One man seldom mentioned in connection with the so-called Brethren movement is James Harington Evans (1785-1849), the mentor of Robert C. Chapman. The son of an Anglican clergyman, Harington Evans had graduated from Oxford University. Conforming to his father’s desire, he was ordained a clergyman in the Church of England, the national church.
For those such as Evans, who were Fellows of Oxford or Cambridge Universities, ordination was almost automatic if they desired to take positions within the Church of England. A memoir of Evans gives a glimpse of the theological training, or rather lack of it, which the National Church provided in those days: “Theological education, as such, formed no portion of the training of candidates for the ministry…Examination in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, and in the evidences of Christianity, was indeed required before taking orders, but this was all.”
In 1809, Evans was appointed as curate assistant to the rector in a small village in central England. One of his tasks there was to share the preaching duties. But instead of reading sermons prepared by others, which was common, the independent-minded young man decided he would prepare and deliver his own sermons. In so doing, Evans discovered the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which he eagerly accepted.
Harington Evans’ sermons from this point on dwelt heavily on the theme of justification by faith. An uncomfortable relationship developed between curate and rector, and after about a year, Evans left. He accepted a new curacy but did not change the substance of his preaching. Many in his congregation, especially those belonging to the upper classes, were offended.
His preaching had become indistinguishable from the preaching of many of the Dissenters or Nonconformists, and Evans’ new rector was unhappy with the “enthusiasm” of his maverick curate. But Evans would not go against his maturing convictions. Instead of acceding to his superior’s demands, he wrote and spoke against the church’s deviation from scriptural doctrines. He opposed the union of church and state, and the lack of discipline within the church; he deplored the fact that many in the National Church, some in leadership positions, were claiming salvation because of their baptism as infants.
Evans’ rector told him to conform, or else to resign his curacy within six months. Though Evans had many friends within the National Church, and his own father was an Anglican clergyman, he could not agree that the Church of England was the Body of Christ in England. He also realized that he could not effect a change in the National Church.
At the end of 1815, Harington Evans withdrew from the Church of England and began preaching in the villages in the west part of the country. Friends recognized his remarkable gift and advised him to exercise a preaching ministry in London. This he did at the end of 1816, and soon the hall he was using was overflowing with eager listeners.
After a few months, he attracted the attention of Henry Drummond, Member of Parliament. Drummond was financially supportive of Nonconformist causes and often went to hear Evans preach. Impressed, he offered to build a new chapel where Evans would be free to preach and teach according to his own convictions.
Thus, John Street Chapel was built near the center of London and was completed in 1818, at about the same time that the 15-year-old Robert Chapman was sent by his family to the city to begin his apprenticeship for the legal profession. The new congregation at John Street was not organizationally tied to any existing Christian denomination.
Evans was an evangelist and an encourager, and the people responded. His headstrong attitudes of a few years earlier had given way to a spirit of humility. He had strong doctrinal convictions, but they were now balanced by a strong sense of compassion for people.
Evans concluded from the Scriptures that the Lord’s Supper was a remembrance rather than a sacrament. He decided that a weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper was appropriate for sincere Christians, and instituted it at the John Street Chapel on Sunday evenings. Evans felt strongly about Christian unity, being convinced that believers should be able to worship and fellowship across denominational lines without restriction.
Evans’ father was concerned that his son had become a Calvinist. Evans wrote to his father: “As to John Calvin, I am no follower of his. I desire to follow One indeed whom John Calvin followed, but this is all. Oh! when will those days come, when party names, party distinctions, party separations shall cease?” These words are interesting because they express the sentiments of many of the early brethren a decade or so later, and are reflected in the words used many times by Chapman.
A member at the John Street Chapel had become acquainted with the 20-year-old lawyer, Robert Chapman, who knew his Bible but spoke judgmentally of it. He realized that the young man was searching for spiritual answers but had not found them, and invited him to hear Harington Evans. There Chapman heard a type of preaching he had never encountered before, and met his Saviour.
Chapman told Evans about his conversion, and Evans baptized him and began discipling him in the foundations of the gospel. Under Evans’ encouragement, Chapman became involved in the preaching at John Street Chapel, and in ministering in the nearby slums.
Evans recognized in Chapman a true servant’s heart. He was Robert Chapman’s mentor for nine years, years in which Chapman had become a successful lawyer with a promising future, but years in which Chapman’s outlook changed toward a desire to spend all his energies in the Lord’s work.
Evans’ influence on Chapman’s subsequent ministry is easy to discern. Chapman’s confidence in the all-sufficiency of the Bible, his emphasis on believer’s baptism, though not insisting on it as a condition of fellowship, and his views on the unity of all Christians, reflected Evans’ views. Chapman attended the Lord’s Supper at John Street on Sunday evenings. When Chapman established his own ministry a few years later, he stressed the importance of this type of meeting for all believers, and he preferred that it be held on Sunday evenings.
Chapman gave up his legal profession in 1832, when he was 29, and accepted an offer to pastor a troubled congregation in the village of Barnstaple in southwest England. Through his patient teaching and loving example, the congregation grew into a large, Christ-centered assembly of Christians.
Harington Evans’ letters written after Chapman’s departure show his continuing affection and admiration for the one he had mentored. He had brought Chapman to the Lord, had discipled him in London, and had been one of his constant encouragers through many years in Barnstaple.
If significant influence on the direction of a portion of this movement of God qualifies a person to be called one of “the early brethren,” then James Harington Evans deserves this commendation.
Material for this article was gathered from James Joyce Evans’ Memoir and Remains of the Rev. James Harington Evans, written and edited by his son, published by James Nisbet & Co., London, 1852.