When Baxter arrived, there were streets where only one family would worship the Lord on Sunday. When he left, there were streets where not one family did not worship the Lord. They changed from being “ignorant, rude, and reveling people” to being faithful Christian worshipers.[1]
That change left a legacy. Nearly one hundred years later, Whitefield visited Kidderminster and said, “I was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savor of good Mr. Baxter’s doctrine, works, and discipline remained to this day.”[2]
This legacy stems from Baxter’s passion that not one soul would perish in his entire parish. Baxter lives out his appeal to us through Paul’s words and ministry in Ephesus:
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).
Baxter took that word “all” to heart. “We must perform this great duty to all the people, or as many as we can; for our love and care of their souls must extend to all.”[3]
What is a Parish?
In Baxter’s time, the parish was England’s smallest organizational unit. To this day, the world is divided this way. Millions of people are in NYC. But the millions are divided into five boroughs, which are divided into large postal regions, divided into smaller zip codes, divided into even smaller neighborhoods. Most people won’t know these neighborhoods until they live here for a while. I live in Briarwood, which is in Jamaica, which is in Queens, which is in New York City.
Your town or city is the same. What is the name of your parish? How can you develop a parish ministry mindset in your neighborhood?
Baxter’s Parish Ministry Mindset
For Baxter, in a town of 2,000 that meant knowing everyone in the town personally,[4] laboring tirelessly until every one of them knew Jesus Christ as Savior[5] and visiting everyone regularly so that he was assured that those who were weak in the faith were growing,[6] giving special attention to the fathers to lead their own families.[7]
What did that ministry mindset look like on a weekly basis?
“I will give you the instance of my own case. We are together two ministers, and a third at a chapel, willing to spend every hour of our time in Christ’s work… We are engaged to set apart two days every week, from morning to night, for private catechizing and instruction. And when we have incurred all the forementioned inconveniences, and have set apart two whole days a week for this work, it will be as much as we shall be able to do, to go over the parish once in a year, (being about 800 families).”[8]
He longed to visit each one in his parish once a quarter and mourned over the death of each person. He was burdened for the life and soul of everyone in the town of Kidderminster.
“It is so sad a case to see men in a state of damnation, wherein, if they should die, they are lost forever, that methinks we should not be able to let them alone, either in public or private, whatever other work we may have to do.”[9]
And so he visited every house regularly and preached the Gospel to each one. His parish, was his responsibility. He wanted to introduce everyone to his best friend, our Lord Jesus.
Developing a Parish Ministry Mindset
Pastor or not, England or not, we must live with this parish mindset. What if your neighborhood became your parish? How can you develop this mindset?
Parish Ministry Mindset: A Passion to Appeal to All
Intentional Personal Gospel Appeal to All: Do I have a burden to meet everyone in my neighborhood to introduce them each to my Lord? Let the kindness of our Lord be our kindness as we rub shoulders with people from day to day. I probably will not be able to meet everyone. But I should try.
Intentional Comprehensive Gospel Appeal to All: In our day, we can make comprehensive mass appeals to everyone in our parish. We can mail the Gospel to everyone in our neighborhood. We can reach them digitally through their phones and other media points, pinpointing our specific parish and mass-producing the Gospel before their eyes and scrolling fingers. Consider inviting everyone in your neighborhood to a neighborhood Bible study in a prominent public place. May each person in our neighborhood hear the Gospel from our efforts once a quarter.
Parish Ministry Mindset: A Passion to Pray for All
Do I pray for everyone in my parish? Do I pray that each one becomes a worshiper of Jesus? It should be my prayer and the prayer of my church that all the 2.3 million people in Queens become worshipers of Jesus.
As the circle gets closer to my church or my home, my prayers can be more specific. A pastor friend just north of me has his people pray for every household by name, covering the houses that surround the church. Can we pray for each street, each apartment building in our parish?
Parish Ministry Motive: A Passion for Worship
What sustains this burden? It is worship–that the Lord would be praised. As Baxter testified, you could walk through his village on a Sunday and hear families singing the Psalms on every street. Our Lord deserves and demands the praise to rise from each habitation in our hamlet. May our efforts be tireless through His grace till all the streets so fall the earth brings Him praise.
One fourth-floor of a six-floor apartment building near our church has three consecutive apartments where people have come regularly to worship our Lord on Sundays. They have reached out to two or three other apartments in the building. I love that! Of course, this floor is the anomaly, not the norm, for the 200,000 others who live within a couple of miles of our church. But I pray that after a life-long ministry with a parish mindset, this will be the norm. These halls are Baxter’s streets. These people are my parish.
Tim is the senior pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Queens, N.Y. Prior to planting Grace, Tim ministered as a youth pastor at Bethel Baptist Fellowship in Brooklyn. He has also published a discipleship method, the Grace Groups Discipleship Curriculum and serves on the board of Arch Ministries. Tim and his wife, Sarah, have four children.
No Comment