Ryan Polk, Associate Pastor at Trinity Baptist Church, has felt impressed by our Lord to start “The Wilberforce Initiative” which will provide a venue for Trinity as well as citizens from across the spectrum to seek to bring our Christian worldview to bear upon some of the most pressing social, moral, intellectual and spiritual issues of our day. Using Wilberforce’s name emphasizes our desire for the same passion and “long view” Wilberforce had about the issues of his day.
Many are aware of William Wilberforce’s unstoppable effort to rid England of slavery, but they are often unaware or unwilling to acknowledge, much like the movie “Amazing Grace”, that what motivated him to fight so indefatigably was his Christian faith; moreover, Wilberforce was involved in fighting many other social ills as well.
In addition to his abolition work, he was consistently involved in church work that included the Church Missionary Society and the sending of missionaries to India and Africa, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Proclamation Society Against Vice and Immorality, the School Society, the Sunday School Society, the Bettering Society, the Vice Society, and others.
John Newton, a one-time slave ship captain, who after his conversion penned the words to the famous Christian hymn Amazing Grace, received a letter from William Wilberforce on December 2, 1785. At the time Newton was serving as the Rector of St Mary Woolnoth in the City of London.
Wilberforce wrote. “I wish to have some serious conversation with you. I have had ten thousand doubts within myself whether or not I should discover myself to you, but every argument against it has its foundation in pride. I am sure you will hold yourself bound to let no-one living know of this application or of my visit . . . Remember I must be secret.”
The meeting between John Newton and William Wilberforce took place on the evening of December 7, 1785. The need for secrecy was due to the fact that Wilberforce was a Member of Parliament and an enthusiastic evangelical, and MPs, as well as the Church of England, were respectable and loathed dissenters who were mostly enthusiastic evangelicals. Wilberforce joined the church of St Mary Woolnoth.
He was also influenced by and involved with “Rev. John Venn who had been the rector of Clapham in south London. He was a leader of the Clapham Sect, a group of evangelical Christians centered on his church who campaigned for prison reform and the abolition of slavery and cruel sports.” ((http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/sites/www.cslewisinstitute.org/files/webfm/knowing_doing/WilberforceProfile.pdf ))
With the defeat of his motion for the abolition of slavery in 1789, Wilberforce and his closest friend, Henry Thornton, called together such a group around themselves. The common bond that held this “Clapham Sect” together was the desire to apply their faith in Jesus Christ to personal, social, political, national, and international matters. The group made no claim to be theologians, yet they were people who regarded prayer and Bible study as serious matters. The Clapham group believed that they were representatives of God’s kingdom on earth and the faithful stewards of all God had given them.
“¢ They shared a common commitment to Jesus Christ and a clear sense of calling.
“¢ They were committed to lifelong friendship and mutual submission was the norm.
“¢ Their advocacy was marked by careful research, planning and strategy.
“¢ Theyworshiped both privately and publicly, gathering twice weekly at the Clapham Church.
“¢ Their friendships were inclusive and focused on the essentials. For example, Wilberforce was a Wesleyan and his closest friend, Henry Thornton, was a Calvinist.
“¢ They made family life a clear priority and delighted in each other’s marriages and children.
“¢ They kept the “long view” on completing projects. Abolition of the slave trade took 20 years!
“¢ They made no dichotomy between evangelism and social action. Their magazine, The Christian Observer, exemplifies this.
“¢ Their faith was integral to all of life…family, career, friendship and more. It was a faith that the younger generation calls, “24/7.” They talked together of a faith that impacted every part of their lives. There were no “compartments.”
“¢ They enabled one another vs. trying to “have it all.” They recognized each other’s passions and supported one another in addressing them. ((http://www.cslewisinstitute.org/sites/www.cslewisinstitute.org/files/webfm/knowing_doing/WilberforceProfile.pdf ))
May our Lord bless the Wilberforce Initiative as he so clearly did Wilberforce himself. Moreover, may we be faithful to the “long view”.
