In connection with this abundant degree of peace and prosperity, our course has however been attended, externally at least, with difficulty and tribulation, and we have had to build the walls of our Zion in troublous times. It was no easy thing for a young and inexperienced minister to have the formation and guidance of an infant church committed to his care, and at the same time to have to give attention to reading; to have to prepare three, and afterwards four sermons every week; besides visiting the sick; attending a weekly prayer-meeting; conducting two separate Bible classes, which at one time he had in charge; preaching occasionally at Thorpe and at Trowse, two village stations in connection with the chapel; and attending the committees and public meetings of various religious institutions in the city and county. In the earlier periods of these labours, the debt which remained on the chapel began to press with most burdensome weight; and those who had advanced the largest sums of money, became more than wishful for repayment. Once, the income of the minister was taken for the payment of the interest; but it was immediately returned to him, doubled in amount, by an affectionate and sympathizing congregation. One difficulty became, however, the forerunner and progenitor of another, as is generally the case when a chapel is burdened with an oppressive debt; and at length the state of things became so harassing and intolerable, especially to the pastor’s mind, that after many struggles and much mental suffering, he wrote a letter resigning the pastoral office, and sent it to the church on February 4th, 1825. That letter, though sent, was never opened; for just as the church assembled, an arrangement was completed by which the burden of debt was diminished, and by which some persons, whose pecuniary claims had been urgently pressed, were satisfied. Thus our extremity became God’s opportunity; and the minister and the people, instead of being separated, became, through mutual suffering, still more closely and affectionately united.
As the congregation had become pledged to raise between eight and nine hundred pounds in five years, to effect the proposed liquidation of the debt, every hand became engaged in the work, and great labour and liberality were manifested. But our troubles were not yet terminated. At the end of two years, out of the five, it was discovered that the roof of the chapel, which had been constructed on a false principle, was giving way, and that it, together with the upper part of the walls, must be taken down. The expence of doing this would be full three hundred pounds; we had yet to raise more than that sum towards the debt; how was it possible to do both? especially as the congregation must, for some time at least, leave the chapel, and perhaps be irrecoverably dispersed; for it was now the beginning of winter, and four or five months must elapse, before the place could be repaired, and rendered fit for our return. We were perplexed, and almost in despair. But again, by God’s great mercy, our light rose in obscurity, and the night of weeping was followed by the morning joy. The Lancasterian School, the Old Meeting House, and the French Church, were kindly granted to us, for our Sunday and our week-day worship; the congregation, instead of sinking into despondency, was roused to exertions the most zealous and liberal; our Christian friends in the Old Meeting, and in St. Mary’s Chapel—Baptists as well as Independents, affectionately sympathised with our circumstances; and in the course of a few days presented to us the noble sum of upwards of a hundred guineas; the walls were re-built; a new and substantial roof was raised; and we returned to the place on the 16th of March, 1828, with as large a congregation as we had when we left it, and which from that time continued to increase till every seat was occupied! Then too, the God of all grace began to enrich us with a greater increase of spiritual prosperity. Many sinners were converted; the church was enlarged, and confirmed, and edified; our Sunday Schools were invigorated; our interest in the place, and in each other, was strengthened; and God himself seemed again to repeat his gracious promise, “I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.”
Since that period we have made several alterations and improvements in our place of worship; and on one of these occasions, in 1842, we worshipped in the Dutch Church for the space of two months. Our own service was in the morning and evening; and the service of the Church of England, conducted by the clergyman of the place, was in the afternoon. On one of the afternoons, the service was conducted by the venerable and excellent Bishop of the Diocese, who preached from the same pulpit that had been occupied in the morning by the Dissenting minister; and during our stay there, we had sermons from ministers belonging to almost every evangelical denomination of the Christian church. In our own place of worship too, it has often been our privilege to contribute, in some degree, to the general communion of saints; especially at the Lord’s table, the first place at which Christians should meet, and the last at which they should separate. There we have been joined by Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists, who have eaten with us of the same bread, and who have drank of the same cup, in devout remembrance of Him, who purchased the church with his precious blood.
One of the objects to which we directed our attention, soon after the opening of the chapel, was the formation of a Sunday School. Several young persons, of piety and zeal, offered themselves as teachers, some of whom continue to the present day, honourably and usefully employed in the beneficial work. We began in July 1820, with eighty-one scholars. The pastor advised the teachers to form the committee out of their own body; to have no more rules for the regulation of the school than circumstances rendered necessary; to conduct all their affairs religiously; and to apply to their minister, whenever they needed help or encouragement. This undertaking, which has been pursued with unabating ardour and vigour to the present day, has been abundantly prospered by the divine blessing. Not less than three thousand children have, from time to time, received from it some degree or other of religious instruction. Many of these children have become teachers; some of them have died in the Lord; and at our Sunday School anniversaries, we have listened to many affecting and spirit-stirring details of the resignation and the joyful hope, which they have expressed in the prospect of death and heaven. The school too, has been a fruitful nursery for the church. For many years past, we have seldom had a church meeting without receiving some one as a member, whose religious impressions were either derived or deepened from his education, or from his employment, in the school. At this time, in addition to twenty-three youths in the monitorial class, preparing to become teachers, there are no less than a hundred and twenty, chiefly young persons, belonging to the church and congregation, who are actually engaged as Sunday School Teachers in Prince’s Street, and in our other schools; and though, during nearly the last thirty years, they and their predecessors have conducted the general business of the schools entirely by themselves, yet they have co-operated steadily and cordially; no root of bitterness has sprung up to trouble them; and, by the grace of God, they still continue to feel and to manifest “how good and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity.” Such an institution, it will easily be perceived, must have afforded great help to the interests of religion in the congregation, and great encouragement to the pastor. It has indeed often been his solace in adversity, and one of his chief joys in prosperity; and his heart is glad of the opportunity, which this festival affords, to acknowledge the large circle of Sunday School Teachers, by whom he is surrounded, as his fellow labourers in Christ, and as the joy and crown of his ministry.
Our Sunday School operations however, have not been confined to the chapel in Prince’s street. We have supplied Teachers to the school in Pockthorpe, two of whom were mainly instrumental in raising money for the erection of the present spacious building, which is used for an Infant School during the week, as well as for a Sunday School; and we have also supplied Teachers to the school in Stepping Lane, and to some others, while we have entirely supported the schools and the chapels in the villages of Thorpe and Trowse. Mr. Alexander began to preach in a Room at Thorpe in the year 1819, which, several years afterwards, began to be supplied by some of the members of his church. The attendance there became at length so numerous and encouraging, that it was determined to build a chapel; and after encountering many discouraging difficulties, a suitable piece of ground was obtained; and the present building was erected, at a cost, including the ground of £450, towards which one liberal friend contributed £100. The chapel was opened for divine worship in 1839, and the Sunday School was formed in the same year. Four religious services are conducted in the chapel weekly, by members of our church; about eighty children are instructed in the Sunday School; and there is a Vestry Library for the use of the congregation. The Sunday School at Trowse was established as early as 1821, and about seven years afterwards, we began to preach the gospel there; but we did not occupy the present chapel till 1830. There is religious service in it four times every week; a Sunday School containing a hundred and fifty children; and a circulating Library for the use of the village. We hope soon to be enabled to erect another chapel there in a better situation, which may also be used for both Day and Sunday Schools. During the last eight years, Mr. Barnsdale, who from the beginning has devotedly laboured for the welfare of Trowse, has been employed by us as a Missionary in the two villages of Trowse and Thorpe, on the plan of the City Mission; and the Reports which he has read at our quarterly meetings, have made us acquainted, not only with the peculiar difficulties which the gospel has to contend with in villages situated near a large city, but also with many blessed triumphs which that gospel has gained over human depravity, in the regeneration and salvation of the souls of men.
Our thirty years have therefore been spent, not only in overcoming our own difficulties, and in establishing and increasing ourselves, but also in endeavouring to extend the knowledge and influence of the gospel in the regions beyond. This indeed is the combined duty of every religious society. The church was instituted by its divine Lord, not only for preserving and professing the truths of the gospel, but also for propagating them. This, you know, has always been urged upon you from the pulpit as a solemn duty, and though you have perhaps sometimes felt as if you had been urged too much; and though your pastor has sometimes been kindly warned that his own resources would be diminished, if he so earnestly pleaded for foreign objects; yet, I trust, many of you have found that the money you have given, and especially the personal efforts you have put forth, for the spread of the gospel, have not been in vain in the Lord, but have been spiritually advantageous to yourselves, as well as to others. As one consequence of these appeals and urgings, your pastor has always been associated with many fellow-labourers in the work of the Lord, who have been distributors of tracts, collectors for public Institutions, christian Instruction Agents, Sunday School Teachers, conductors of prayer meetings, and preachers of the gospel in the neighbouring villages. And by so doing, you have been the means of converting sinners from the error of their way, and of saving their souls from death; your personal piety and the prosperity of the church has been advanced; your pastor’s heart has been strengthened and comforted; and the name of Christ has been glorified. May the Lord of the harvest never fail to supply us with such labourers, and may all succeeding pastors and members of the church, be constrained, by the love of Christ, “to live not to themselves, but to Him who died for them and rose again.”
Several other Institutions, which it is needful or desirable should be formed in connection with a church of Christ, exist among us; some of which are more particularly for the use of our own congregation, and others for the general interests of humanity and religion. The Society for the relief of our sick and aged poor, was instituted in 1821, and has all along been most economically and efficiently conducted by a committee of ladies, who meet for business once a month, and who visit and relieve the needy and afflicted objects. They have thus distributed full £330. The Provident Society was instituted in 1835, and affords an opportunity for any person in the congregation, or for any child in the Sunday School, to secure a sum of money weekly during sickness, and a pension for old age, by paying a proportionate monthly subscription during health. It has received from these payments about £200. The Vestry Libraries, connected with the chapel in Prince’s Street, contain nearly a thousand well-selected volumes on various subjects, but especially on religious subjects; to which any persons in the congregation have access, on subscribing a shilling a quarter, and to which the Sunday School Teachers and children have access gratuitously. Our Christian Instruction Society, was formed for the purpose of paying religious visits, and for distributing tracts, in several districts, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the chapel; and though the subsequent institution of the City Mission has, in some measure, superseded its labours, there are now about fifteen agents connected with it, and it occupies a room in King-street for religious worship on the Sabbath. We have also auxiliaries and associations formed among us on behalf of the London Missionary Society, for sending the gospel to the heathen; on behalf of British Missions, embracing the Home Missionary Society, the Irish Evangelical Society, and the Colonial Missionary Society; on behalf of the County Association for the spread of the gospel in Norfolk; and on behalf of the Norwich City Mission; besides granting collections and subscriptions to various other religious institutions, formed for promoting the spiritual welfare of our fellow countrymen, and of mankind at large.
The amount of money required for these various purposes and for the support of the ministry, has of course not been small. A careful effort has been made, to obtain a full and correct account; but it has been found impossible to ascertain all the items. Since the chapel was opened, many public collections have been made, of which there is no record, and which are now entirely forgotten. The following account may be considered correct as far as it goes, and at the end of it something may be added for omissions.
Expencesconnected with the Building. | |||
£ | s. | d. | |
Cost of ground, building, frontage, and walls,1819–1820 | 4834 | 8 | 8 |
New roof and connected expences, deducting £100given by other congregations | 200 | 0 | 0 |
Enclosing the chapel inside, and improving the free seats,&c., 1832 | 91 | 17 | 9 |
Children’s gallery, singing pew, 1839 | 178 | 0 | 5 |
Replastering ceiling and walls, 1842 | 176 | 11 | 9 |
Quarterly subscriptions paid by the seat holders, from1818 to 1846 | 8797 | 14 | 3 |
Institutionsconnected with the Chapel. | |||
Sunday School collections, from 1821 to 1846 | 533 | 11 | 3 |
Collected at Christmas, in several years, for clothingpoor Sunday School children | 100 | 0 | 0 |
Received and distributed by the Sick and Aged PoorSociety | 330 | 11 | 0 |
Collected at Christmas, in several years, for the poor | 153 | 2 | 0 |
Collected at the Lord’s Supper, for expenses, andfor the poor | 888 | 9 | 8 |
Purses presented to the minister | 150 | 0 | 0 |
Purchase, in part, of library books | 70 | 0 | 0 |
The Provident Society | 192 | 12 | 1 |
Towards the building of Thorpe chapel | 250 | 0 | 0 |
Rent of Trowse chapel, 1830 to 1846 | 196 | 0 | 0 |
Thorpe and Trowse mission, from 1839 | 348 | 4 | 4 |
ForNorwich. | |||
Towards the erection of the school at Pockthorpe | 150 | 0 | 0 |
Towards the support of Pockthorpe Sunday Schools, for 18years | 50 | 10 | 0 |
Towards the erection of the Peafield Schools | 140 | 0 | 0 |
The Christian Instruction Society | 10 | 0 | 0 |
The City Mission | 450 | 0 | 0 |
The Norwich and Norfolk Hospital | 25 | 2 | 6 |
ForNorfolk. | |||
The Norfolk Association for the spread of the Gospel inthe county, from 1821 | 432 | 18 | 2 |
Towards various chapels in the county, &c. | 187 | 4 | 0 |
For GreatBritain. | |||
Irish Evangelical Society and Irish CongregationalUnion | 50 | 0 | 0 |
British Missions | 68 | 15 | 0 |
British Society for the Jews | 22 | 5 | 8 |
Scotch Free Church | 21 | 0 | 0 |
Nonconformist Colleges for education of Ministers | 75 | 8 | 0 |
Collection for the distressed Irish | 166 | 3 | 6 |
ForeignMissions. | |||
London Missionary Society, including sums for BaptistMissions, Moravians, and Irish, from 1820 | 2381 | 17 | 3 |
Tract Society | 478 | 11 | 1 |
The total amount of all these sums is £22,200 18s. 4d.; and we may safely add at least £300 for subscriptions and collections which cannot be remembered; so that, in about twenty-nine years, there has been collected, for various purposes, the large sum of £22,500.