Gospel Patroness

Gospel Patroness

In 2013 John Rinehart wrote a stimulating little book called Gospel Patrons about wealthy individuals who used their financial resources to fund the ministries of famous Christian leaders. The patrons are rarely acknowledged but their generosity has had lasting influence. Another such person is Margaret Baxter nee Charlton. Margaret (1636-1681) married the famous C17 English puritan Richard Baxter (1615-1691) in 1662 despite there being a twenty-year gap in their ages. His literary output was so large that some called him ‘scribbling Dick’.  With Margaret he enjoyed a very happy union.

She had been born into wealth, but Richard was raised in humble circumstances. In ministry while Richard had had security and positions of influence, the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 meant that for most of the rest of his life, he was in dire financial straits and often persecuted by ecclesiastical authorities for his nonconformity.

Margaret became a gospel patroness using her money to support his ministry in a range of ways. She funded chapels and rented rooms where her husband could preach. She supported him when his persecution was most acute often living with him in dwellings that were far below the station her class would naturally accept. She gave the home financial stability when her husband was not permitted to earn an income and gave him the means to undertake his prolific writing output.

She exhibited magnificent generosity to the poor supporting them and establishing schools to pay for the education of their children. Margaret also undertook to financially support others, such as a certain preacher Mr Seddon and his family when Seddon was cast into prison for gospel ministry. In all of this she became an unlikely flag bearer for women’s public ministry in an era where women were far less prominent.

Sadly, she died relatively young, probably of cancer. She followed her master, Jesus who the apostle Peter describes, among many other things, as one who ‘went around doing good.’ (Acts 10:38). More importantly her generosity sprang from a total commitment to Christ. As a teenager she had been much interested in the life of the world and disliked a piety that appeared too serious. But that all changed in the late 1650s under Baxter’s preaching in Kidderminster and she soon came to a robust commitment to Jesus. This was the well spring of her new character.

On her death Baxter reflected on her life and his sorrow in a short work entitled A Breviate of the Life of Margaret Baxter which is available to download through a simple google search. My engagement with this material has come by reading A Grief Sanctified by J.I. Packer which discusses Baxter’s marriage to Margaret and the principles that made it so strong.

Margaret stands as an example to all of us, as a person totally committed to Christ and one who used her earthly goods in His service. Everyone can be stimulated by her generosity but especially those who have more of this world’s goods than they possibly need. If that is you, look for opportunities to become a gospel patron or patroness.

For more about raising resources for ministry, see my book Giving Generously https://givinggenerously.com/