Last week, I established how the Emerging Church movement can contribute to an understanding of how community can function as tourist agency for the lost and retreat center for disciples of Jesus. Furthermore, the Ecclesia as it exists on Capitol Hill should both get serious about being the Body of Christ in the Hill community and be encouraged to do so by the broader American Church. Now, let’s turn our attention to two historical Ecclesial communities that beautifully illustrate both concepts. Sure, we can talk about what community and the Ecclesia mean, but how exactly that should look in reality is another story. The Emerging Church conversation loves to listen to the voices of the past for inspiration and instruction, while remixing them with the present. The historic society of the Clapham Circle in London, England provides the first narrative.

In 1792, the great English statesman William Wilberforce and fellow politician Henry Thornton moved to the village of Clapham, a prosperous suburb north of London, to establish a “chummery”–a house set aside for fellowship with friends. Their vision was to build a Christ-centered community where each member could build lifelong friendships, find encouragement during times of despair, and champion “kingdom causes” in a unified voice. The common bond that held this circle of friends together was the desire to to apply their faith in Jesus Christ to personal, social, political, national, and international concerns. Believing they were representatives of God’s kingdom on earth and faithful stewards of all God had given them, they were people who regarded prayer and Bible study as serious matters. While this brotherhood of Christian politicians began as an informal group of friends drawn together by common concerns and companionship, it eventually blossomed into what is known as the Clapham Circle.

Over the years, a variety of people joined this fellowship aside from Willberforce and Thornton. Willaim Smith, the Unitarian and radical Whig, lived in the village and was later drawn into the Circle. Brother-in-law to Prime Minister William Pitt, Edward Elliot moved to Clapham with the desire for Wilberforce’s spiritual guidance. Scholar and former slave-owner Zachery Macaulay settled in the village after serving as Governor of Sierra Leon. James Stephen, Master-in-Chancery and Member of Parliament from Tralee bought a house across from Battersea Rise and found fellowship in the Circle. Other members include Prime Minister William Pitt, Parliamentarian Thomas Babington, Reverend Thomas Giborne, Dean Isaac Milner of Queens College, poet and playwright Hanna More, and Reverend Charles Simeon of Cambridge. Clearly, this fellowship was composed of England’s social and political influencers, people who sought to encourage and partner with one another in kingdom-fights.

Collectively, these friends helped bring an end to the practice of slave trade in Britain and secure the abolition of slavery throughout British colonies. They also championed education and prison reform, public health reform, legislation to improve the lives of the poor, and better working conditions in factories. Their communal exploration of Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of Heaven inspired them to see that God’s kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth as it was already being done in heaven. Despite these impressive accomplishments, though, these men could not have achieved what they did without the other members of the Clapham Circle. While each person possessed different talents and might have made their mark on society individually, they enacted powerful influence and a lasting legacy because they acted in concert; it was their collective expression of faith, personal encouragement, and mutual counsel that spilled over into their world.

Following in the tradition of William Wilberforce’s own Clapham Circle, American Christians should establish communities on Capitol Hill through which congressional followers of Jesus Christ can find encouragement, explore and apply Truth, encounter God together through prayer and communion and learn how to express their faith on Capitol Hill for America’s next generation of Christian statesmen. Wilberforce was part of a unique community of believers and friends that empowered him, along with God, to accomplish what he did. It is my hope that, through such communities, a new set of Christian statesman will find encouragement through the communio sanctorum, explore the Truth claims of Christocentric spirituality, encounter God through meaningful spiritual practices, and express their faith by loving the Hill community with the gospel Jesus Christ and living Him out incarnationally. Only when these communities form will the Hill Ecclesia be able to carry forth a renewed vision for America.

The next post will further define how Hill community should look by letting the inspirational narrative of Iona, an ancient Scottish community, cast the vision. Hopefully, I will share this inspiration over the weekend.

be His,