I recently attended what had been labelled as a Counties Connect Event and was a celebration of 125 years of Gospel related activities and which featured reports from some those who have been involved in the work of Counties in recent years. It was a productive meeting and it was encouraging to listen to reports from some of today’s evangelists. I was glad to have attended.

According to Counties own website (see here) “Counties equips your church to make Jesus known through our local church training opportunities, the work of our national network of evangelists, innovative schools’ resources, community chaplains, and pioneering church planters”. It originally began as a resource to support the evangelistic endeavours of the Open Section of the Plymouth Brethren (see here for my article about the Brethren). At the event, I picked up two books relating to Counties history and activities, which are both very readable and informative, concerning both of which I am presently in the process of reading:

A Story to Tell: this well-researched book was written in 1999 to coincide with the 100^th anniversary of Counties and tells the story of some of the significant things that happened over the hundred years. It is a very honest account which at its heart tell the story of what was set out on its back cover: “In 1899, following a challenge to evangelize the villages of Britain, a remarkable ministry, Counties, emerged. Today, over eighty people are involved in full time evangelistic work in counties throughout England and Wales …”. Of particular interest (from my perspective at least) was how Counties evangelists sought to adapt to the changing situation during that time, such as from an emphasis on tent missions and being strongly linked to the Brethren movement that declined toward the end of the twentieth century and while continuing to preach the old fashioned gospel message doing so in way that took into account the sensibilities, priorities and interests of those they sought to evangelise, and creatively availing themselves of the opportunities that came their way, which was an attempt to reach all peoples irrespective of their culture and beliefs.  

Making Jesus Known Today and Tomorrow: could be seen as a sequel to “A Story to Tell” – 25 years on. According to some introductory blub, the book “is born of the belief that Britain and Ireland need the gospel of Christ as much today as ever, if not more so. The book focuses on how this unchanging gospel can be presented to greatest effect in the twenty-first century in a wide variety of contexts. Above all, it intends to be practical— to help all Christians, and all local congregations, to see people of all ages converted and growing themselves as effective disciple-making Christians. The book is a project of Counties, an organisation which came into being 125 years ago, to support local evangelists who at the time were seeing remarkable success in planting local congregations across England and Wales. Today, it supports over forty evangelists, encourages local churches in evangelism, and engages in church planting. A number of today’s Counties Evangelists are contributors to the book”.  A cursory survey of the book’s contents confirms that it continues where “A Story to Tell” left off and reading further we find a thrilling account of recent happenings and current challenges as Christians who are related to the Counties family seeking to carry out the Great Commission, and in doing so adapting to a very different paradigm to that of 1899.

My reason for writing, however, is not to talk about the work of Counties, and neither is it to review the two afore-mentioned books, although doing both is a useful by-product. Rather, it is to consider my involvement with Counties through the lens of six of its evangelists and being a member of one of the Brethren assemblies that supported the work of Counties – Coleman Street Chapel. I became involved with Coleman Street Chapel, which was founded in 1900, in 1964, when I was a young teenager attracted to some of its youth activities, and other than an 11 years period away from the Chapel, continued that involvement until the work closed in 2013. In one of the appendices to “A Story to Tell” there is a list of all the Counties evangelists (that could be recalled), a number of which I had some involvement and interaction with. This included the six evangelists I want to talk about, two who I got to know after they had left the work of Counties and four were evangelists in my county (Essex) for much of that duration. It should be added that since Coleman Street Chapel began, it was a keen Counties supporter.

Geoff Hayman

Only a few months back, Geoff died (see here for my “Remembering David Iles and Geoff Hayman and the Changing of the Guard” reflection). When I first became involved at the Chapel, David Iles was the Correspondent (in traditional Open Brethren circles – this was often seen as the leading elder). When I rejoined the Chapel in the late 1980’s, Geoff had taken over from David. From then onwards, we undertook to support our Essex Counties evangelists, in particular Steve Morely and Heather Smith, and together we regularly attended activities in the region. Sometimes, Geoff would refer to his experience as a young Counties evangelist, including trying to engage with those he sought to reach and leading tent meeting. One amusing anecdote was him being told off for trying to work with those who were not part of the Brethren. While David was not a Counties evangelist, he was an enthusiastic supporter of Counties. In 1972, two Counties evangelists, Dick Saunders and John Hall, came to Southend to conduct a fruitful town wide evangelistic tent crusade, and it was David, more than anyone, who was behind this initiative.  

Paul Bullivant

I know little of Paul’s involvement with Counties but from the time of my late teens until my early twenties he was one of my spiritual mentors, partly because he challenged “the system” by emphasizing the need for life as well as light and later fell foul of it, nominally over the “charismatic issue”. While his message was on the importance of life over light, he had the heart of the evangelist that continued to after he left Southend in the late 1970’s until his recent death (my “The Legacy of Paul Bullivant” article relates).  

Andy Jelfs

Of the four Essex evangelists, Andy had least involvement with the Chapel. But he was ever present throughout that time, and still is, known for his wise counsel, heart for wanting the Gospel spread and his winsome dealings with those he came in contact with. One interesting recent personal connection concerns the Essex County Accommodation Trust (of which I am a trustee). Andy has earned the reputation as being the ideal occupant of one of our houses.

Geoff Carr

I got to know Geoff soon after him becoming a Counties evangelist. In the early 1970’s, whilst a college student, I was one of his helpers in one of his tent missions. He was a regular visitor to the Chapel, including taking a children’s mission, notably in those early days, including when I was away. I had a number of interactions with him, right up to his death in 2017 (my “Geoff Carr – Evangelist” report relates). He was a great exponent of “by all means I might save some”. I have happy memories of his winsome character, extraordinary energy, can do attitude, and wicked sense of humour.

Steve Morley

Early on in my second tenure as a Coleman Street member, we decided to adopt Steve as one of the evangelists that we would particularly support through prayer and giving. He was a regular visitor to the Chapel, right up to the time we closed and we were blessed by his ministry among us. One fond memory was of him joining in our children’s activities as Father Christmas. Another related to the time when Steve undertook to lead a tour of India, where he would take part in meetings around some of India’s southern states and the Andaman Islands, notably doing children’s activities in which he was especially gifted. It was a team effort and myself, my wife and our ten year old son were part of that team.  

Heather Smith

The other Counties evangelist Coleman Street Chapel undertook to support was Heather Smith. Heather, a single lady, was the first Counties lady evangelist in her own right and not just by virtue of being married to one of the men evangelist. She epitomized the adapting approach of Counties when taking up opportunities that presented. Heather was a regular visitor over the years and her sharing of her activities, notably in schools, was much appreciated.