Peter J. Morden is Principal of Bristol Baptist College, England, and the author of two book length studies of Fuller and his context, including The Life and Thought of Andrew Fuller (1754–1815) (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2015).
Jonathan Woods is a Research Associate at the University of St Andrews, Scotland.*
* Morden has written the article and the notes on the text of Fuller’s address; Woods has provided the translation from the shorthand.
Introduction
Andrew Fuller (1754–1815) was one of the foremost English Baptist ministers of his generation.[1] Although he never worked in the academy, spending the whole of his ministerial career in local church pastorates, he was a published theologian of significant standing and influence. His seminal Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation first appeared in 1785 and had an impact that was both broad and deep.[2] Fuller’s denomination, the Particular Baptists, had been declining numerically throughout the first half of the eighteenth century.[3] However, the warm-hearted, invitational Calvinism which characterised the Gospel Worthy provided the theological underpinning for a profound revitalisation of their fortunes, a revitalisation which coincided with the years of Fuller’s active ministry. Existing churches grew, new churches were planted, and many new initiatives were pioneered.[4] Important waymarkers in this remarkable story of revival and renewal were the “Call to Prayer” of 1784, with its stress on focused intercession for the worldwide spread of the gospel, and the establishment of the Baptist Missionary Society in 1792, a development which enabled the denomination to give practical expression to their prayers. Fuller was intimately involved in both ventures; indeed, he was the founding secretary of the BMS, a role he would diligently fulfill until his death. The new Mission Society became a model for many others and a fresh wave of cross-cultural mission work ensued.[5] Through the BMS, Fuller and the English Particular Baptists were at the forefront of a missional movement which would have profound global implications.
Fuller’s importance as a pathbreaking theologian and missionary statesman is increasingly recognised and studies of different dimensions of ministry abound.[6] Even so, until recently, Fuller scholarship has been based solely on his published printed work and the longhand autograph manuscripts—for example, letters and a volume of his diary—deposited in various archives, especially those at the Angus Library, Regent’s Park College, Oxford, and Bristol Baptist College. This considerable body of material constitutes a rich resource which is being well mined by researchers. However, Fuller also made copious notes in his own style of shorthand, and attempts to decipher these have, until recently, been unsuccessful. As an example of this material, there are five closely written books of his shorthand sermon outlines extant, all composed by Fuller himself. The preacher took these outlines into the pulpit and preached from them. His five books were later bound into one volume by his son, Andrew Gunton Fuller, and this is held in the Bristol archive.[7] The importance of these books has long been recognised and the inability to understand them acknowledged as a serious lack. The breakthrough was achieved by Jonathan Woods and Stephen Holmes of St Andrew’s University, Scotland, who worked with the Bristol manuscripts and a key to the shorthand likely written by Gunton Fuller and inserted in the volume. After some painstaking work they were able to understand Fuller’s shorthand method. Transcriptions and translations of two important sermons have already been published, namely the farewell messages he preached in 1782 at the conclusion of his pastorate at Soham, Cambridgeshire.[8] The understanding of how the shorthand operates has been generously shared by Dr. Woods and further translation work and analysis has begun involving researchers at both Bristol Baptist College and Gateway Seminary. This is an important moment in the development of Fuller studies.
The five books contain notes for messages which would have been preached in the course of Fuller’s pastorates, firstly at Soham and then, from 1782, at Kettering, Northamptonshire (the sermons in the five books are rarely dated, but the first book begins in 1778 and the outlines continue to at least 1784, probably beyond). The messages appear to be mostly from his regular Sunday ministry, but there is material that relates to other occasions as well. This paper offers a translation, supplied by Jonathan Woods, of some notes on “the managing of evening meetings” which are more detailed than many of the other outlines.[9] Whilst they are not dated, their place in the volume and internal evidence from the notes themselves indicates they form the basis of a message given at one of the Monday night prayer meetings that Fuller began in Kettering in 1784.[10] The establishment of some of these meetings was a response to the 1784 Prayer Call that Fuller himself had been instrumental in giving. But it appears there were other Monday evening meetings at Kettering at which the prayer offered was more wide-ranging. There are references to both types of Monday gathering in Fuller’s diary. So, on 6 December 1784 he recorded that on one of these occasions they had had an “affecting meeting of prayer” for the “revival of real religion” with much “freedom to God in prayer.”[11] On 7 March 1785 he wrote that he personally “enjoyed Divine assistance at the monthly prayer meeting, in speaking on continuing in prayer, and in going to prayer, though I felt wretchedly cold before I began.”[12] On 2 May 1785 he felt “more than ordinarily drawn out in prayer for the revival of religion” as well as being “overcome” on hearing one of his deacons, Beeby Wallis, pray for his pastor.[13] These Monday evening meetings had become an important feature of life at the Kettering church, one to which Fuller himself was personally committed.
Whilst most time on these Mondays was given over to extempore prayer, there was sometimes sung worship, the sharing of testimony, and on occasion, as already noted, the pastor would bring a short message to encourage his church forward in prayer.[14] “On the managing of evening meetings” appears to be notes for one of these short, informal addresses (see the reference to “our religious Services [sic.] particularly our Monday night meetings” in the text that follows). The absence of any explicit mention of prayer for revival makes it likely this talk was given at one of the more general Monday gatherings, although it is impossible to say for certain. The notes for the address are transcribed in full. They formed an important part of the Jonathan Edwards Centre lecture I was privileged to give at Gateway Seminary in 2024. They are published here for the first time. In engaging with them, the reader should be aware these are notes: the preacher would surely have expanded on points made when he delivered the message. Further, they were intended for personal use and not for publication, therefore they are not polished. Fuller’s underlinings are retained, together with his rather random capitalization, original punctuation, contractions, and—to our eyes—unusual spellings of some of the words he inserted into the text in longhand. On the very rare occasions when there is doubt as to the word used this is indicated in square brackets. I have added a number of footnotes which hopefully help illuminate the text.
On the Managing of Evening Meetings
1 Corinthians 14:26. Every religious service will be lost labour else we have an end in view. Unless this end be good worse than lost labour offensive to God and hurtful to us. Next to the glory of God one grand end we should keep in view is our own and others edification or holding each other up in allusion [?] to an edifice — Farther as all ends are accompanied by means[15] it behooves us to take heed that we use such means as tend to the end we aim to – I have been thinking my brethren a little concerning the management of our religious Services particularly our Monday night meetings. They are meetings which I heartily and highly approve, And what if I were for once to drop a few free hints about the conduct of them and all such opportunities in such a way as tends to godly edifying? I hope I need make no apology for so doing as I have this persuasion that you will all suffer the word of exhortation. I shall only take up these 2 exercises which make the chief part of these opportunities Prayer and the relating of our Experiences. And First concerning Prayer. Social Prayer is a [either ‘lovely’ or comely’] Exercise.[16] Many Instances of it in Scripture especially in the New Testament and of its good Effects Acts 1:14. – 12:5. Paul & Silas.[17] – And if conducted in a spiritual, edifying way tends as much as any ordinances to cultivate Christian love and is that whereby we taste each other’s spirits – but we must not forget this end if we do it may become hurtful to the Interests of Religion more than helpful –– The chief things necessary are I think these 2 viz that a due regard be had to time, and that that time that is taken up be upon things tending to edification. I say time, for the mind of man even the best of men is soon weary unless something very excellent to atone but we are not to suppose this in general of our own prayers therefore not so. I have known many persons go to prayer and in the forepart were edifying but by a tedious Circuit, or by endless repetitions, have tired the patience of people and undid the good already done
It may be thought a limiting the spirit of God, but perhaps tis only a limiting our own spirits – Our Lord spake against Matthew 6.[18] One of the longest was Solomon’s and that not above ¼ of an hour. [19] Christ prayd all night but that in Secret[20] – if we have anything very pressing upon our spirits go into thy closet…I said it was only limiting our own spirits. Philippians 2. “own things” [21] …but we must as well watch ourselves that that time be taken up to edification – allow me then to give a few advices here –
Use no needless Repetitions Not but that if a matter lie peculiarly upon the heart it may be repeated Christ did so but vain repetitions[22]
Dwell not upon things which can concern you merely as an Individual your case may be the case of others such as to mourn under guilt – [unclear; dul.s] etc. but to bring particular cases which concern only yourselves looks like a way of telling people of em[23]
Say not everything that can be said about other things. Those people spin out time in praying for wife and children, king and Queen, Church and State and everything they can think of. All good in their place but the place for some of them should be the closet, others the chimney corner, I once heard a minister pray for his wife in your pulpit at a public Association till the Sweat trickled down his face plentifully – I suppose a very light attention to edification would have reserved that for his chimney corner Mr. [Mabbot?] [24]
[page 132] [top of page says ‘how great that darkness’] Don’t reduce Prayer into preaching not but that we may use scriptural expressions. That’s good and sometimes a word explanatory may fail but to leap all about the Scripture from Moses to Malachi from Judges to Jude and so on is quite unedifying Once more
Beware lest under the Colour of speaking to God our end is to gratify some selfish inclination in speaking to men As when a person has had a little applause and wants everybody should know it – and says in prayer “Lord thy people declare their approbation of me but I reply to em don’t ascribe it to me but to the Lord.” Bernard. [25] Pharisee God I thank thee etc. [Luke 18:11] – this a dreadful mocking of God! – Or as when a person whose gifts are weak and broken imagines himself slighted and he goes and says “Lord, tis not high fine words that pleases thee but thou lookest at the heart. Some can come before thee with words at will but I can’t, but Lord thou lookest at the heart” etc.[26] Such a prayer as this may seem to be a speaking highly of God but in reality tis only meant as a reflection on the people. Such commonly disclaim all Complaisance and yet their prayers are made upon Compliments though awkward ones – on God for being better than his people – and on themselves for the goodness of their hearts. This not to edification
Second. Concerning relating our exercises and experiences this good Malachi 3:16. Forsake not the etc. [Hebrews 10:25] The edifying tendences of this lies in its being a communication of Sentiments and feelings – not only desirable to your minister to hear the effect of his labours, but tis edifying
It is of an edifying tendency to drop now and then a suitable observation respecting our walk with God – It is supposed that experience teaches wisdom By Experience we know more of God, more of ourselves, more of Sin, more of Satan and his devices Now then as philosophers who live a private life keep making Experiments when they find out anything that may be of benefit to Society they communicate it so we. –
To communicate our doubts sorrows Joys and Spirituality – the last may stimulate, Joys may animate, Sorrows excite prayer and Sympathies and so love.
But in order to these ends being answered in this also regard should be had to time. If ½ or ¾ of an hour is set apart for 10 or 12 persons they must all consider if they would give place to others as well as themselves that not above 3 or 4 minutes should be occupied by anyone unless on having something extraordinary to relate. – We should try and select that from our exercises that may be of the most use
Suffer me to add that an extreme low and slow way of speaking should be avoided low can’t be heard by some therefore can’t edify and slow spends time after nothing and has such an effect On people as a narrow mouthed bottle on a thirsty man. – These are free things and what would not be fit to say anywhere, nor here could I not depend upon your candor – But Let me intreat that none may be discouraged by any of these things from praying or speaking at all that’s not the design, only that we may endeavour to conduct things so as to edify. – I shall think if anything of that, you are offended and as such can’t bear to be advised I need not add surely that many and most of these things I have seen in the course of my life not among you chiefly but elsewhere.
Initial Reflections
A more comprehensive analysis of these and other sermon notes in the Bristol volume is likely to open up a wide variety of new perspectives on Fuller, his ministry, and late eighteenth-century English Particular Baptist life. The notes for “On the managing of Evening meetings” show us a side to the Kettering pastor rarely seen. He speaks informally and uses humour, for instance in the analogy that slowly spoken prayers are akin to a “thirsty man” having to drink through a “narrow mouthed bottle,” and in the story of Mabbott’s prayers for his wife. By contrast to these light-hearted remarks, his confessional diary is full of introspective soul searching in the Puritan style, and the extant letters, for example to missionaries, are rarely as informal as this in tone. It appears Fuller was especially relaxed as he shared with what may have been a small and intimate gathering of people he knew well and trusted. To conclude, I offer two initial reflections on this freshly translated material.
Puritan and Evangelical
Firstly, these notes indicate Fuller’s own deep commitment to prayer in the Puritan and evangelical traditions. The assumed prayer life of the faithful believer is made up of three strands: prayer in the “closet,” that is private prayer (cf. Matthew 6:6 [AV]); prayer in the “chimney corner,” namely family prayer;[27] and “social prayer,” when Christians come together to pray, for instance, in a meeting like the one Fuller is addressing. These three strands weave together to make up a strong, vibrant prayer life. The first two emphases—a daily, private time of devotion and regular family prayer—are both typically Puritan.[28] These Puritan habits had been carried over into English Particular Baptist life which had its roots firmly in the English Puritan tradition. Therefore the patterns of prayer previously practiced by the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century “godly” continued to shape the devotional lives of Fuller and his congregation.
However, gatherings for corporate prayer apart from Sunday worship were less typically Puritan; indeed, they have been described as “innovative” in the context of the eighteenth century.[29] The impetus for such meetings, certainly when prayer for worldwide revival was the explicit focus, had come to the Particular Baptists via the influence of transatlantic evangelicalism, especially through a treatise by the New England Minister and theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703–58). The short title of Edwards’s work was the Humble Attempt.[30] In this treatise, the New England pastor advocated for the establishment of prayer meetings specifically to intercede for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the rapid extension of God’s Kingdom around the world. Edwards’s appeal was grounded in the movement to promote a “Concert of Prayer” for revival which had begun in the 1740s and subsequently criss-crossed the Atlantic.[31] In many ways, the Humble Attempt was a quintessentially evangelical tract although it had little impact when originally published in 1747/48. It carried a recommendatory preface by five other New England clergy that George Marsden describes, not unfairly, as “tepid,” and it achieved only modest sales.[32] Unsurprisingly, given its lukewarm reception, it had decidedly limited success in its avowed aim of promoting the prayer concert.[33] By 1784, the work was little known on either side of the Atlantic and the Prayer Concert had essentially fizzled out. However, when Fuller and his fellow Particular Baptists John Ryland Jr. (1753–1825) and John Sutcliff (1752–1814) read the tract in April 1784, they were deeply impressed and quickly determined to establish a Concert of Prayer of their own. After their appeal went out to the churches by means of an Association gathering and a printed tract, meetings sprang up and considerable momentum began to build.[34] Edwards’s argument was now being heeded and bearing fruit. These meetings were thoroughly evangelical both in origin and character: biblical, practical and—above all—missional. Thus, the Monday night gatherings at Kettering should be seen as part of a wider movement, one that was located firmly in the larger context of the anglophone Evangelical Revival.
Practical and Humble
Secondly, Fuller’s instructions on the conduct of the Monday evening meetings are—certainly for this reader—striking for their practical, “homely” detail. There is an emphasis on the importance of “edification” (the word occurs five times in the text, with similar words and emphases abounding). Those who lead in spoken prayer are to be aware of their corporate setting, and they are to bring others into God’s presence by praying in a way that “edifies.” The five so-called “advices” Fuller shares with his hearers all relate to this central theme. People are to avoid “needless” and “vain repetitions”; intensely personal prayers are better left for the “closet” or “chimney corner”; praying exhaustively, for “wife and children, king and Queen, Church and State” is wearying and to be avoided; prayer used as a cover for preaching to others or for self-aggrandisement after the manner of the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 is to be shunned. In further comments which relate not only to prayer but also to the sharing of experiences he asks people to avoid “low” and “slow” ways of speaking. In other words, speak up so you can be heard and speak at a reasonable pace. The pithy instructions are practical rather than theological, simple rather than profound.
These “advices” prompt a final reflection that is both pastoral and missional, as well as being deeply personal, offered by someone who is first and foremost a disciple of Jesus Christ and a pastor. Those of us who study this period are used to dealing with big themes of theology and missiology, as well as noting the global significance of Fuller’s ministry and the wider impact of the revival of English Particular Baptist life. The prayer which flowed in the 1780s is recognised as an important driver for the far-reaching missional initiatives which followed. Through Fuller’s personal notes we are probably taken closer to the heart of one of these crucial meetings than we have ever been. What strikes me, as someone who has studied Fuller since the mid-1990s, is how homespun and “ordinary” Fuller’s instructions were. There is biblical reflection and encouragement, but it is straightforward and the Kettering pastor clearly believed he was speaking to people who needed reminding not to mumble or ramble in prayer, and who brought to corporate prayer all of the struggles we might have ourselves. This is not a gathering of “spiritual super saints,” but of people who would have been conscious of their own weakness but had still made the commitment to come together to pray. God used their prayers and he can use our own faltering prayers as well, in our own day and generation.
Read more from the inaugural issue by downloading the full pdf or accessing the articles below.
[1] For biographical details, see Peter J. Morden, The Life and Thought of Andrew Fuller (1754–1815) (Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2015).
[2] The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation (Northampton: T. Dicey, 1st edn., 1785). The 2nd edn., published in 1801, is more readily available. For this, see The Complete Works of the Rev Andrew Fuller, With a Memoir of his Life by the Rev. Andrew Gunton Fuller, ed. Andrew Gunton Fuller; rev. ed. Joseph Belcher; 3 vols (Harrisonburg, VA: Sprinkle, 3rd edn., 1988 [1845]), II, 328–416.
[3] “Particular” because Fuller’s denomination were Calvinistic: they believed in particular rather than general redemption.
[4] For detail, see Morden, Fuller, passim; Michael A.G. Haykin, “‘A Habitation of God, through the Spirit’: John Sutcliff (1752–1814) and the Revitalization of the Calvinistic Baptists in the Late-eighteenth Century,” Baptist Quarterly 34 (1992): 304–19.
[5] Morden, Fuller, 109–23. William Carey and John Thomas were the Society’s first missionaries, arriving in Bengal in 1793. It is important to note there was Protestant cross-cultural mission that predated the BMS. See Brian Stanley, The History of the Baptist Missionary Society, 1792-1992 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1992), 1–3.
[6] Two particularly fine examples of Fuller scholarship have been authored by Gateway professors. See Chris Chun, The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards in the Theology of Andrew Fuller (Leiden: Brill, 2012), and David Rathel, Andrew Fuller and the Search for a Faith Worthy of All Acceptation: Exploring Fuller’s Soteriology in Its Historical Context (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 2024).
[7] Sermons by Andrew Fuller in Shorthand, with Occasional Meditations in Longhand, Bristol Baptist College Archive, Books I to V (G 95 A Ful).
[8] Stephen R. Holmes and Jonathan Woods, “Andrew Fuller’s Soham Farewell Sermons: Context and Text,” Baptist Quarterly 51 (2020): 2–16. See esp. 4–6 for the account of how Fuller’s shorthand was eventually decoded.
[9] I am deeply grateful to Jonathan Woods for supplying this translation and giving permission to use it in this paper, and for his continued help and encouragement.
[10] For the Prayer Call and the meetings at Kettering specifically, see Morden, Fuller, 111–15, 123.
[11] Diary of Andrew Fuller, eds. Michael D. McMullen and Timothy D. Whelan (Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2016), 6 December 1784, 94.
[12] Diary of Andrew Fuller, 7 March 1785, 113. Italics original.
[13]Diary of Andrew Fuller, 2 May 1785, 125–26.
[14]Diary of Andrew Fuller, 7 March 1785, 113; 6 December 1784, 94; John Ryland, The Life of Andrew Fuller, ed. C. Ryan Griffith (Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter, 2022 [London: Button and Son, 1818]), 174.
[15] The stress on “means” was a crucial one for Fuller and it is fascinating to see it deployed here in an informal address. God’s sovereignty was not in dispute, but against those “high Calvinists” who downplayed the importance of human agency Fuller and his evangelical colleagues stressed that God used human “means”—for example preaching and, here, the prayers of his people—to accomplish his “ends.” Thus divine sovereignty and human responsibility were held in careful balance, and passionate intercession and vigorous gospel work encouraged.
[16] The phrase “social prayer” was in regular use to describe what happened when Christians came together to pray. See, for example, Abraham Booth, The Amen to Social Prayer Illustrated and Improved: A Sermon… (London: Wm. Button, 1801). Like Fuller, Booth was a Particular Baptist, but the phrase was common currency amongst evangelical Christians in the long eighteenth century.
[17] Silas is not introduced in the book of Acts until Acts 15:22 so Fuller must be using Paul and Silas as an additional illustration of “social prayer” alongside other examples he had previously adduced from Acts 1:14–12:5.
[18] Matt. 6:7.
[19] Cf. 1 Kings 8:22–61; 2 Chron. 6:12–7:22.
[20] Luke 6:12.
[21] Phil. 2:3–4 (AV): “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
[22] The acknowledgement that Jesus sometimes repeated himself in prayer is probably a reference to his prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane. See Matt. 26:44.
[23] A contraction of “them.”
[24] The reference may be to Thomas Mabbott who for a while was Baptist Minister at Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. See Timothy D. Whelan (ed.) Baptist Autographs in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 1741–1845 (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2009), 440. Presumably there were some present at the prayer meeting who would have remembered the incident. The “Association” was probably a reference to a meeting of the Northamptonshire Baptist Association, of which the Kettering church was a part.
[25] Possibly a reference to Bernard of Clairvaux, who was warmly regarded by many evangelicals.
[26] 1 Sam. 16:7 (AV): “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
[27] See William Burkitt, The Poor Man’s Help, and Young Man’s Guide … (London: Thom. Parkhurst, 1709), 35, for an explicit reference to family prayer as “chimney corner” prayer. The chimney corner was the warmest place in the house where the family would naturally gather.
[28] See Belden C. Lane, “Puritan Spirituality,” in Philip Sheldrake (ed.), The New SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality (London: SCM, 2005), 518–20, esp. 20.
[29] Rhys Bezzant, Jonathan Edwards and the Church (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 145–56. Michael Haykin notes that the New England Puritan Cotton Mather advocated for the formation of small groups for prayer in his Private Meetings Animated and Regulated (Boston, MA: T. Green, 1706), 10–11. However, Haykin largely accepts Bezzant’s description of the Concert of Prayer as “innovative.” For further discussion, see Michael A.G. Haykin, “The Prayers of His Saints,” in Chris Chun and Kyle C. Strobel (eds.), Regeneration, Revival and Creation: Religious Experience and the Purposes of God in the Thought of Jonathan Edwards (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2020), 106–107.
[30] Jonathan Edwards, An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God’s People in Extraordinary Prayer, for the Revival of Religion, and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth, Pursuant to Scripture Promise and Prophecies Concerning the Last Time (Boston, MA [printed for D. Henchman in Cornhill], 1747).
[31] On this, see Michael J. Crawford, Seasons of Grace: Colonial New England’s Revival Tradition in its British Context (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), 229–31; David W. Bebbington, “The Reputation of Edwards Abroad” in Stephen J. Stein (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Edwards (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 240.
[32] George M. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life (London: Yale University Press, 2003), 337.
[33] Jonathan Yeager, Jonathan Edwards and Transatlantic Print Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 11.
[34] Yeager, Edwards and Transatlantic Print Culture, 124.