WANTED: "Uncommon Christian" evangelists, church planters and pastors in New England

"The Puritan." 1882. Restored 1995.
Springfield, Massachusetts.
Image of Samuel Chapin (1595-1675),
one of the founders of Springfield.
(I.F. Kyle III photo. Sept. 1, 2011.)

Recent research has shown that the 6 New England states--Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont--have now surpassed the Pacific Northwest as America's least churched region.

Please join me in praying for more Gospel-centered "uncommon Christian" evangelists, church planters and pastors in New England. And that the Lord would be pleased to spare New England's children and youth of the dark, Gospel-less upbringing I had in Connecticut (1976-91).

The New England region was once home to such godly American Puritans like Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) and to such evangelists like James Brainerd Taylor (1801-1829). It experienced the First and Second Great Awakenings and saw the establishment of America's earliest seminaries.

The region is in dire need today of spiritual revival, a fresh and mighty outpouring of Holy Spirit fire.

Historically, revival often happens in the context of the local church. Because this is so--and for the local New Englander or visitor--here are listings of some Gospel-centered churches in New England:

+ The Gospel Coalition's Church Directory;

+ Church Search by 9Marks Ministry: Building Healthy Churches; and

+ Members of Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals (F.I.R.E.).

Also, here are some informative and insightful articles from two pastors presently ministering in Vermont. Both men--Wes Pastor and Jared Wilson--relocated to New England and thus write from an outsider-turned-insider's perspective. May the articles be used of God to stir your heart to pray for New England, especially for the spiritually lost and for more Gospel laborers.

+ "Why New England is the New Missional Frontier" by Jared Wilson, 8/12/10


+ "New England Ministry Resources" compiled by Jared Wilson, 2/28/10

+ "Has the Gospel Lost Its Power in New England?" by Wes Pastor, 2/23/11

+ "New England Then, As Now--And Now, As Then" by Jared Wilson, 2/23/11

+ "10 Reasons New England Suffers For Mission" by Jared Wilson, 3/9/11

+ "10 Reasons You Should Move to New England" by Jared Wilson, 7/12/11

+ "Planting vs. Replanting in New England" by Jared Wilson" by Jared Wilson, 7/26/11

+ "What Are New Englanders Like?" by Jared Wilson, 12/21/11

+ "The Challenges in Church Replanting in New England" by Jared Wilson, 4/16/12

“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Luke 10:2

Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization . . . USA's Mission America Coalition . . . James Brainerd Taylor on evangelism

The Third International Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization took place in Cape Town, South Africa, October 17-24, 2010. It was held in collaboration with the World Evangelical Alliance (est. 1846).

"Perhaps the widest and most diverse gathering of Christians ever held in the history of the Church," Cape Town 2010 (Lausanne III) "drew 4,000 selected participants from 198 nations. Organizers extended its reach into over 650 GlobaLink sites in 91 countries and drew 100,000 unique visits to its web site from 185 countries during the week of the Congress."

For a report of the historic event and its document "The Cape Town Commitment: A Declaration of Belief and a Call to Action," click here. Also, read here attendee and New Testament scholar Darrell Bock's blog entry concerning his reflections.

To view videos of most of the sessions, including John Piper's exposition of Ephesians 3 (see World Faiths: Plenary I, October 20), click here.


The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization is "a worldwide movement that mobilizes evangelical leaders to collaborate for world evangelization." Lausanne I--LCWE's first International Congress on World Evangelization--was held in 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Lausanne II was held in 1989 in Manila, Philippines.

In 1974, LCWE produced The Lausanne Covenant, one of the most influential documents in modern Evangelical Christianity. Click here to read the document in various languages.

Mission America Coalition, National Association of Evangelicals & UCM


Since its founding in 2007, Uncommon Christian Ministries (UCM) has been a member of LCWE's American affiliate, Mission America Coalition: Uniting Christians for Evangelism and Revival. Begun in 1995, leaders from 81 denominations, 350-plus ministries and dozens of ministry networks have been involved in MAC. Some members of the coalition's staff and national committee were among the 400 U.S. delegates at Lausanne III. MAC's Chairmam/CEO Paul Cedar wrote an endorsement for my 2008 edited anthology Of Intense Brightness: The Spirituality of Uncommon Christian James Brainerd Taylor.

As a follow-up to the Congress, MAC is co-sponsoring a leadership consultation forum in Orlando, Florida, April 4-7, 2011. For more information about "From Cape Town 2010 to Orlando 2011 . . . and the Future: Accelerating the Church toward the Great Commission," see MAC's website. Among others, the forum is also being sponsored by the National Association of Evangelicals as NAE also sent representatives to Cape Town 2010. Both MAC and I individually (as founder of UCM) are members of NAE.

James Brainerd Taylor

The Princeton University and Yale Seminary-trained evangelist James Brainerd Taylor (1801-1829) would no doubt have been pleased with Lausanne III/Cape Town 2010 and the work of Mission America Coalition in his native U.S. That J. B. Taylor lived and breathed evangelism is evident by such comments as these from his journal entries and letters included in the Memoir of James Brainerd Taylor (1833) and A New Tribute to the Memory of James Brainerd Taylor (1838):

O, may we enter the work [of ministry] to win souls to Christ, and have, as our great motive, the honor of our blessed Redeemer. (Memoir, page 80)

I know that my object, my highest wish while on earth, is to be instrumental in bringing souls to Christ. (Memoir, 181)

The spare time I have from my college duties, I would rather spend with the sick--the indigent; and that, too, to win souls. (Memoir, 233-34)

I feel willing to live a hundred years on earth if I might work for God and bring souls to Christ, and then have nothing diminished from eternity. . . . I fell before the throne and had a longing for souls--I thirsted to bring souls to Christ. I groaned to win souls and almost with agony pleaded to have souls for my hire. I think I felt willing to lay out my life for souls. Souls, souls, I want souls. (Memoir, 268-69)

Book #3 complete (awaits interested publisher) . . . Western Seminary graduation . . . What are honors? What is earthly applause?

James Brainerd Taylor book #3 is complete. It awaits an interested publisher for hopeful publication in 2011 or 2012 (i.e., post-Israel trip). The desired title is God's Co-Worker: 21st-Century Evangelism with Uncommon Christian James Brainerd Taylor. The book will be a slight re-working of my recently completed Doctor of Ministry dissertation for Western Seminary entitled God's Co-Worker: 19th-Century "Uncommon Christian" James Brainerd Taylor as a Model for 21st-Century Evangelism.

In addition to a biographical sketch, bibliography and 6 appendices, this third study on the Princeton University and Yale Seminary-trained Taylor (1801-1829) examines his evangelistic motives and methods, what he believed were the qualifications for evangelists and his 5-fold "uncommon Christian" discipleship emphases to new converts, all with the aim towards 21st-century application. A very practical book that awaits an interested publisher.

For now, and for $15, I'm informed that the 231-page dissertation is downloadable as a digital e-doc through the Theological Research Exchange Network (TREN), order #002-0843. It is also available through the Portland, Oregon-based TREN on CD-ROM ($20), unbound paper ($34.65) and microfiche ($5). In addition, there is a possibility the dissertation is available via InterLibrary Loan (click here to view the WorldCat information).

The 82nd annual commencement ceremony for Western Seminary took place April 25, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. A special thanks to family and friends who attended the ceremony and the celebration banquet the night previous. Click here to view photos of the ceremony taken by my brother.

A highlight of the ceremony was the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree bestowed upon Herbert I. Elliot. A native of Portland, Dr. Elliot served for many decades as a medical missionary in Peru and elsewhere. He is the older brother of Jim Elliot (1927-1956), the deceased first husband of missionary, author and conference speaker Elisabeth Elliot (b. 1926) and the martyred missionary to the Waodani people (Auca Indians) of Ecuador.

In graduating from Western with high honors, I am reminded of these words by the Second Great Awakening evangelist James Brainerd Taylor. The words were penned on April 8, 1824 in the journal of the then 23-year-old Princeton University sophomore student.

"The time soon arrived for the dismissal of my class, at which time the standing of each student was made known. Having found my standing to be No. 1 [among his fellow students for Princeton's winter 1824 semester], I returned to my room, and once more looked to the Lord for his distinguishing love, with the strong feeling that earthly distinction cannot satisfy my heart's desire. Here, while I remembered the goodness of God during the past winter, in blessing me in soul and body, growth in grace, and success in my studies, the Sun of righteousness [Mal. 4:2] seemed to break through the cloud . . . . Recollecting the standing which had been given me by the faculty, I said to myself, 'What are honors? What is earthly applause?' Ah, these are not my God. I saw their emptiness, and not only desired, but longed for His presence in whom my soul takes delight. The Lord bowed down the heavens, and while I wrote 'vanity' upon all things beside His love, he let drop sweetness into my soul, and I was blessed with a blessing that 'maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow' [Proverbs 10:22]. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul' [Psalm 104:1]."

*From John Holt Rice and Benjamin Holt Rice, Memoir of James Brainerd Taylor, Second Edition (New York: American Tract Society, 1833), 206. Click here to read the original text via Google Book Search.

NOTE: Click here (page 3) to read the October 15, 2008 profile in Western Seminary's Doctor of Ministry newsletter entitled, "Francis Kyle: A Pastor-Evangelist, Author & Anticipated 2009 Graduate." And here to read "Alumni: Francis Kyle (D.Min., '09) Profile" on Western Seminary's alumni blog (July 1, 2009 blog post).