new church life: jan uary/february 2015
form in America.
Tilson was the pastor of the Conference Society in Camberwell. When he
aligned himself with the Academy position he resigned from the Conference
ministry and took half the Camberwell congregation away to worship in a
rented hall. It was initially a rather one-man show until the group was joined
by C. J. Whittington, the Camden Road organist, upon whom I claim one of
the very first seeds had fallen. Whittington had taken Tafel’s ideas to heart –
particularly his ideas on education.
When the “split” – as we call it – first became apparent, however, Tafel
decided – to people’s surprise – that secession in England was undesirable and
unnecessary. He seems to have felt that his seeds, given time, would be able
to take root within Conference – probably because its members were woolly
minded and undisciplined, which to some extent has indeed turned out to be
the case.
So, when Whittington discovered that Tafel was not going to take Camden
Road down the Academy road he felt betrayed, resigned from Camden
Road and threw in his lot with Tilson. This was a stroke of luck for Tilson as
Whittington was a rich man and able to give concrete form to his ideals.
Whittington purchased land not far from the Camberwell Church and
erected a building we know as Michael Church. It was a modest but adequate
two-story structure, with a chapel above and schoolrooms below, where
Whittington’s children and others could receive a distinctive Swedenborgian
education. The story is well-documented in Nancy Dawson’s little book,
Michael Church: The First Hundred Years.
Whittington is probably even better known for his contribution to the
first General Church Book of Worship, where he composed or set many hymns,
psalms and responses to four-part harmonies. Perhaps he lacked a great gift for
melody, but he nevertheless made possible a full congregational involvement
The gathering at the British Academy All Age
School at Purley Chase in September 2014
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