Samuel Annesley – The St Paul of the Nonconformists

Samuel Annesley (1620–1696) followed in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul in having ‘the care of all the churches’ on his heart. Until now remembered mainly for his famous grandchildren, John and Charles Wesley, Samuel Annesley was a key labourer among the Nonconformists in his own right.

Minister of St Giles, Cripplegate in London, Annesley was ejected in 1662, and afterwards took the lead in organising the Morning Exercises, the published version of the early morning weekday meetings for prayer and exhortation which made such a huge contribution in the mid-1600s to stabilising the people in sound theology and wise Christian living. Annesley himself published a famous sermon on conscience (included in this volume), explaining how the conscience works and giving practical gospel advice on how to achieve God-honouring peace of conscience.

Norman L. Hopkins recounts the life of Samuel Annesley, bringing in a wealth of background information which allows us to situate Annesley in his context while letting Annesley’s own character and contributions shine through.

This volume also brings to light the life and labours of another almost-forgotten figure, Annesley’s friend Thomas Brand. Brand (1635–1691) worked zealously in and around Staplehurst, Kent, throwing himself into not only preaching but also catechising, holding prayer meetings, distributing quality Christian literature, and one-to-one evangelism. An appendix in this volume provides Annesley’s biographical account of Thomas Brand, as well as the sermon Annesley preached at Brand’s funeral.

This is the third title in the Evangelical Lives series – a series of small biographies of 17-18th century Christians in the British Isles whose lives are long forgotten or regarded as marginal.