This week in Christian history: Anne Hutchinson heresy trial, St. Benedict, Spurgeon church

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor

Charles Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle opens - March 18, 1861

This week marks the official opening the Metropolitan Tabernacle of London, England, the large church which was led by famed nineteenth-century evangelist Charles H. Spurgeon.

Believed to be the largest church in London at that time, the Tabernacle had a sanctuary that seated 5,000 people, a school, and an orphanage.

A service was held on March 18, which fell on a Monday, that was attended by approximately 1,000 people. Spurgeon himself presided over the ceremony.

“Fervency and intense earnestness marked every petition, and the brethren separated with a firm belief that the Lord would be with us,” noted one account.