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Early Ministry Recap

Spurgeon was 17 years old whenever he began his Pastorate at Waterbeach Chapel.

In his Pastorate at Waterbeach chapel, the attendance jumped from 40 to 400 people.

Spurgeon was then asked by the Historic New Park Street Chapel to come and Pastor their congregation.

When Spurgeon began his Pastorate at New Park Street Chapel there were 232 Parishioners, and within a few short months the church was now filled up with nearly 2,000 people.

Throughout Spurgeon’s ministry, he would commonly face the problem of outgrowing the buildings he was ministering in.

Today on the Podcast we’d like to walk you through these buildings as we discuss the primetime years of Spurgeon’s ministry.

New Park Street Chapel Overcrowded Pt. 1

1854 was Spurgeon’s First year as Pastor of this Congregation, and as Spurgeon preached the people quickly flocked to his church.

As Spurgeon’s Ministry grew in Popularity, New Park Street Chapel became dangerously overcrowded.

This building seated 1,500 people with standing room for 500 more.

“Cramped and Airless conditions were getting on his nerves, but the deacons refused to do anything about it. Until one particular Sunday when Spurgeon finally had enough. Spurgeon turned around and faced the wall behind the pulpit and shouted ‘by faith, the walls of Jericho came down, and by faith this wall with come down too.’ The deacons were shocked and readily agreed to extend the building.”

Due to a lack of ventilation and a lack of seating capacity, the worshippers at New Park Street Chapel were forced to rent a building named Exeter Hall.

A renovation to add more seating to New Park Street Chapel immediately followed as Spurgeon moved his people to this building, Exeter Hall.

Exeter Hall Pt. 1

Exeter Hall was a building that had far more seating options than New Park Street.

Exeter Hall seated 4,000 people while New Park Street Chapel could only hold around 2,000 people.

As Spurgeon preached many people were coming to hear him.

Among Christians he was growing in Popularity, yet Spurgeon did not go unnoticed in the secular press.

His sermons were published in the Monday edition of the London Times, and even the New York Times.

Spurgeon often offended many, and he was called “the Exeter Hall demagogue” and “the pulpit buffoon.”

Although Spurgeon’s ministry was now being mocked by some in the secular press, the young 21 year old Pastor labored to Preach the Word. ​

Mark Galli and Ted Olsen, “Introduction,” 131 Christians Everyone Should Know (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 102-103New Park Street Chapel Overcrowded Pt. 2

New Park Street Overcrowded Part 2

The Members of the New Park Street Chapel spent 5 months at Exeter Hall and quickly returned to the newly renovated New Park Street Chapel.

During the renovation process 200 seats were added to New Park Street Chapel. Although the renovation was a quick process, the problem was not resolved.

When the church returned to New Park Street Chapel, these 200 extra seats filled up within weeks of Spurgeon’s Preaching.

This congregation now had the same problem that they initially had before they left for Exeter Hall the first time.

Although the Renovation seemed like a good idea at first to some, it was kind of like throwing a bandaid on a broken bone. The problem was not yet fixed.

The church remained in the renovated, and packed out, New Park Street Chapel for around a year until they finally decided they needed to build a larger church.

Exeter Hall Pt. 2

While the funds were being raised to build this church, Spurgeon was once again forced to move his church back to Exeter Hall.

This was their second go around at Exeter Hall, but even this building with 4,000 seats could not hold the people of London that were coming to hear Charles Spurgeon Preach.

Surrey Garden’s Music Hall

In 1856, Spurgeon moved his congregation from Exeter Hall to the biggest indoor venue in London, namely the Surrey Garden’s Music Hall.

This music hall was immense in size and sat 10,000 people.

To put into perspective the size of Surrey Garden’s Music Hall, both the New Park Street Chapel and Exeter Hall combined would still not have had as much space as this enormous building.

Although Spurgeon now had plenty of space for people to sit during the Preaching of the Word, this was a temporary solution. T

his was a Music Hall, not a church.

While Spurgeon Preached at this music hall one of the most notable events happened in his life.

Disaster on October 19th, 1856.

During this date, the building was overflowing with people.

During the service, a person, likely with ill-intent, yelled fire. Chaos and panic ensued as a stampede arose within this music hall. 7 people were trampled to death and 28 people were taken to the Hospital due to serious injuries.

Spurgeon was unaware and tried to calm the crowds, the service was cancelled because of the excitement.

When Spurgeon got home he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. He canceled many speaking engagements and missed a Sunday. His family and him stayed at the home of a deacon. Nettles writes, “After days of despair, he resolved, based on , that if abuse to him meant glory to Christ, then he gladly would endure all that came. The final days in retreat turned into a time of joy and spiritual resolution and a solemn dedication of the sons to the service of God.”

Crystal Palace

In 1861 Spurgeon was invited to Preach at the Crystal Palace.

The nation was called to a day of Fasting and Prayer, and the young, uneducated, Pastor was invited to preach to the people.

During this event there were 23,654 people in attendance.

Metropolitan Tabernacle

In the Summer of 1859, the Foundation stone for the Metropolitan Tabernacle was laid.

In March of 1861, the new church building was officially opened.

Amazingly this church opened Debt Free.

It cost right at 32,000 pounds, which would be equivalent to around 2,000,000 pounds today. To put these numbers in perspective....Using today’s exchange rate, it would have cost nearly 40,000 dollars in that age, and in today’s age it would have cost around 2,500,000 dollars.

Needless to say, this was a remarkable building whereby many would come to hear the Prince of Preachers Harold the Word of God.

The sanctuary sat around 6,000 people comfortably, while having standing room for another 500 people.

This building would be filled both morning and evening for worship services.If you wanted to secure your spot in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, admission was free but you were required to obtain a ticket to secure your seat.

Keep in mind that Spurgeon’s starting Group at New Park Street Chapel consisted of 232 parishioners, and now the Metropolitan Tabernacle is an enormous church in the heart of London.

During his ministry, 14,692 members were added to this church and 11,000 members were added by Baptism.

At his death 5,328 members were on the roles and 127 lay ministers were serving in London

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