During that important period, it has been my privilege to reside in this city, and to exercise my ministry among you the members of my church and congregation; and the close of such a period, affords a suitable opportunity for presenting you with a brief history of the erection of our place of worship, of the formation and advancement of the church, and of other circumstances, connected with our spiritual and ecclesiastical affairs.
Early in the year 1817, while I was pursuing my studies preparatory to the christian ministry, in the college at Hoxton, now removed to Highbury, I received an invitation to visit Norwich, and to preach, for a few Sabbaths, in the Tabernacle. This invitation, being sanctioned and urged upon me by the Committee of the Institution, I accepted for a period of three weeks, and I left London, by the Day Coach, on the morning of Good Friday, April 4th, 1817. It was a cold and comfortless journey; the North-east wind blew bitterly; a passenger on the coach filled me with anxiety and alarm by his account of the state of things in the Tabernacle; and a few miles before we reached the city, we were informed that, just as the Packet was starting to Yarmouth that morning, the boiler had burst, and eleven of the passengers had been frightfully mangled and destroyed. On arriving at the city, I went, as I had been directed, to the Tabernacle house, where Mr. Phillips, the aged minister, resided, and where I expected to lodge. The good old man and all his household had gone to bed; and when, after loud and long knocking at the door, I awoke him from sleep, and told him my name and my object in coming, he replied, “I really don’t know you, Sir,” and instantly shut down the window. This reception, or rather rejection, though afterwards in some measure explained and apologized for, was sufficiently discouraging; but as it was impossible to return to London that night, I determined to sleep at the Inn, and to wait for the disclosures of the morrow. I was then introduced to a few of the people, who received me kindly. The good old minister, too, interested and amused me by his lively and picturesque descriptions of his ministerial life; and I began to think that perhaps I might remain till the three weeks had expired. On the first Sunday evening, I preached a sermon in reference to the Steam Packet catastrophe, which had happened on the Friday. The text was Matthew xxiv, 44: “Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” The place was crowded. The Lord himself stood by me and strengthened me. The congregation listened with impressive silence and attention. Many minds seemed to be deeply affected; and I left the pulpit that night, thanking God, and taking courage. On the two following Sabbaths, the congregations were equally large; and when they were over, I returned to London, partly to pursue my studies, and partly to prepare an oration on the subject of Ancient Heathenism, which I had been appointed to deliver at the anniversary of the college; but, before I left, I promised to return, and to preach during the whole of the Midsummer vacation.
My labours at the Tabernacle were resumed on Sunday, July 6th. During this visit, the congregations were very encouraging; and the people were so earnest in requesting me not to return to London at the end of the six weeks’ vacation, that, after consulting with my tutors, I agreed to remain till the legal opinion was given, which would determine whether the pulpit and the place of worship were under the control of the church, or of the Trustees. That opinion did not arrive till the fourteenth of December. It was the sabbath day. On going to the Tabernacle, I was informed that the decision was in favour of the Trustees; and as I had been invited, not by them, but by the church and congregation, I had therefore no legal right to continue to occupy the pulpit. I had prepared two sermons for the day. The text in the morning was, 2 Corinthians iii, 18: “We all, with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” At the close of the service, I informed the congregation of the legal decision which had been given by the Barrister to whom the question had been referred, and I gave notice that my last sermon in the Tabernacle would be preached in the evening. A very large congregation assembled, and much excitement and perplexity prevailed. My text was, Psalm xxx, 5: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” That text, it was often said afterwards, built the new chapel. The people felt as if the language was prophetic; and amidst their night of weeping, they began to look forward to the morning joy. My own mind was, however, rather relieved by a decision which seemed to open the way for my retirement from Norwich. I had received the most affectionate kindness from the people; they were evidently exceedingly desirous to secure me as their minister; and they were willing to make any sacrifices to induce my continuance. But the prospect of having to build a chapel; to re-organize the church; to instruct and train up the people in congregational principles; to originate Sunday Schools, and other institutions; to control and calm the feelings which had been excited by the collision with the Trustees of the Tabernacle; and other circumstances, led me to shrink from an undertaking for which I felt I was incapable, owing to my youth and inexperience. The invitation to become their minister, which was given me, and which was signed by four hundred persons, was therefore declined on the second of January, 1818; and I took my place in the coach, to return to London, on my way to Kidderminster, where I had been requested to supply. But on the day of my departure, a deputation from the people waited on me, and pressed upon me the invitation with such affectionate earnestness, and with such assurances respecting the building of a new chapel, that I felt the appeal to be irresistible, and I promised to lay the whole matter before my tutors and friends, and to make it the subject of serious and prayerful re-consideration. The result was, a determination to return; and I did return to preach my first sermon in the Lancasterian School, on the twenty-fifth of January, 1818. The text was, “O Lord, I beseech thee send now prosperity”—a prayer which, from that time to the present, the God of mercy has abundantly answered. In that school room we worshipped twice on the Sunday, and in the French church on the week evenings, for nearly two years. The congregations on the sabbath, and especially in the evening, were as large as the place could contain; many “times of refreshing” were granted to us from the presence of the Lord; and we often said, “This is none other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven!”
We were now anxiously occupied in seeking for a suitable piece of ground on which to build our chapel; and after long delay, and many difficulties, the present site was purchased, and I laid the foundation stone, on the 16th of March, 1819. An address was delivered on the occasion, which was afterwards published; and the following inscription was engraved on a brass plate, which was laid on the top of the stone, in the centre of which were deposited several specimens of current coin: “This plate was deposited the sixteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen, and in the fifty-ninth year of the reign of George the Third, in the foundation stone of a Protestant Dissenting Chapel, erected on a piece of freehold ground, in the City of Norwich, and in the parishes of St. Michael at Plea and St. Peter Hungate, by the congregation attending the ministry of the Rev. John Alexander.” The building was completed in about eight months; and the time drew near for us to enter it. The last sabbath which we spent in the Lancasterian school room, was on November the 28th, 1819. The last text, was the prayer which Moses addressed to God, in Exodus xxxiii, 15: “If thy presence go not with us carry us not up hence.” During our meetings there, we had enjoyed many tokens of the divine presence; the cloud of his glory had blessed and sanctified the place; and the preacher and the people unitedly felt, that it would be better to remain in that humble dwelling, God being with us, than to enter our new and beautiful chapel, unaccompanied with his presence. On the Wednesday following, December 1st, 1819, the chapel was opened for divine worship. The sermon in the morning was preached by Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool, and many of us remember how our hearts glowed with holy delight when he read his text, Exodus, xx, 24: “In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.” On leaving the School Room, we offered up the prayer, “If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence;” on entering the chapel we received the gracious answer, “I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee;” an answer which has been verified from that day to the present. In the evening Dr. Leifchild preached a most impressive sermon from Hebrews, xii, 25: “See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.”
Having thus entered the chapel, our attention was soon directed to the desirableness of forming a church. After much deliberation and prayer on the subject, thirteen persons of good report among us, agreed to unite together in christian fellowship, believing each other to be the disciples of Christ, and having the sanction of the minister, and of various christian brethren. On the 8th of March, 1820, they held their first ecclesiastical meeting in the vestry of the chapel. The Rev. William Hull, of the Old Meeting, Norwich, and the Rev. Alexander Creak, of Yarmouth, presided. After prayer and the reading of the scriptures, Mr. Creak described the nature and duties of a christian church; after which Mr. William Parkinson, one of the members, read the following declaration.
“Having invited your presence, as ministers of Jesus Christ, to recognize and acknowledge our formation into a christian church, we deem it proper to give you a brief account of those doctrines of religion which we profess to believe and to experience.
“While we disclaim all regard to doctrines derived merely from the word of man, we find that the religious sentiments we profess, and which we receive as the word of God, correspond with the doctrines commonly called Calvinistic, and that our sentiments respecting church discipline correspond with those which are maintained by the body of Protestant Dissenters commonly called Independents.
“The doctrines contained in our religious creed, and which we firmly believe to be recorded in the scriptures of truth, comprise the being, perfections, and unity of God; the union of the divine and human natures in the person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; the personality, deity, and influences of the Holy Spirit; the fall of man, and its awful consequences in the universal depravity of human nature; the atonement made for sinners by the obedience and death of Jesus Christ; the sovereign and gracious election of the people of God to faith, and holiness, and eternal life; their justification by faith in ‘the Lord our righteousness;’ their regeneration and sanctification by the Holy Spirit; their adoption into the family of heaven; their certain perseverance in grace, and final acceptance with God; the resurrection of the body at the last day; and the final judgment of all mankind at the bar of God.
“We consider a christian church to be a congregation of believers, voluntarily assembling together, and submitting, in all things, to Jesus Christ, their only Lord and Master. Such a church we desire to become; recognizing a pastor and deacons as our only officers, and asserting our exclusive right to make our own independent choice of a minister, to watch over us in the Lord, and of deacons, to attend to our temporal concerns.
“The ordinances of the church we consider to be Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The former to be administered to unbaptized and believing adults, and also to their infant offspring; and the latter to be administered to those only who profess their faith in Jesus Christ, and are joined in fellowship with his people.
“Having made this declaration of our faith and practice, in which we all most cordially unite, we confess that, as guilty sinners, our only hope is in the righteousness of Jesus Christ; and having, we trust, first given ourselves to the Lord, we desire now in your presence, and in the presence of Almighty God, to unite together in church fellowship, that we may enjoy the communion of saints, and walk in the ordinances and commandments of the Lord blamelessly.”
This declaration having been read, the ministers present acknowledged the persons assembled to be a church of Christ, and gave to them the right hand of fellowship; after which, the members shook hands with each other. My dismission from the Independent Church in Liverpool, under the pastoral care of the Rev. P. S. Charrier, was then read, on which I was received into membership with the newly-formed church. Of the fourteen persons who thus composed this infant church, seven are alive and remain unto this day: six hundred and sixty-eight persons have since been added to them making the whole number six hundred and eighty-two; an increase, for which devout gratitude is due to Him by whose gracious power alone sinners are constrained first to give themselves to the Lord, and then to his people according to his will.
But though a church had thus been formed and recognized by the pastoral representatives of other churches, and though I had become united with it, my membership did not, of course, constitute me its pastor; but, on receiving an invitation from the church to sustain that office among them, I at once accepted it, and it was agreed that my ordination should take place at the end of May. The independent ministers in the county, and some of those in the neighbouring counties, were invited to attend on the occasion, as the representatives of their churches, in order that their sanction might be given to our proceedings; and the following extract from the Church Book will shew the manner in which the service was conducted.
“The solemn service of Mr. Alexander’s ordination to the pastoral office over the church assembling for divine worship in Prince’s Street Chapel, Norwich, took place on Wednesday morning, May 31, 1820, in the following order.
“The Rev. Isaac Sloper, of Beccles, implored the divine presence and blessing by a suitable prayer, after which he read the third chapter of the first of Timothy.
“The Rev. Thomas Craig, of Bocking, delivered the introductory discourse, which contained a statement of the reasons of dissent, and of the principles of a christian church.
“A brief account of the circumstances which led to Mr. Alexander’s residence with the people was then read by Mr. Gurney, one of the members of the church; after which all the members testified, by holding up the right hand, that they had unanimously invited Mr. Alexander to the pastoral office.
“In reply to questions proposed by Mr. Craig, Mr. Alexander gave an account of his religious experience, and stated his motives for entering the christian ministry; his reasons of dissent from the Established Church; his cordial acceptance of the call of the church; his determination, by the help of divine grace, to approve himself as a minister of Christ; and his belief in the great doctrines of the everlasting gospel.
“The Rev. George Collison, of Hackney, then offered up a most solemn and impressive ordination prayer, connected with the imposition of hands; after which each of the ministers present gave to Mr. Alexander the right hand of fellowship.
“The Rev. Peter Samuel Charrier, of Liverpool, Mr. Alexander’s late pastor, addressed to him a very affectionate and appropriate charge, from Acts xx, 24: ‘So that I might finish my course with joy.’
“The Rev. Edward Hickman, of Denton, very affectionately and suitably addressed the church and congregation, from Philippians i, 27: ‘Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.’
“The Rev. Richard Fairbrother, of Dereham, read the hymns selected for the occasion; and the Rev. John Dennant, of Halesworth, concluded the service with prayer.
“The above service was conducted in the presence of a very numerous and attentive congregation, and evidently in the enjoyment of His presence, who says to his ministers, ‘Lo! I am with you always to the end of the world.’ It was indeed a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; and never may the minister, and never may the people forget the vows which they then formed, nor lose the impressions which they then received. May the union, thus solemnly and publicly recognised, continue uninterrupted and unbroken till terminated by the stroke of death; and may the pastor and all the people hereafter meet and dwell together in that holy and happy world, where sin, and death, and sorrow, shall be known no more.”
A church needs however not only a Pastor, as its Bishop, who is to “give himself continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word,” but Deacons also, to superintend its temporal affairs, and “to serve tables.” The church therefore, in the first instance, chose two of its members to that office; a number which has been increased again and again, as the necessities of the church required. In addition to the meetings of the church for devotional purposes, it has always held a meeting once a month for general business, and these meetings have been chiefly occupied in the reception of members. Sometimes, when a member has been going to reside in some other town, we have had to grant him a letter of commendation and dismission to the church with which he has wished to unite, and on which that church has received him. Sometimes, we have had to discuss questions relative to the best mode of proceeding in the election of officers, and in the transaction of other business. And sometimes, we have had to investigate charges against character, and solemnly to exclude an unworthy member. And when a church can keep “the spirit of the world” from mingling with its proceedings, its very discussions, as well as its devotions, are highly beneficial, and contribute to the acquisition of “manly piety,” and to the exercise of holy wisdom and of brotherly love. On such occasions, when every brother is free to hold, and free to express his own convictions, it is a degree of liberty which, though liable to abuse, is one of the invaluable privileges of the church of Christ; and when used in his spirit, and in accordance with his directions, is one of the sources of its strength and security. Amidst the great variety of proceedings in which, as a church, we have had to engage, it has been our mercy “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” The people have been “kindly affectioned one towards another, and towards their pastor, in brotherly love;” so that, amidst our many imperfections and infirmities, God has dealt very graciously with his servants, and the cloud of his glory has continued to rest over our assemblies. Our church meetings, from the beginning, have been seasons of much spiritual enjoyment and edification. The letters which have been read to us, from such candidates for communion as have been disposed to write them, and the reports of the faith and experience of the various candidates, which have been related to us by the brethren who have visited them, have often filled our hearts with gladness and our eyes with tears, and have been, beyond all description, edifying and animating to our souls. Hundreds of those letters, still in the possession of the pastor, many of them from the hands of beloved young persons, and some of them written by hands which have long since “forgot their cunning,” are among the richest rewards of pastoral labour, and the strongest attestations to the power and excellency of the gospel of Christ.