This book traces the concern of evangelical Baptist ministers at the low spiritual state and falling numbers attending Baptist churches in Britain in 1938. At this time, some of the leaders of the Baptist Union (BU) Council were also seeking to embrace ecumenism, modernism and centralisation of church government.
Theo Bamber, minister of Rye Lane Baptist Church Peckham, and Geoffrey King of East London Tabernacle were instrumental in the formation of the Baptist Revival Fellowship (BRF). Bamber would keep members informed by a quarterly BRF Bulletin, and annual conferences would take place with an emphasis on revival in the early years. Membership grew and at its highest was eleven hundred.
Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones also influenced many younger, conservative evangelical Baptist ministers, hence the photo on the front cover. These young men attended the Westminster Fellowship where they had a greater understanding of the doctrines of grace.
Eventually, many members of the BRF and their churches were compelled to withdraw from the BU in 1971 when no disciplinary action was taken by the BU Council against Rev. Michael Taylor, the Principal of the Northern College, when he denied the Deity of Christ in his address at the Annual Meeting. The text of this address is Appendix eight. And so the BRF ceased in 1972.
This book has been meticulously researched and documented and is a valuable historical account of events. The serious reader will be greatly edified at the author’s conclusions.
But the book doesn’t just deal with history. It is a challenge for us to think afresh of the need for revival. The Evangelical Movement of Wales has held prayer meetings for years seeking God to send his Spirit in power. These prayer meetings still take place twice a year, but very few attend and younger pastors seem reluctant to give time to these meetings. It would be wonderful if as a result of this book, people would be challenged to seek God earnestly for an outpouring of his Spirit.
