is the recognition
of an outer world lying in darkness and needing the true light of the
Gospel in any way acknowledged. They have service twice on Sunday, in
the morning and afternoon, and a week-day meeting on Wednesday evening.
They have no Sunday or day-school, no tract distribution, no district
visiting, no minister, and no other means of acting on the world or
forming religious opinion. Indeed, I fancy they are averse to anything
of the kind. “We are utterly,” I read in one of their publications,
“against aiming to promote the cause we contend for either by creeping
into private homes or by causing our voice to be heard in the streets, or
by officiously obtruding our opinions upon others.” Even if you enter
their place of worship there is no pew-opener to show you to a seat.
They claim simply to obey the commands of the Bible implicitly, to be a
church founded for mutual edification and love—nothing more. The
stranger who for the first time attends will be struck with the absence
of the pulpit, instead of which he will find two large desks, one above
the other, in which are seated three or four elderly persons; the
attention which is paid to the reading of the Bible; the illiterate way
in which those who preach and pray do so; and the length and dulness of
the service. The morning service, for instance, begins at eleven, and is
never over till half-past one. No wonder the Sandemanians are not a
vigorous sect. I believe they have but one place of worship in England,
three or four in Scotland, and more, how many I know not, in America.
The chapel in Barnsbury will seat, I imagine, from three to four hundred
people, and it is always nearly full, and attended by people in
respectable appearance. Of the really poor they seem to have none at
all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account