Fire in our hearts - Jesus Army

FIRE IN OUR HEARTS THE LORD TOOK HOLD OF BUGBROOKE
Baptists continued this tradition over a century later when
a young farmer and a plumber from Bugbrooke were baptised
in Northampton. The two men ‘excited violent persecution’
and ‘some very base means were resorted to in order to
prevent the entrance of the gospel of Christ’. 1
But as they persevered in prayer, two young women joined
them and they determined to plant a church in the village (it
was a five mile walk into town!). God eventually blessed them
with a young preacher, John Wheeler, and his wife, and in
August, 1805, Bugbrooke Baptist Church was born.
That day the six pioneers made a ‘solemn covenant’ and
promised, ‘in the presence of God and our Lord Jesus, the
crowned head of Zion... to promote his glory and walk together
in the gospel... and, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to
deny ourselves and suffer for Christ’s sake, to live above all
undue influence from the present world, and to exhort, reprove,
and comfort one another in the love of God...’ 2
Three years later they built a chapel, but John couldn’t resist
baptising in the river. Crowds came to see ‘the Dipper’ in
action. By the end of his ministry, over a hundred people had
joined them and congregations had been planted in the nearby
villages. Bugbrooke became known as the ‘cathedral of the
chapels’. One of her noted converts, John Brown, was kicked
out of Bristol College for ‘quivering with laughter’ while trying
to say grace. He later became the President of the Baptist
Union!
Bugbrooke had fire in its blood, and a memorial to the pioneers
was fixed on the chapel wall:
Your fathers, where are they?
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