1877-1881

John Inward

On treading the verge of places of renown, where famous men have laboured, like Daniel Curtis and the most recent pastor William Palmer, one who has a reverence for the dead in Christ feels a kind of scared awe, which is scarcely allowable by some.

The text expounded by Mr Banks at the welcome service was "Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee."

There was some tension between the churches as recorded in the Earthen Vessel of 1877:

Between Homerton-row and ourselves there is a great gulf fixed; why, we know not; but, we are perfectly willing it should remain as deep and as wide as ever. We have no sympathy with those different sections of the professing Church, who build up walls of exclusiveness out of certain crotchets and cruel inferences. Where these walls are erected, we keep our distance, because, for over thirty years, we have seen no pure, permanent, or genuine prosperity ever can be found within the enclosures of fortresses so high, so hard, so death-like. To our large brother, Mr John Inward we must then say, "farewell, man of God, we never expect on earth to see thee again. Where thou art we never wish to come; where we may yet remain for a few days, we must not expect you to come. Farewell then brother."