The Parson's Got Converted (By His Own Sermon)

William Haslam was a high church Anglican vicar in Cornwall in the 19th Century.

In 1851, he had gone to stay with a friend, Mr, Aitken who had challenged Haslam that he wasn’t converted.

During that week, Haslam was shocked that he had nothing to offer his congregation as they were dying.

“..I trembled to think of those I’d misled. ..I remembered some I had watched over zealously..and I had sent them out of the world resting upon a false hope, administering the Sacrament to them for want of knowing any other way to bring them into God’s favour….”

Thursday, Friday and Saturday of that week passed and on Sunday Haslam was so distressed that he was quite unfit to take the service.

Let’s take up the story in Haslam’s own words

“Mr Aitken had said to me: ‘If I were you, I would shut the church and say to the congregation: ”I will not preach again till I am converted. Pray for me!”’…

The sun was shining brightly and before I could make up my mind to put the service off, the bells struck out a merry peal and sent their summons far away over the hills. Now the thought came to me that I would go to church and read the morning prayers and after that dismiss the people. There was no Holy Communion that day and I had deputed the clerk to elect the hymns, for I was far too ill to attend to anything myself.

The psalms and hymns were especially applicable to my case and seemed to help me so that I thought I would go on and read the antecommunion service and then dismiss the people. And while I was reading the Gospel, I thought, well, I will just say a few words in explanation of this and then I will dismiss them.

So I went up in the pulpit and gave out my text. I took it from the Gospel of the day “What think ye of Christ” (Mt. 22 v. 42).

As I went on to explain the passage, I saw that the Pharisees and scribes did not know that Christ was the Son of God or that He was come to save them….. Something was telling me, all the time: ‘You are no better than the Pharisees yourself- you do not believe he is the Son of God and that He has come to save you, anymore than they did’.

I do not remember all I said, but I felt a wonderful light and joy coming into my soul and I was beginning to see what the Pharisees did not. Whether it was something in my words, or my manner , or my look, I know not; but all of a sudden a local preacher, who happened to be in the congregation, stood up and putting up his arms shouted out in Cornish manner ’The parson is converted! The parson is converted! Hallelujah!’ and in a moment his voice was lost in the shouts and praises of three or four hundred people.

Instead of rebuking this extraordinary “brawling” as I should have done in a former time, I joined the outburst of praise and to make it more orderly, I gave out the Doxology ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’ and the people sang it with heart and voice over and over again….Still the praise went on and was swelled by numbers of passers-by who came into the church greatly surprsied to hear and see what was going on.

When this subsided, I found at least 24 people crying for mercy, whose voices had not been heard in the excitement and noise of thanksgiving.

They all professed to find peace and joy in believing. Amongst this number there were three from my own house and we returned home praising God.