Mentors and movements
“No evangelical Anglican in the early nineteenth century exercised a greater strategic influence on the course of the British missionary movement than did Charles Simeon of Cambridge.” Bobby Clinton
He was the pastor of the Anglican church at Cambridge for 50 years. When he began in 1782 there were only a dozen evangelical ministers left in the Church of England. When he finished 54 years later, one in three Anglican churches were led by evangelicals. The vast majority of them were men influenced by Simeon in Cambridge. Many of them were converted through him.
His strategey was simple. He formed relationships with students via a series of concentric circles depending on their degree of responsiveness.
Simeon invested more informal time in those who responded to his input. He demonstrated the principle that the more informal is the instruction medium, the deeper the impact of values in life.
Out of his interaction with students came Simeon’s recommendations for candidates for the mission field and pastorate.
Simeon recruited evangelical students to Cambridge and found parishes for them. He helped place evangelicals in growing population centres and centres of influence.
Behind his public ministry was a devotional life of rare power. He rose early each morning to study the Scriptures, and often could be seen pacing the roof above his rooms as he prayed for friends and enemies.
His mentoring affected hundreds of emerging leaders who became church leaders and missionaries.
I wouldn’t mind a legacy like that.
Digging deeper
Robert Clinton, Focused Lives-Comparative Studies of Effective Leaders Who Finished Well.
“A Cambridge movement; with a foreword by the Lord Bishop of Liverpool” (John Charles Pollock)
