Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For many years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist Methodist movement of George Whitefield.[1]
History
John Marrant (1755–1791), an African American, became an ordained minister with the Connexion. In the 1850s, John Molson built a church for the Connexion group near his brewery in Montreal, but it was poorly attended and soon became used instead as a military barracks.[2]
The Connexion gave strong support to the Calvinistic Methodist movement in Wales in the 18th and early 19th centuries, including the foundation of a theological college at Trefeca in 1760.[3]
Churches
Active
Today the Connexion has 21 congregations in England and some in Sierra Leone. Of the UK churches, seven normally have full-time pastors: Eastbourne, Ely, Goring, Rosedale, St. Ives, Turners Hill and Ebley. Total regular attendance at all churches is approximately 1,000 adults and children.[4]
| Church | Location | Founded | Link | Minister |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bells Yew Green Chapel | Bells Yew Green, Kent | |||
| Bolney Village Chapel | Bolney, West Sussex | [1] | Simon Allaby | |
| Broad Oak Chapel | Broad Oak, Kent | 1867 | ||
| Copthorne Chapel | Copthorne, West Sussex | 1822 | [2] | |
| Cradley Chapel | Cradley, Herefordshire | 1823 | Ken Hart | |
| South Street Free Church | Eastbourne, East Sussex | 1897 | [3] | David Batchelor |
| Ebley Chapel | Ebley, Stroud, Gloucestershire | [4] | ||
| Countess Free Church, Ely | Ely, Cambridgeshire | 1785 | [5] | Karl Relton |
| New Connexions Free Church, Ely | Ely, Cambridgeshire | [6] | Keith Waters | |
| Goring Free Church | Goring-on-Thames, Berkshire | 1788 | [7] | Nigel Gordon-Potts |
| Hailsham Gospel Mission | Hailsham, East Sussex | |||
| St Stephen's Church, Middleton | Middleton, Greater Manchester | |||
| Mortimer West End Chapel | Mortimer West End, Hampshire | [8] | ||
| Rosedale Community Church | Cheshunt, Hertfordshire | [9] | John Green | |
| Sheppey Evangelical Church | Leysdown-on-Sea, Kent | [10] | Joe Gregory | |
| Shoreham Free Church | Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex | [11] | ||
| Zion Community Church St Ives | St Ives, Cornwall | Tim Dennick | ||
| Turners Hill Free Church | Turners Hill, West Sussex | [12] | Geoff Chapman | |
| Ote Hall Chapel | Wivelsfield, East Sussex | |||
| Woodmancote Evangelical Free Church | Woodmancote, Gloucestershire | [13] | Andrew Hiscock | |
| Wormley Free Church | Wormley, Hertfordshire | 1834 | [14] | Ben Quant |
No longer active
Connexion churches were formerly active in:
- Bath, Somerset: founded in 1765, later Trinity United Reformed Church and now the Museum of Bath Architecture
- Bodmin, Cornwall: in January 1880 the congregation bought the "very desirable" property known as Springfield for a minister's residence.[5]
- Brighton, East Sussex, the first of the churches, was founded at North Street in 1761.[6]
- East Grinstead, West Sussex: Zion Chapel founded in 1810, now the West Street Baptist Church
- Fordham, Essex was active in the 19th century.[7]
- Preston, Lancashire, founded before 1826, in Pole Street, is now closed.[8]
- South Stoke, Oxfordshire, founded in 1820,[9] is now a private house.[10]
- Steyning, West Sussex: Jarvis Hall, a Connexion church from 1835 to 1841
- Tyldesley, Greater Manchester, founded in 1789, was known as Tyldesley Top Chapel.
- Worcester, Worcestershire was closed as a chapel by 1970. It is now a concert hall known as Huntingdon Hall.[11]
References
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VIkxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=66UFAAAAIBAJ&dq=bishop-fulford&pg=4431%2C2334187
- ^ The Gospel Coalition Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ "Today's Churches". Countess Of Huntingdons Connexion. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "Bodmin". The Cornishman. No. 81. 29 January 1880.
- ^ "North Street: The Countess of Huntingdon's Church, by Jennifer Drury". 24 August 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ "St Mark, Preston- Lady Huntingdons Connexion". genuki.org.uk. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). Oxfordshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 774. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.
- ^ "Oxfordshire Churches & Chapels website: South Stoke". Oxfordshirechurches.info. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.worcesterlive.co.uk/about-us.asp Huntingdon Hall, part of Worcester Live charitable trust
External links
- Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion – official website
- Countess of Huntingdon Connexion History – South Street Free Evangelical Church
- New Connexions– New Connexions Group of Churches
- G.W. Kirby (1972), The Elect Lady
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