From the beginning, Spurgeon’s goal for the Pastors’ College was “not only to train students, but to found churches.”[2] As much as he emphasized the importance of evangelism, Spurgeon understood that “no amount of occasional evangelistic services will ever render needless the abiding work of organized Christianity.”[3] 

Charles Spurgeon lived during a time of theological upheaval. A new theology had come over from Germany which disguised itself as Christianity, and yet was “no more Christianity than chalk is cheese.” For in it, “the Atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth.”[1] Spurgeon would give himself to fighting this new theology in the best way he knew how: planting vibrant, gospel-preaching churches.

From the beginning, Spurgeon’s goal for the Pastors’ College was “not only to train students, but to found churches.”[2] As much as he emphasized the importance of evangelism, Spurgeon understood that “no amount of occasional evangelistic services will ever render needless the abiding work of organized Christianity; in fact, in proportion as special efforts are of use, our churches will become the more necessary. The larger the harvest, the more need of barns.”[3] But what was Spurgeon’s church planting strategy?

1.Preaching Stations and Local Evangelism

The first step was to send a college graduate to a location with little or no evangelical presence and establish a preaching station, usually “in a hall or other hired building.”[4]Alongside, these services, these pioneers would also hold open-air services, distribute tracts, visit hospitals, and seek to share the gospel with people in the community. Though this was difficult work, they would have strong support from the various evangelistic societies and other college graduates. Over time, many of these preaching stations would begin to gather converts.

2.Baptism and Membership at the Metropolitan Tabernacle

Since these preaching stations were not yet churches and these converts needed to be baptized and join a local church, the next step was to bring them into membership at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. In most cases, this would mean taking converts through a typical membership process, including membership interviews, sending messengers, a full report given at a church meeting, a congregational vote, baptism, and a communion service. But in cases where converts were coming from a distance, accommodations could be made, either in sending elders out for interviews or scheduling communion services at more convenient times.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]