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Return to Methodists name list from "Methodism in the Channel Islands" by R.D. Moore (1952)
Pages 14-17
Part Two: THE TIME IS AT HAND
1. Dawn is in the West"' (1774)
Now BEGINS another chapter in the record of the ways of God. It is a simple story—like the Acts of the Apostles. It begins obscurely and develops slowly—like the evolution of mankind. It is without adequate explanation—until the moving of the Divine Spirit is seen beyond the human agents. Then we recognise it as an episode in the drama of the Kingdom.
The Wesleys were converted in May 1738 and began their appointed- work. It needed thirty-six years for Methodism to cross the Channel, and when it arrived it had travelled by way of Newfoundland. Commercial or social communications between the Islands and England hardly existed then. Agents of the Government or contingents of H.M. Forces were almost the only cross- Channel passengers. And the language was a greater barrier than the sea.
There were business connections with Newfoundland though. From Jersey alone twenty-seven ships sailed in 1732 for the cod-fishing or transport. Before the end of the century the number had risen to seventy-nine— employing 2,680 men. So our scene is set.
One of the missionaries chosen in 1768 by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to go out to minister to the little communities of hardy colonists in Newfoundland was
LAWRENCE COUGHLAN. Converted under Wesley's influence and became a travelling preacher. Volunteered for service with S.P.G. and ordained by the Bishop of London. Worked, without success and against much ill-treatment, at Carboniere and Harbour-Grace. Won through at last and wrote to .Wesley: 'I am a Methodist; I own it; I love the name and hope that I shall always love it. I follow the plan that you first taught me both for discipline and for doctrine.' He did indeed! His converts were organised into classes and the standard of their spiritual life thus maintained. Two men who were intensely interested in his religious meetings came from Jersey. One of them was
PIERRE LE SUEUR, an enterprising young man who acquired an establishment for fishing and curing cod. Deeply moved by Coughlan he returned to Jersey with an awakened conscience and full of spiritual concern. Remained some years in this state but confided it to none. Married 1772 but found his wife at first unable to understand or sympathise with his trouble. Resolved at last to 'take up his cross' (he expected to meet hostility and loss of business) the assurance came to him: 'Sacrifice all and you will find all.' He obeyed and made open acknowledgement of his convictions.
At this very time the second of the two men whom Lawrence Coughlan had influenced was 'returning from Newfoundland... His name was
JEAN TENTIN. He had now travelled farther along the road of spiritual experience than Le Sueur. They prayed together. One morning Le Sueur, visibly transformed, told his wife: 'I have found what I was seeking. I have found my Saviour.' Her ridicule gave place to conviction and when Jean Tentin arrived that evening he found her seeking God for herself. They met every evening for prayer and at midnight on the following Saturday she too had shared their experience.
So 1775 began with these three in Jersey—'babes in Christ' but with His Grace in their hearts.
2. 'The Dayspring from on High' (1775)
Moved by this new eager love, these three began talking to their friends of the life that had come to them. Soon others were interested, some attracted, a few awakened.
Presently they were the subjects of the common gossip of St Helier. Their experience proved true to type—the New Testament type—as Jesus foretold. They became the objects of scorn and slander: they were charged with hypocrisy.' Le Sueur was bitterly opposed by his family. His partner—the captain of a ship in the Newfoundland trade—left him. His business rapidly declined: he was in general disrepute.
His son's testimony is on record: 'My father was forsaken by everybody and his house was shunned as that of an infected person, . . . none dared to purchase from, or to sell anything to him, or have any dealings with him, . . . sometimes he found himself on the point of having no bread for his children. But it often happened, in the hour of greatest distress, that Providence sent relief and the table was set for him in the presence of his enemies.'
Perhaps they realised a little of the deeper meaning of all this. They were 'bearing about—branded upon them —the owner's marks of the Lord Jesus'. It was the 'hallmark' of an authentic faith! So while they did not separate themselves from the worship of the Anglican Church, they found strength to 'bear all things' through their fellowship. They met in their small groups, as the Christians of Newfoundland had done) for the study of the Word and for prayer. They did not even know they were 'Methodists'—perhaps they had not yet heard the name. They only knew that the Lord was with them—precisely according to His promise—that they were His friends and brethren, and therefore the children of God.
Of course—of course—in spite of all opposition, they found a few receptive ones here and there throughout the Island. Mme Montbrun, the widow of a doctor, was one; the Perchard family and Mme Perrot (grandmother of the brothers Perrot who years later founded the Independent Church in the Islands) were others. Mme Perrot was verily an evangelist in the country parishes. Gradually Le Sueur and his friends established their meetings at St Mary's, Trinity, St Saviour's, and elsewhere. Thus, for four years, their faithful work went on.
3. New Helpers (1779)
Captain John Brown (of Poole) arrived in his ship. He had undertaken the transport of cattle to Jersey for victualling the garrison. He was a lay preacher of the Independent Church. On landing he asked whether there were any Christians in the town. He was directed to Le Sueur who 'received him as sent from God’—as of course he was.
The Captain said he would gladly preach, so Le Sueur prepared a store-room at the back of his house in La Rue des Trois Pigeons (Hill Street). There the regular preaching-services began.
Shortly afterwards another helper arrived: a blind preacher (a Baptist) named Bestland. Neither he nor Captain Brown could preach in French (Le Sueur did that), but their experience helped to build up the faith and guide the conduct of the little society.
But Captain Brown's visits ceased and Bestland had to return because of his poverty. Jean Tentin had also gone -being unwilling to do military service as a militiaman on Sundays. He, like Le Sueur, had been in conflict with the authorities and had gone to London to appeal to government. He did not succeed and therefore remained away from Jersey. Not long afterwards he died in London 'happy in God'. The little band of the faithful was left to its own resources once more—but God was preparing others.