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On this last subject, Brencher dwells at length on the controversial incident of October 18, 1966, when Lloyd-Jones appealed at a meeting of the British Evangelical Alliance for evangelicals in denominations like the Church of England to leave those mixed communions for a purer form of strictly evangelical fellowship. In his thorough canvassing of this dramatic moment, Brencher provides yet an another interpretation of the extemporaneous response to Lloyd-Jones made by the Anglican John Stott, who was serving as the chair of the meeting. He also provides extensive consideration of the all-evangelical fellowships that were in a position to benefit from Lloyd-Jones' appeal (but largely did not), the fractures in friendships that resulted as a result of this appeal between Lloyd-Jones and former allies within the Anglican church, and the long-term impact on the health of evangelicalism in Britain.
captionhough those for whom Lloyd-Jones could do no wrong may find Brencher's analysis harsh, others (especially Americans) will find it a helpful clarification of issues, personalities, ecclesiastical circumstances, and long-term historical trends that came to a head in that memorable exchange. The same judgment can be made for the rest of Brencher's interpretive study: while it may irritate the disciples of Lloyd-Jones, it is neither vindictive or reductionist in its assessments. The book, in other words, should be read by anyone who takes seriously the important work of unusually blessed preachers, but who also wants to move beyond either simple praise or blame in assessing the long-term impact of such ministry.
Brencher's book, it should be noted, is one of the early volumes in a new publishing venture at Paternoster Press, based in the U.K. Under the editorship of Jeremy Mudditt, Paternoster is now publishing a series of "Studies in Evangelical History and Thought." (Let me forthrightly acknowledge a very modest part in this enterprise as an editorial consultant.) The series is intended for revised doctoral dissertations and other serious monographs on important topics, people, and themes in evangelical life and thought for Britain, North America, and even further afield. Along with Brencher's important study, early volumes in the series include Linda Wilson, Constrained by Zeal: Female Spirituality Among Nonconformists, 1825-1875) (2000); Herbert Boyd McGonigle, Sufficient Saving Grace: John Wesley's Evangelical Arminianism (2001); and Kenneth S. Jeffrey, When the Lord Walked the Land: The 1858-62 Revival in the North East of Scotland (2002).
Mark Noll is McManis Professor of Christian Thought at Wheaton College and the author most recently of America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln (Oxford Univ. Press).
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