On this day in 1689, soon after William and Mary were seated upon their respective thrones as King and Queen of England, the Toleration Act was passed, by which compulsory attendance at the Church of England was abolished. The State Church was still privileged, but she could no longer persecute others. One would think that under such conditions the Lord’s churches would have flourish, but apparently the earlier persecution had drained the saints of their strength, and when the same resolve was no longer needed, many churches fell into the pit of lethargy.
The Baptist church in Norfolk was an exception. Started in 1717 by Richard Culley, with 120 members, the church flourished. In 1741 Edward Trivett succeeded Culley and for the next fifty years the church had a special and God-blessed ministry. Baptist churches in those days had a hard time finding pastors. The Bristol Baptist College was founded before the Act of Toleration was passed, but, for the most part, it was still up to churches and pastors to train up the succeeding generations of pastors. When he learned that a young man might be interested in preaching a message, Brother Trivett would encourage him, and announce a special service to allow the man to preach. As those brethren grew in experience, some of them were seen to possess the calling of God. Brother Trivett would then take those young man and personally tutor them in the doctrines of the Word of God and mentor them in teaching, preaching and other aspects of the ministry.
During his ministry, Pastor Trivett trained his own son and his son-in-law. They both went out to pastor other churches. Over the next few years six others we called, trained and sent out to pastor Baptist churches in need. And so, Edward Trivett, though never famous, was used of God in greatly impacting the Baptist churches of England.