Thus this Church has been preserved to the present time, through changing circumstances and many difficulties; yet the name of the Redeemer is still honoured among them, and vital Christianity promoted.
CHAPTER XIV.
MEMORIALS OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH AT YARDLEY HASTINGS.
The name of this village is familiar to many of the lovers of poetry from Cowper's celebrated lines on "Yardley Oak," standing in "Yardley Chase," about a mile and a half from the village.
A stranger paying a visit to Yardley might have his attention excited by the appearance of a large and beautiful stone building, as an Independent Chapel, with a respectable minister's house on the south side of the Chapel, and spacious school-rooms on the north. The whole of the buildings, standing on an elevation and being enclosed by a wall and ornamental iron railing, add much to the appearance of the village.
It would be highly gratifying to any friend to Dissenting Churches to be able to tell from what small beginnings this rose, who commenced an Independent interest here, what difficulties were overcome, what trials were borne, and with what success the efforts were crowned. But in these respects disappointment meets us. Those who first laboured here, and laid the foundation of this Church, were more anxious, we presume, to have their services approved and recorded on high, than to secure a record of them to be handed down to their successors in the Church below. We think it would have been wiser if they had left us some written memorials of the labours in which they engaged, and of the blessing that attended them, not for our gratification merely, but for our encouragement and improvement.
The earliest trust deed of a Meeting House at Yardley is dated 1719, and it speaks of the building as having been recently erected. The first notice that we have been able to find of a stated minister in this place occurs in the certificate of Doddridge's ordination at Northampton, in 1730. One of the signatures to that document is Mr. J. Drake, of Yardley. The same name occurs in a certificate which we have seen, preserved in the handwriting of Doddridge, of the ordination of the Rev. W. Hextal, at Creaton, in 1738. Mr. Drake was also present at the ordination of Mr. Haywood, of Potterspury, in the year 1740, and he also officiated in the ordination service and signed the certificate of the late Rev. W. Bull, of Newport, in October, 1766. Thus we learn that he was for a considerable number of years minister of this place. It was also stated by the late Mr. Bull, that during the latter years of his life he resided at Olney, was pastor of the Independent Church there, and was accustomed to preach one part of the Sabbath at Yardley, and the other part at Olney.
About the year 1782, the Church at Yardley, being destitute of a minister, requested Mr. Thomas Raban, of Olney, to render them his assistance. After supplying them with acceptance for some time, he was invited to become their pastor, and was ordained in 1783. There are some interesting particulars preserved of the character and labours of Mr. Raban, which we shall briefly present to the reader. He was born at Turvey, in the county of Bedford—the village that was for years distinguished by the ministry of Legh Richmond, and by the results of his ministry leading to the formation of an Independent Church in that place. Mr. Raban was apprenticed at Olney, where he first heard the truths of the Gospel from Mr. Moses Brown, author of 'Sunday Thoughts,' then the vicar of Olney. When about ten years of age, he was deeply convinced of sin, and guided to the Saviour of sinners. He became a stated hearer and an affectionate friend of Mr. Brown's, and joined in communion with the Church. He had occasional opportunities of hearing Mr. Whitefield, and to his dying day he retained the savour of the truths which that eminent servant of Christ delivered. Speaking of Mr. Whitefield, he would say, "I once had the honour of having him hang on my arm; and, to be sure, I thought myself the happiest of men:" at another time—"I attended him as a guide to a village where he was going to preach, to my unspeakable gratification." He sometimes also attended Mr. Hervey's ministry, and would speak of his sermons with renewed satisfaction and delight to the end of his life. About the year 1778, in conjunction with an intimate friend, he began to exhort at prayer-meetings attended by members of the establishment. They persevered in this practice for some time solely with the view of being serviceable to their fellow Christians in that neighbourhood; though the Lord, by this step, was preparing them for spheres of usefulness in another direction, and the great Bishop of Souls soon found employment for both of them. This friend of Mr. Raban's was Mr. Perry, who afterwards became minister at Wollaston.