"And His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,
to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."
Ephesians Ch.4 vs 11 - 13
Birches Green Evangelical Free Church is an independent (non-denominational) church of the Evangelical tradition, a movement that traces its history and roots back to the Great Evangelical Awakening of the eighteenth century, when a great spiritual transformation took place throughout Great Britain, as restoration, revival, and reform swept through entire communities and districts.
Two greatly anointed and inspired brothers by the name of John and Charles Wesley, together wth a number of other prominent godly preachers such as George Whitefield took to the open air to preach the true gospel of salvation to the many thousands of hitherto unreached and unsaved souls that the established state church had for generations, essentially ignored and bypassed.
This 'Great Awakening', as it came to be known, proved to be the dawn and re-emergance of the true spiritual light that had begun to shine prominently during the English Reformation some two hundred years before, and as it once again began to sweep through the land, the true teachings, traditions and practices of Christianity began to re-emerge. Thousands of new chapels and meeting houses were built and established as many of the new converts from all backgrounds and classes of society were introduced to a new-founded acceptance and inclusion into the true unity of the body of Christ. Under the wise spiritual guidance of the reformers, they devoted themselves to the true Biblical teachings and practices of holiness, righteousness and truth that had been lost and relegated into obscurity by the cold and formal religious scruples of the established state churches of that time.
The preaching and teaching were passionate and stirring, as was the re-introduction of the foundational precepts of true praise and worship which went far beyond the cold and ritualistic formalities of canticles and chants that characterised many amongst the established hierarchy of state churches. The evangelical reformation of Hymn singing had essentially begun decades before, with such inspired men as Isaac Watts, who proved to be one of the most prominent Hymn Writers at that time. Isaac Watts helped to revive and inspire many of the true tenets and aspects of praise and worship as portrayed in the Biblical Book of Psalms. The Psalms demonstrated quite clearly that true adoration and praise was not only deeply heart-felt and devotional, but could also be joyful and spontaneous, openly expressive and jubilant. The Psalms incorporated the full range of human emotions and depths of gratitude and appreciation, full of open expressions of thanksgiving and delight in the Lord. True Hymn singing was genuinely rooted in the full depth and experience of a true conversion and salvation in the grace of Christ.
Here at Birches Green we do our best to follow and implement all of the true, tried and tested evangelical traditions, teachings, and practices advocated by John and Charles Wesley and the many other reformers, albeit, in a more modern setting. We focus on good, sound preaching and teaching that promotes true holiness, godliness, and righteousness before a holy and righteous God. In every aspect of our Services we seek to truly honour and glorify God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. Our times of worship are devotional and endearing, joyful and expressive, full of thanksgiving, adoration, and praise. At the same time we regard highly the precepts of disicpline and respect; we promote and encourage the true fear and reverence of the Lord over and above the so called, 'familiarity' witht the Lord that is so often witnessed in certain modern-day movements and churches.
With so many churches in the local district, it can be difficult for any who may be searching for a place of worship to attend, to decide what church to attend. Whilst many will play safe and attach themselves to a denominational church (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, U R C, Congregational, to name just a few), churches that they have perhaps grown up in, or otherwise been acquainted within the past, and whilst loyalty can be a noble virtue, if it is erroneous to any extent it can prove to be futile or detrimental.
It can in fact be beneficial to broaden one’s knowledge and experience by attending an alternative church in order to experience the full scope and different formats of differing Christian ministries. After all, Christ died to establish one universal church, and restricting one’s self to a set church or singular denomination however appealing or satisfactory it might appear to be, may well prove to hamper and restrict any real growth or expansion of an individual's knowledge, awareness, and understanding of the full extent, width, depth and scope of the Christian faith as it was first delivered by Christ and his chosen apostles.
The mandate given by Christ was for his chosen agents to make disicples of all nations and not just believers or followers.
We should add here that even amongst the many registered Evangelical Churches of today there is a great variation and not all are true to the well-established traditions of Evangelicalism. Many Evangelical churches will be found to be distinctly passive and spiritually lukewarm and will reject certain principles that were firmly established by John and Charles Wesely, and the subsequent pioneers of the Holiness movement. Surprisingly there are Evangelical churches that pour scorn upon the scriptural precepts and practices of spontaneous praise and worship, the lifting of hands, and making merry before the Lord. There are those that scoff at the principles of freedom in the Spirit - that is, they quench and grieve the Holy Spirit as He seeks to move and to minister amongst the churches and the congregations. They frown upon the gifts of the Spirit and anything else that they cannot rationally explain or account for according to their human and religious mindsets. They reject the concepts of the five-fold ministry and the many outpourings of the Holy Spirit that have taken place throughout recent history. And so sadly, not every professing Evangelical church is evangelical in the truer sense of the word or meaning. This is why we have included this section on Evangelical Christianity so that with just a little bit of further study and investigation, one can be better placed to discern rightly between the different churches that all claim to be following the true Biblical and rightful traditions and practices of Evangelical Christianity.
WHAT IS EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY?
Evangelical Pioneers of the Eighteenth Century
Evangelical Pioneers of the Nineteenth Century
Evangelical / Pentecostal Pioneers of the Nineteenth Century *
*Note: Early Pentecostalism had its roots in the Holiness sectors of Evangelical Christianity
At the turn of the Eighteenth Century the Anglican Church was the most prominent Church Establishment in England, and its influence spread throughout the land, although it was a far cry from the practical and expressive Christianity that Christ himself advocated and which the early apostles practiced and preached. In fact, the Church of England, as it was and still is known, was considered by certain visionaries and practitioners of the Christian Faith, to be far too formal and rigid, steeped in ceremonial regulations and legislation, and not too dissimilar from the Catholic Church it had displaced during the English Reformation under the reign of Henry VIII.
Henry’s main motive in breaking away from the control of the Pope and the universal Catholic Church had in the main, been to facilitate his divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon so that he could marry his second chosen wife, Anne Boleyn. However, at heart, Henry was still loyal to the many Catholic rituals and customs that he had grown up and the reformation that followed in his wake whilst serving to establish the Church of England was only reformed to a certain degree. Although there were those that advocated much more radical reforms that would have demonstrated a complete break from the erroneous traditions and superstitions of Rome that had for so long pervaded the church, and a return to the true precepts of first-century Biblical Christianity, the status quo of the entire English realm, Catholic and Protestant, had to be maintained and therefore the reformation was never as comprehensive as it should have been.
During the following two centuries various attempts were made at further reforms. The problem was though, that just like its Catholic predecessors, the Authorities within the Church of England resented any who did not conform and comply with their established rules, standards and expectations. Such individuals were regarded as ‘Dissenters’ and many were duly persecuted as heretics, and ‘barred’ from the church.
However, by the turn of the seventeenth century, a notable poet and hymn writer by the name of Isaac Watts began composing new hymns that were passionate, vibrant, and meaningful, and which appeared to genuinely represent the true values, joys, and emotions of the Christian life. Worship within the established church had up until then, been very formal and rigid consisting mainly of chants and canticles that were sombre in tone, solemn in presentation, and a far cry from the joy and delight found in the Psalms of the Bible.
In due course, another gifted Hymnist rose to prominence. His name was Charles Wesley who, together with his brother John Wesley, George Whitefield, and a number of other prominent churchmen, ushered in what we know today as the Great Evangelical Awakening.
Many of the reformers who rose to prominence during this great Evangelical Awakening, had been born and raised in church circles for years, but as many of them underwent a closer and deeper searching and seeking, and subsequent transformation in their lives, (the experience we know today as being ‘Born Anew’), they went forth renewed in spiritual strength and vigour and just like the twelve Apostles who on the Day of Pentecost they were filled with the Spirit, and went out into the highways and byways fervently and passionately preaching the Gospel of God’s Love and Salvation to all classes of society, to the poor, the underprivileged, and those who were looked down upon and disregarded as social outcasts and reprobates. This then, was the great awakening of the Christian Faith!
The term, ‘Evangelical’ denotes the open and expressive witness and proclamation of the Gospel. Jesus ascribed those who were true followers as ‘lamps that were to be put on a lampstand that would shine forth their light for all around to see. Christianity was never meant to be closed and so personal that it was to be kept sealed and hidden. John Wesley following the exhortation of George Whitefield took to the open air and began preaching God’s gift of Salvation to the masses. He was frowned upon by the established church and much criticised for simply doing what Christ and His Apostles had done centuries before. As the churches began to grow and multiply, eventually many within the Church of England who had formerly been so resistant and antagonistic to this form of ministry relented and in time John Wesley was given the due respect and admiration that he had so rightly deserved as a true minister of Christianity.
John Wesley and many other reformers had been inspired by the earlier pioneers of the English and European Reformation who had advocated a real return to the true precepts of Biblical Christianity. One early reformer who is so often forgotten about today was Thomas a Kempis and it was his written Treatise, ‘The Imitation of Christ’ that John Wesley described as ‘The best summary of the Christian Faith that I have ever read’.
The simple, yet profound teachings of Thomas a Kempis form many of the foundational teachings of the true Evangelical Christianity that John Wesley himself promoted, values such as meekness, honesty and humility, true godliness and holiness, and a full and uncompromised Sanctification and Consecration unto Christ. Thomas a Kempis who grew up and was educated in the midst of the Catholic Monastic System, saw beyond the hierarchal pomp and traditions of the system and searched for the deeper and more intimate and meaningful aspects of the Christian Life as taught within the Bible. His Book was one of the most widely distributed in the decades leading up to the Reformation and proved to be one of the great inspirations helped to bring it about.
Evangelical Christianity can be found all over the world and in the United States makes up by far the majority of the practising Christian sector. Many have become denominational or become affiliated into societies. When John Wesley established the society of churches known as Methodists, it was only a matter of time before many began to lose sight of the visions and teachings that John Wesley had openly advocated. The personal experience of the new birth and the process of regeneration were soon obscured by tradition and method, but yet there were those who held fast to the precepts and principles that served to bring about the Great Evangelical Awakening. Wesleyan Holiness Churches began to spring up, and others, all seeking to preserve the true tenets of Christianity. These continual waves of regeneration kept alive the vision, the fervour and the passion of a Christian Church that earnestly sought to maintain the true teachings and traditions of the Bible. Many of the best known Pentecostal pioneers had their inspiration and roots in the Evangelical Christianity of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and those at the heart of the Great Azusa Revival of 1906 in Los Angeles, had developed their Christian teaching and values through the holiness teachings of John Wesley and others. They all underwent marvellous transformations as the Spirit of God descended upon their lives and brought about the much needed revivals and reforms to them personally and then to society as a whole. Let us close with two notable quotes of two such conversions;
‘I felt my heart strangely warmed’.
'The blazing light of regeneration broke in upon my soul!’