Part 4

The minister of a Church such as ours is always interested in discovering the “deposit” of well-remembered sayings and stories of the various ministers and prominent laymen that have been associated with the place. There grows up in this way a kind of Rabbinical tradition; and you can often estimate the force of character in a minister by the way in which people treasure up the memories of what he said and did. Mr. White added materially to the oral tradition of Kensington. His racy sayings, his epigrams, his reminiscences, are constantly recalled and repeated. And his successor has formed a very vivid conception of that genial and delightful ministry by which Mr. White attached to himself so warmly the hearts of this congregation.

But one most significant new departure must be remembered. Many are the strangers who visit us to-day who are greatly impressed with the successful blending in our service of general audible prayer, with the more individual prayer by the minister. They share with us the feeling, that to encourage an outward and audible expression of our worship is to cultivate the worshipful attitude of heart and soul. Nonconformists have too long thrown the whole burden of the service on the preacher, and not sufficiently elicited from the congregation the full expression of their feelings in prayer and praise. The new warmth that has come to our services at Allen Street, and the increased heartiness of them, is very largely due to the introduction of certain simple and comprehensive forms of worship and prayer, in which we can all unite with heart and soul. This most admirable system was initiated by Mr. White, who expressed himself as being quite willing to bear the burden of any temporary unpopularity of the change. The unpopularity was certainly never great, and has to-day given way to a very strong and general satisfaction.

Resolutions are apt to read coldly,—indeed, they are apt not to be read at all,—but when, at a large meeting of the Church and congregation to say farewell to Mr. White, on the completion of his eighteen months’ ministry, the people unanimously and enthusiastically declared that “he had been honoured to become the channel of blessings which this Church would ever acknowledge and keep in memory,” every word was as hearty as it was true. On October 17th, 1889, Mr. White presided at his successor’s ordination, and said to the assembled people: “In delivering up this sacred office, I shall humbly join my prayers with yours for God’s best blessing to rest on my dear successor, and on yourselves, whom he will love the more the longer he lives among you, and the more self-denyingly he serves you.” To which that successor may be allowed to write his own emphatic declaration that it has been true.

X—“TO BE CONTINUED”—THE PRESENT PASTORATE {147}

[Picture: C. Silvester Horne. By kind permission of Mr. H. S. Mendelssohn]

THE retirement of a pastor so universally beloved as Mr. Symes left the Church in a position of some perplexity, from which it was to be rescued less by its own wisdom than by the manifest leading of Providence. For more than sixty years the congregation had welcomed to its pastorate ministers already enjoying reputations acquired in other Churches; and in the eyes of many this practice had acquired the authority of a traditionary rule. And it seems almost certain that, if any of the established ministers whom the Church would have been glad to call would have accepted what was recognised as an onerous charge, the traditions of 1825–80 would have been honoured by continued observance. But it was otherwise ordained. While as yet no one seems to have remembered how Dr. Leifchild came to Hornton Street fresh from his tutor, Mr. Charles Silvester Horne, a student only half through his theological course at Mansfield College, Oxford, came to Kensington as an ordinary pulpit supply, and preached with so much acceptance that request was made,—but without any ulterior view,—that he might be sent again. He had preached only a very few times, however, when it became evident that he was not only making a strong impression on the existing congregation, but attracting new hearers. It was noticed that, while the freshness and simplicity of his preaching, aided by a genial personality, drew simple natures, and especially the young, around him, the confidence of the elders was gained by the unexpected depth and maturity of his sermons; and then it was that the suppressed thought of many at length found simultaneous utterance, and the question was asked whether this was not the kind of minister most suited to the wants of the Kensington congregation.

Inquiries were made, and then it was ascertained that Mr. Horne had still eighteen months of his course at Mansfield to complete, and that of these Dr. Fairbairn would not abate even a week. By this time, however, the Church had made up its mind, and unanimously offered to pledge itself to call Mr. Horne in due form at the end of a year and a half, if he, in his turn, would engage to come to Kensington at that date, and also visit the congregation in the meantime as often as he could. This arrangement was made, together with a further and supplementary one with the Rev. Edward White, who had just left Kentish Town, and who kindly undertook the pastoral oversight of the Church till the autumn of 1889. In this way, as was pleasantly observed at the time, Kensington at once secured the services of “the youngest old man and the oldest young man in the Congregational body.” Mr. White more than fulfilled the expectations of the congregation, and in the brief period of his service established himself permanently in the affections of the congregation, while he prepared the way for the coming of his young successor.

Mr. Horne was ordained at Kensington in October 1889, the venerable Dr. Stoughton, Dr. Fairbairn, and Dr. Dale, with the Revs. E. White, R. F. Horton, and W. Roberts, taking part in the services. This is not the time to speak at large of a pastorate so recently begun, but it is not too soon to say that the hopes on which the Kensington Church acted five years ago have been justified by experience. Congregations were never larger; the young are being gathered and organised in guilds as well for instruction and work as for social purposes; the young members of the Church meet regularly for spiritual edification. The London Missionary Society and other agencies external to the congregation are supported with the old constancy and liberality, and the Church itself is as united as ever in purpose and heart.

XI—Epilogue

[Picture: Kensington Chapel (interior)]

A MINISTER may surely be excused for writing “once more, in conclusion,” after the “lastly” of Chapter IX. He is, however, quite prepared to see the reader grow indifferent or uneasy, under the impression that the epilogue has been dragged in with the ulterior intention of pointing a moral. The story has been told; what need can there be to prolong it? But so hardened has the writer become that he unmercifully proceeds to have his own way—a bad habit, into which a too-indulgent congregation has injudiciously trained him. The perusal of our simple records is calculated to confirm the faith of us all in the possibilities of a Church of Jesus Christ. Dr. Stoughton likes to say that the Church here was never asked for money when it did not meet the request; and, perhaps, that is the least of all its gifts. Its chronicler lays down the pen with the thankful conviction that it has ever given a place in its heart and in its practical sympathy to any really worthy and beneficent object. Its controversies have been conducted in honourable Christian fashion, and where its convictions have been deep its efforts have been unremitting. Perhaps the truest test of a Church is in the men and women it makes and influences. Kensington Chapel has been associated with many eminent and brilliant names. Lawyers such as Mr. Justice Talfourd, statesmen such as Mr. Henry Richard, physicians such as Sir Risdon Bennett, authors such as Dr. Samuel Smiles and Robert Alfred Vaughan, as well as Royal Academicians and influential writers for the public press, have united here in common worship. And lest we should be overwhelmed, and unduly sobered, by so great a weight of dignity, was there not once an editor of _Punch_ as a member of the congregation? Who will say of us that our Puritan manners are irreconcilable with a love of humour!

“Diversity of ministrations but the same spirit” seems to have been the law of Apostolical succession in this Church. The ministers have been very unlike one another; but there has been a great substance of truth which they have preached, and an unbroken unity of purpose and aim. Those who think a Church needs thirty-nine articles to ensure the unity of the spirit will please make a note of this.

The Church has been distinguished for its readiness of adjustment to new opportunities and occasions. The development of modern London has drawn Kensington from its position of a secluded proximity to the City, into actual organic union with it. All the problems of London to-day are ours. We are no longer outside of it. Our life is Metropolitan. The change has been faced by the Church with a frank recognition and a cheerful courage. It has acknowledged practically the claims of poorer London on its liberality and sympathy; and it is resolutely addressing itself to discover its own distinctive mission to the poverty and misery of other neighbourhoods.

It was clearly not for nothing that the idea of the Church emerged slowly but surely out of the looser conceptions of association for the purpose of managing the business affairs connected with a place of worship. God’s hand was in it all, as we can so clearly see to-day; and in process of the years the great ideal of a Christian Brotherhood—an ideal which is not new, but old—has laid hold of the thought and imagination of the people. Dr. Edwin Hatch, the most original ecclesiastical historian of this generation, said in memorable words, “the unaccomplished mission of the Christian Church is to reconstruct society on the basis of brotherhood.” Towards that reconstruction every Christian community that tries to realise its brotherhood in Christ contributes something.

At the beginning of the century whose record we have reviewed, Missionary Societies were just beginning, Sunday Schools were in their infancy, and the great catalogue of benevolent and philanthropic societies that stand on the Church’s list was all unknown. Thus the work of one hundred years makes us exceedingly hopeful. Our experience is all in our favour. And after having lived and grown through a century of time, it is possible for us, as a Church, to approximate to that ideal where there are blended the ripeness and maturity of autumn with the freshness and buoyancy of spring.

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_Printed by Hazell_, _Watson_, _& Viney_, _Ld._, _London and Aylesbury_.

FOOTNOTES

{36} Mr. William Holborn, our Church Secretary, informs me that the cup with handles is the original communion cup. It is made of lustred pewter. When the number of communicants increased, one of the deacons remembered that he had a cup at home which was suitable for the purpose. He accordingly produced the second cup, which bears underneath it the words “a friend of the cause.” The metal of which this cup is made is matter of conjecture.

{147} By a Member of the Congregation.