Thursday, August 29, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

 

It is the 29th of August 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Let’s talk about a word. A word that has meant a lot, and too much, and not enough, and so much that it seems to have lost its meaning. And this word is of no small significance for church history: “evangelical.”  

The “Evangelion” is Greek for “Gospel” or “good news,” and an evangelical is a “gospeller” or “good news-er”. In the early days of the Reformation, it was a term used by the Reformers themselves- they claimed to be following the ways of the “first evangelicals”- the early church.

Of course, today the term is fraught and loaded with social and political baggage. The term, revived by Billy Graham and the Christianity Today set in the 1950s and 60s, was once a badge of pride (and some derision) in 18th century England.

The English “evangelicals” of the 1700s were those within the Anglican Church who sought revival from what they believed to be the rigidity of the English hierarchy- seeing in them a recapitulation of the Catholic Church opposed by Luther.

They would become synonymous with the Methodists in England before they were a distinct group outside of the church of England. You might remember that it was the Wesley brothers and others who earned the moniker “methodist” for their “methodical” approach to the Christian life. Eventually, separate from the   Anglican Church, the Methodists would become one of the dominant Protestant denominations of the modern era. So, it’s fair to ask- what allowed this movement to flourish when others floundered? What did these Evangelicals have that others didn’t?

A queen.

The Queen of the Methodists, Selena Hastings—not a literal queen but a literal Countess—the Countess of Huntington. It could be argued that without her, the movement called both evangelical and Methodist wouldn’t have existed and flourished like it did.

She was born Selena Shirley in England in 1707. She was the daughter of an Earl before she became a countess and claimed she was thankful for the “M” in 1 Corinthians 1—that is, that “not Many were of noble birth”—noting Paul didn’t say “not any,” and thus she wasn’t disqualified.

In 1728, she married Theophilus Hastings, the 9th earl of Huntington- the two would have seven children in 10 years, but only one survived her.

She and Theophilus were members of the Anglican Church but in 1739 Selina’s heart was stored by the new preaching coming from the likes of John Wesley and George Whitefield. That year she would join a Methodist house meeting in London and upon her husband’s death in 1746 she would devote herself to the growth of the Methodist movement.

She used her considerable wealth to build chapels where she could then employ preachers- this was a way for her to support the so-called “evangelicals” in the Anglican Church- those stressing conversion, the centrality of the gospel, and a distrust of traditions and formalities.

Her life would become something of a “who’s who,” not only assisting the early Methodists but also social causes like Thomas Coram’s Foundlings Hospital and various charities in the New World from her connections- primarily George Whitefield, who would become a celebrity preacher in the colonies. 

Her support for Whitefield came after a split with the Wesleys. The “Methodist” movement, while still in the Anglican communion, was backed by both Calvinists and Arminians (that is, the two warring camps in the Reformed world when it comes to “who does what” in salvation).  

She became an ardent Calvinist and broke with the Wesleys over their Arminian positions (that is, they prioritized the will of the sinner over the eternal decrees of God).  

The Anglicans and the English colleges soon banned any “Methodists” from taking holy orders, and so, on the 29th of August in 1768, she saw the opening of the Trevecca College in Wales for Methodist ministers. It was modeled after the Moravians under Count Zinzendorf—another Evangelical group financed by landed wealth.

The college eventually moved to Cambridge and merged with Westminster College. Hastings was also known for her “connexions”—loose affiliations of like-minded churches within larger denominations. This is where the early Methodists flourished before forming their own church. The “connexion” still exists today, with some 20 churches affiliated.

The “Queen of the Methodists,” Selena Hastings, served as de-facto principal of the college that opened on this day in 1768 and is rightly placed amongst the great evangelical philanthropists. She would die in 1791; born in 1707, she saw most of that century, dying at the age of 83.

  

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary and the opening to the Epistle of James:

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

  

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 29th of August 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man with Good News from the pulpit and in your cup at gillespie.coffee. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who always laughs at “connexion,” spelled in this context with an “X”- like a 90s youth group- I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.