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SUMMARY:Saturday 23rd August\, Holy Eucharist to remember John Bunyan\, pr
 eacher and author
DTSTART:20250823T103000Z
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DTSTAMP:20260411T051045Z
UID:12170032025-08-23 10:30:00+00:00achurchnearyou
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DESCRIPTION:John Bunyan was an English writer and non-conformist preacher\
 , best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Pr
 ogress.\n\nBorn in 1628 in the village of Elstow\, near Bedford\, he joine
 d the Parliamentary Army at the age of 16 during the first stage of the En
 glish Civil War. After three years\, he returned to Elstow and followed hi
 s father into the trade of a tinker (a metal smith). After his marriage in
  1649\, he read the two books that his wife owned - both of which were rel
 igious – and became frightened that he might go to hell because of some 
 of the bad things he had done. \n\nSo he started to attend his local paris
 h church\, as people in those days were supposed to worship God in the Chu
 rch of England. But there were groups of people who wished to worship God 
 in other ways\, known as “non-conformists”. In 1653\, a sect of non-co
 nformists had taken over St John’s Church in Bedford\, and John Bunyan j
 oined them and later became a preacher. But after the restoration of the m
 onarchy in 1660\, things became more difficult\, and the religious freedom
  that allowed groups of non-conformists to establish\, was curtailed\, and
  everybody was required to believe what the Church of England told them. \
 n\nBut Bunyan did not agree and continued preaching his own ideas of Chris
 tianity. He and other non-conformists often met in secret at a mill in Whe
 athampstead in Hertfordshire\, in what is now the site of the John Bunyan 
 pub. But in the end\, he was arrested and spent the next twelve years\, 16
 60-1672\, in gaol for refusing to give up his preaching. The gaol was at t
 he top of Silver Street in the centre of Bedford\, only 5 minutes’ walk 
 from his home. \n\nDuring this time\, he wrote a spiritual autobiography\,
  ‘Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners’\, and began work on his mos
 t famous book\, ‘The Pilgrim's Progress’\, which became one of the mos
 t published books in the English language with 1\,300 editions having been
  printed by 1938\, 250 years after his death. The book\, which is a story 
 about a man trying to lead a good Christian life\, has been translated int
 o more languages than any other book except the Bible. \n\nBunyan's later 
 years\, following release from a further period of imprisonment\, were spe
 nt in relative comfort and he continued to be a popular author and preache
 r\, and became pastor of the Bedford non-conformist meeting. He died on 31
  August 1688 aged 59\, after falling ill on a journey to London and is bur
 ied in Bunhill Fields\, a non-conformist burial ground in London’s City 
 Road.\n\nClick below to hear the hymn\, 'He who would valiant be'\, based 
 on The Pilgrim's Progress.
GEO:-4.298266529747012;37.12525560245366
LOCATION:Salinas Anglican Congregation
URL:https://youtu.be/5yHJMPw8RHU?si=5oNEpCTuLFtVlkra
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