What makes for an effective pastoral and preaching ministry? What are the circum­stances that God may be pleased to bless and prosper in the life of a church? What are some of the characteristics, strengths and weaknesses in a congre­gation that God may turn into advantag­es?

Some interesting answers to these questions are afforded by one of the most remarkable pastoral preaching ministries ever recorded. In the late seventeenth century, Richard Baxter was used of God to bring about a massive change to the spiritual life of a town in central England. The town, Kidderminster, was home to about 2000 adults. Prior to Baxter's arrival it had been under the spiritual oversight of a very incompetent and ungodly vicar. The 1640 parliament, in an agreement with Charles I, had appointed a committee to investi­gate complaints against clergy, and the town's complaint was lodged against this man and his equally in­ept curate. A compromise was set­tled and arranged in which the vicar would remain, but a new curate would be appointed to take over the preaching ministry. It was to this posi­tion that Baxter was called in 1641, and he laboured there for two years before the civil war (1641-42) and another four­teen years after the war (1647-60).

His ministry in Kidderminster was won­derfully blessed of the Lord. Much of his ministry was evangelistic and was used by God to bring about the conversion of most of the township.

He records that his preaching met with an attentive dili­gent auditory... The congregation was usually full so that we were fain to build five galleries after my coming thither, the church itself being very capacious... Our private meetings also were full. On the Lord's-days there was no disorder to be seen in the streets, but you might hear an hundred families singing psalms and repeating sermons as you passed through the streets. In a word, when I came thither first there was about one family in a street that worshipped God and called on his name, and when I came away there were some streets where there was not passed one family in the side of a street that did not so, and that did not, by professing serious godliness, give us hopes of their sincerity.

The lives of hundreds were changed. Baxter recalled, When I first entered on my labours I took special notice of every one that was humbled, re­formed or converted; but when I had laboured long, it pleased God that the converts were so many, that I could not afford time for such particular observa­tions ... families and considerable num­bers at once ... came in and grew up I scarce knew how.

The vast majority in the town were con­verted in the course of those years, and a profound and lasting change was ef­fected in the whole community. Almost a hundred years later, George Whitfield visited Kidderminster and wrote, "I was greatly refreshed to find what a sweet savour of good Mr. Baxter's doctrine, works and discipline remained unto this day."

In his autobiography, Baxter re­flected on what made Kidderminster an advantageous place to pastor. He cites ten blessings that are worth pon­dering.

Firstly, his congregation was not "sermon-proof"! They had never expe­rienced a powerful preaching ministry be­fore. In fact that was what first drew Baxter to minister there. He had learned from a previous experience that it was better to minister among a people that had experienced little effective preach­ing, than to preach to a congregation that had become hardened by powerful preaching. "I came to a people that never had any awakening ministry before (but a few cold sermons of the curate); for if they had been hardened under a powerful ministry and been sermon-proof I should have expected less."

Secondly, he himself had much vig­our in his preaching. He had "a famil­iar moving voice" and the seriousness with which "to preach as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dy­ing men." In fact, Baxter undertook most of his ministry in constant ill-health and pain. Even in his early twenties he had been close to death on several occa­sions. In the years at Kidderminster he was almost constantly unwell, doing all "under languishing weakness, being sel­dom an hour free from pain." Yet he regarded this to be a particular blessing because his weakness made him "live and preach in some continual expecta­tion of death... And I found this through all my life to be an invaluable mercy for me ... it made me study and preach things necessary, and a little stirred up my slug­gish heart to speak to sinners with some compassion as a dying man to dying men."

Thirdly, he had freedom to preach the gospel without interference by others. His ministry was not hampered by demands imposed either from a church hierarchy or the State, and the congregation was free of division and faction. "Not a Separatist, Anabaptist, Antinomian etc. in the town!" Baxter loved peace, and although often em­broiled in controversy, he hated time be­ing expended on theological matters that were not of great urgency and impor­tance. He loved the freedom to focus on the gospel above all else.

Fourthly, his hearers were mostly trades-people, engaged in the weaving industry of Kidderminster. They therefore had "time enough to read or talk of holy things." It is a significant point. When people are so busy with their business affairs, or today, with their sport, leisure and entertainment activities, it is hard to make an impression on their heart. When they have time, however, to speak of spiritual matters, it is a great aid to effective ministry.

Fifthly, he mentions his own sin­gleness and the fact that he could there­fore "take my people for my children," indicating something of the pastoral dili­gence and tenderness that marked his ministry. Baxter only married after he was forced to leave his pastorate in 1661. He therefore gave all his time and en­ergy to preaching and pastoring. One of the remarkable achievements was his commitment to visit all 800 families of the township each year, individually cat­echising each family. To achieve this he set aside every Monday and Tuesday to visit, with his assistant, 14-16 families a week.

Sixthly, he mentions a curious ad­vantage: "the quality of the sinners of the place." By that he meant the drunkards and mad-men of the town who made sin look so stupid others were more easily won to the gospel! He was thankful for the top-quality sinners God had placed in his vicinity!

Seventhly, he identified the bless­ing of practising church discipline which had "no small furtherance of the people's good." Baxter firmly believed that if churches are to be strong and faithful, vibrant and effective, there must be the practice of biblical church disci­pline.

In the eighth place he says, "an­other advantage which I found to my success was by ordering my doctrine to them in a suitableness to the main end, and yet so as to suit their disposi­tions and diseases." In other words, he preached to them, not over them, and was concerned to bring the truth home to their hearts, not just their, minds, and to make it useful to their daily lives. Baxter's great concern was for "holy, practical Christianity" and the twin em­phases on godliness and practical daily obedience colours all his writings.

he ninth advantage was that his people were not rich, and therefore not above being taught and helped. In fact he saw an important part of his ministry being practical help to those in need. He especially loved to give books to his peo­ple, but would do anything for them if he could help relieve their poverty. Often he would give some money to his poorer members after he had visited them, and he was also frequently called on to give medical advice, arising from his own ex­perience of health problems.

Finally he identified the length of his ministry there as being an advan­tage, "for he that removeth oft from place to place may sow good seed in many places, but is not like to see much fruit in any unless some other skilful hand shall follow him to water it." He would loved to have stayed longer in Kidderminster, but the political tide had changed, and it was not possible.

These ten advantages may not be the characteristics we would immediately identify as blessings. They are scarcely what you will read about in a contempo­rary book on church growth! But they were the considered opinion of a man who felt that he had been graciously placed by God, and knew that the hand of the Lord had been upon his life work there.

They are a challenge to us today as we think about our own situations. God's strategies are different from ours, and we do well to look at what peculiar ad­vantages he has given to us. We would also do well to ask whether there are some barriers to blessing that we have erected: are we sermon-proof, too com­fortable, too busy to experience God's grace and power? Finally, we may be encouraged that the basics that God blessed in that ministry really were ba­sic: faithful, loving pastoring, biblical, heart-oriented preaching, a burden for the lost, a love of peace and unity, the practice of church discipline, and a fo­cus on godliness and practical Christi­anity. These are invariably the ingredi­ents of an effective ministry.