In the year 1691 deaconesses were chosen to act in this Church. Though this is not a general practice now in the Churches, it is still thought by many learned men that there are references to such appointments in the writings of the apostles. Phebe is considered to have been a deaconess of the Church at Cenchrea; and those whose qualifications the Apostle points out in his letter to Timothy, which our translators understood to be the wives of the deacons, are thought by many to be persons appointed to this office, "deaconesses."
Mr. Davis died in the 56th year of his age. When constant prevailing indisposition made it evident that his end was drawing nigh, the mutual affection expressed between him and the Church of which he was pastor was very remarkable. He would say to them with the greatest tenderness, "I die, but God will surely visit you;" while he would wrestle in prayer on their behalf, that the great Shepherd would take care of them in the wilderness. And their cries ascended to heaven for his stay amongst them; and floods of tears did they pour out to their heavenly Father on this occasion. But the time was come when he must die. His work was done; he must be called to his rest. Under date of September 10th, 1714, we have the following record:—"Mr. Richard Davis, pastor, after he had faithfully, with hard labour and travail, through many and great difficulties, slanders, reproaches, and persecutions, for about five-and-twenty years, served the Lord in this house, he was taken to rest, and to receive the crown of glory."
About a month previous to this, it was concluded at a Church-meeting to invite Mr. Maurice as an assistant to Mr. Davis. On the death of Mr. Davis, Mr. Maurice was invited to the pastoral office, which invitation he accepted, and was solemnly set apart to the office in the presence of messengers from other Churches, with fasting and prayer, on the 6th of January, 1715.
Mr. Maurice was a native of Wales; a member of one of the Churches in the principality; by them called to the ministry; settled for a time at Olney, in Buckinghamshire, and from thence removed to Rowell. The ministry of Mr. Maurice, in this situation, was continued for nearly 24 years, as he died at Rowell, 1738. He was a laborious and successful preacher of the Gospel; and his pen was employed in expounding and enforcing divine truth, and in illustrating the great principles of Congregational Church polity and the social influence of religion. The congregation continued to be large and increasing, so that on May 29th, 1734, it is recorded, "A talk concerning, and some subscriptions towards, enlarging the Meeting House, if the Lord will." And it appears that the present Meeting House was built in the course of the next year; for Mr. Maurice published a sermon from Psalm cxxii. 4, entitled, 'The tribes of the Lord appearing before him; or, families in public worship: a Sermon preached at the Opening of the new Meeting House at Rowell, November 9th, 1735.' Near the close of the discourse Mr. Maurice observes,—
With regard to the place, where now for the first time we are met to worship the Lord, if it is possible in any sense for the stone to cry out of the wall, and the beam in the timber to answer it; if stones can speak, as our Lord said they would, if the children of men held their peace—then God has a voice in this work of his providence, which the man of wisdom will hear.
It calls upon us to bless the Lord for our established liberty of conscience, and for the amazing methods Providence made use of to procure, continue, and confirm it. Our fathers were glad to meet together in woods, deserts, and desolate places, for the worship of God, as much as they could out of the way of barbarous, cruel, and bloody informers; and yet were often hunted out and found by these servants of the powers of darkness, and put in prisons and dungeons for the sake of the truth—their families deprived of the necessaries of life by merciless and terrible fines and seizures: but, blessed be the Lord for the Revolution! and may the glorious and immortal memory of King William be in great esteem by all the Churches of Christ; and among them let us, let our children, and their children's children bear a part, in high praises to the God of tender providence at the remembrance of deliverances and enlargements past; and through the same tender mercies conveyed to us, and we hope to be continued to the end of time, may we be helped to make the best use and improvement of our liberty in all religious zeal for the faith and worship of our Redeemer; in sincere evangelical love to each other; and on all occasions in cheerful acknowledgments of duty to that illustrious family under whose wings it is preserved to us, by the providence of the Most High.
And we are called to own His grace who giveth the everlasting Gospel, and gathereth poor sinners under the sound of it, making our assemblies so numerous as to stand in need of so large a place; and thankful we should be to the same Almighty hand for giving capacity, and a willing mind, to so many of us to contribute cheerfully to the charge. We hope generations to come will bless God for this; and as for us, we must say as David did: "What are we, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." The generous assistance of our friends in London and elsewhere I hope we shall always thankfully acknowledge, and own the bountiful hand of our God therein; and I can never, without being deeply affected, relate or think of the extraordinary kindness of a religious family, descended from one of the godly elders first fixed in this Church of Christ. What things does our God treasure up in his providence! Nor should we forget to be thankful to the Lord, who, through all the work, though attended with many difficulties and some dangers, mercifully preserved all the persons concerned, so that without bruises or wounds they can view their finished work.
A controversy arose during the ministry of Mr. Maurice on the point, "Whether it was the duty of unconverted sinners who heard the Gospel to believe in Jesus Christ." Mr. Maurice was greatly concerned that such a question should arise, and published a small pamphlet, entitled, 'The Modern Question modestly stated.' To this there was a reply published; and then he wrote, 'The Modern Question confirmed and proved,' viz., that the eternal God does by his word make it the duty of poor unconverted sinners, who hear the Gospel preached or published, to believe in Jesus Christ.' This was not printed until after Mr. Maurice's death, for it is said to be "by Matthias Maurice, late pastor to a Church at Rowell, in Northamptonshire, 1739." It has an address to the reader by Mr. Bradbury, of London, who says, "The author of this work was a person whose learning, temper, and piety, made him very dear to me. At his desire I have perused and published these papers. He has in his letters assured me of the great concern this affair gave him, when a question of so much importance to the work of ministers and the duty of mankind came to be a matter of debate. The Church, to whom he was an affectionate pastor, has lain under a reproach which this book, and their desires to have it published, will effectually roll away."
We introduce this work chiefly on account of a statement it contains from the Church. Prefixed to this little volume we find the following, signed by 52 of the brethren of the Church:—
The testimony of the Church of Christ at Rowell, against the pernicious new opinion, at their Meeting, August 31st, 1737.
Whereas of late it has been stated, embraced, and maintained by some, that God does nowhere in the Scripture make it the duty of poor unconverted sinners, who hear the Gospel preached, to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, we, the Church of Christ at Rowell, being greatly concerned that God's revealed will should be so daringly opposed, and earnestly desirous that we, and our children, and all that name the name of Christ, may for ever be delivered from such a pernicious dangerous error, do in the most solemn manner, in the presence of the great God and our Saviour, testify our abhorrence thereof, and declare, that in the strength of Christ we will contend earnestly for the doctrine of faith once delivered to the saints, of which doctrine we look upon this to be a very valuable part—that God does in his word make it the duty of poor unconverted sinners who hear the Gospel preached, to be truly concerned for their souls and believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. The denial of this we look upon to be a denial of the law of God, not to be borne with in an orderly Church, and attended with dangerous consequences against the Gospel and all the life and power of evangelical, practical religion. Wherefore, what God delivered to our fathers, and what our fathers in his fear delivered down to us, we think ourselves bound in conscience to deliver to our children; namely, that God does command unconverted sinners to repent and believe in his Son for everlasting salvation; and may our children deliver this with greater zeal, and with most desirable success, to following generations. Amen.
Mr. Maurice published a volume entitled, 'Faith Encouraged'; 'Faith working by Love—Four Sermons on 1 John iii. 23;' 'Monuments of Mercy; or, Some of the distinguishing Favours of Christ to his Congregational Church at Rowell;' also, a sermon on 'The help of the Holy Spirit in prayer.' But his most interesting and useful work we consider to be, 'Social Religion Exemplified, in several Dialogues, giving an account of the first Settlement of Christianity in the city of Caerludd, and of the administration of the ordinances and discipline of the Gospel in the Church there planted: with the remarkable success with which Christ blessed his own institutions to the recovering of its backsliding members, the satisfaction of those who were under spiritual distresses, and the edification and comfort of the whole Society;—in which many cases of conscience are judiciously answered.' This is a copy of the title-page of the first edition, 1740. It appears that this work came out in separate parts, and that the whole was not published until some time after the death of Mr. Maurice.
There were 134 members of the Church when Mr. Maurice died.