I was the Founding Father of the United States

Chapter 105 The Preaching Meeting

Ten minutes later, Chen Wenbin changed into a gray vest and white riding breeches, and went down the stairs to the first-floor restaurant.

Robert was sitting at the dining table, chatting with John Davis and Dean Lyon, the East London Baptist pastor, with a cup of milk tea in his hand.

"Good morning, Robert, John, Dean!" Chen Wenbin sat down at the dining table, greeted the three men, and then asked with a smile:

"What are you talking about?"

"...We were talking about Reverend John Wesley."

Robert picked up his milk tea cup and introduced, "Pastor Davis just said that this pastor arrived in London two days ago and is currently conducting an open-air preaching tour. Yesterday, his preaching in South London attracted a full two thousand people to his speech!"

"yes!"

Pastor Davis nodded and smiled, "That's a very impressive pastor!"

I think if he had been born in the 16th century, he would definitely have been a great figure like John Calvin!

Reverend John Wesley?

Chen Wenbin thought about it and realized that this was indeed a remarkable person; the Wesleyan sect in England must have been founded by him.

He knew this because he had read Ni Kuang's novels, and the protagonist had that name. He then discovered through a search engine that it was also the name of a Protestant denomination in England...

As he was thinking, a maid brought him his breakfast: steamed buns, braised beef, and cabbage soup.

Davis glanced at the food on Chen Wenbin's plate and said to him:

"...Robin, today's evangelistic theme is God's gifts. You are deeply blessed by God, and I think there is no one more suitable to be the speaker!"

"Okay, then I'll give a brief explanation."

Chen Wenbin readily agreed, and while in Providence, Pastor Jensen had him give a speech several times on Sundays.

Anyway, the topics of Baptist Sunday sermons are very broad. He usually chooses to talk about virtues, such as compassion, justice, diligence, and integrity, and then intersperses one or two short stories. Half an hour is usually over.

But today Davis clearly didn't want him to talk about those things, and instead emphasized, "Robin, today I want to ask you to talk about the divine revelation you received!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Wenbin paused, his hand holding the chopsticks still. He then glanced at Robert, who was looking at him, and at Pastor Leon, whose face was full of expectation. After a moment's thought, he shook his head and refused.

"John, I understand your thoughts, but I'm still a bit confused, so now isn't the right time to talk about this!"

What are Davis's thoughts?

Chen Wenbin was very clear in his heart that, in addition to his fanatical faith in God, he also harbored the ambition to establish a new church modeled after the Congregationalists and Baptists!

Since Martin Luther initiated the Reformation in North Germany in 1517, promoting "justification by faith" and declaring the Bible as the sole authority, that everyone can communicate directly with God without the Catholic Church acting as an intermediary, Christianity, which believes in God, has effectively become an "open-source brand"!

Because everyone can communicate with God, the threshold for establishing a church has become very low. After the Reformation, various Protestant denominations sprang up like mushrooms after rain, but very few were truly competitive.

They either have state backing, such as the Anglican Church in Britain and the Lutheran Church in the Nordic countries.

Alternatively, there are sects with strong theological theories and organizational capabilities, such as Calvinism (Reformed Church) which promotes the doctrine of "predestination of the elect," and Puritans, Congregationals, and Baptists who have strong grassroots cohesion and are decentralized.

They also mentioned Wesleyanism, which they believe also follows a grassroots organizational approach, winning the support of believers by presenting theological ideas that appeal to a segment of the social group.

In short, the most important pillar supporting European civilization is Christianity. The priestly class is not only the grassroots organizer and educator of society, but also the manager and ruler of society.

The Reformation deprived the Roman Catholic Church of its monopoly on this upward path, which inevitably led to countless intelligent people eyeing this vacant position in the social order.

The British North American colonies were largely driven and established by these competitive Protestant churches.

With so many successful predecessors as role models, it's perfectly normal for John Davis to have the idea of ​​starting from scratch.

But Chen Wenbin didn't want to make a scene in the UK... This wasn't his territory. Only in North America would he have more freedom to act.

Davis and Pastor Dean Lyon were somewhat disappointed by Chen Wenbin's refusal, but they were now relying entirely on Lord Chen's funding to rapidly expand their influence within the Baptist Church, and Lord Chen had also promised them a bright future in North America, so they naturally couldn't ask him for anything.

Fifteen minutes later, Chen Wenbin finished his breakfast, told his father-in-law, put on his tailcoat, and took a carriage with two pastors to the Baptist church in East London.

When the three arrived at the church entrance in their carriage, there were already more than twenty carriages parked outside, and four or five policemen in black uniforms patrolling the church entrance.

After they alighted from the carriage, the leading policeman immediately stepped forward, bowed to Chen Wenbin, and then reported to his superior.

"Good morning, Sir! We've already cleaned up the neighborhood scum, so we promise it won't interfere with your work!"

"Mr. Will, thank you for your hard work!"

Chen Wenbin nodded slightly to him, then turned around and gestured to Christian Rogge, who was following behind as a bodyguard. The latter immediately took out two guinea coins from his purse and handed them to the patrolman.

"Thank you! Thank you for your generosity, God bless you!"

The patrolman was overjoyed to receive the gold coins and thanked them repeatedly. People around him looked disdainful, but dared not utter a word of mockery... because these East District patrolmen never hesitated to use their batons; they were the biggest gang in the East District!

Chen Wenbin didn't feel wronged by this. He couldn't just let people maintain order and take care of the church's security for nothing, could he?

The three entered the church, which was filled with over two hundred believers attending today's sermon. The not-so-large church was packed.

"Good morning, Dr. Robin!"

"Good morning, Sir!"

"God bless you, Sir!"

When Chen Wenbin entered, the men passing by all took off their hats to greet him. Judging from their clothes, most of them were respectable factory owners and shopkeepers, rather than the poorest people in the East District.

Without exception, they all showed respectful and ingratiating smiles when facing Chen Wenbin. This was not only because of Chen Wenbin's status as a baron, but also because today was the church's consultation day. Lord Chen would randomly select a dozen or so people in the church to treat themselves or their relatives, and each person would only be charged one shilling for the consultation fee.

So many poor people secretly sold their church attendance slots to rich people... This can be considered a form of charity.

"...Brothers and sisters! Please be quiet!"

Pastor Davis stepped onto the altar and began to preside over today's sermon with practiced ease. He first read a passage from the Bible as usual and introduced the work the church had done this week. After that, he invited Chen Wenbin to the stage.

"Good morning, brothers and sisters of the church. I am glad that you can attend today's evangelistic meeting."

Chen Wenbin is now quite skilled at giving speeches. He looked at the audience and smiled, saying, "Today I would like to share something that happened to me to inspire your thinking."

When I first opened my clinic in North America, I treated a patient…”