It would seem that it all began in a very small way. A few Christian friends gathered together in little cottage meetings for prayer, the reading of God’s word and singing together. Others came and joined the meetings and numbers increased so they began to hold their meetings in the Temperance Hall.
God had begun a great work in Timsbury. The group were brought to the notice of the United Methodist Free Church at Radstock and a Minister came to the Temperance Hall and commenced special Evangelical Services. The Hall was filled each night and a deep influence rested upon all. During that week, forty eight are reported to have joined the church. Soon after this the group decided they would have a building of their own. The foundation stone of Tabor was laid on Thursday 4th May 1865 by a Mr Milsom of Reading who delivered an excellent address and closed with a £10 donation for himself and £10 for his wife. Afterwards, tea was enjoyed by about three hundred and fifty people.
At a subsequent public meeting held in a field believed to be adjacent to the Temperance Hall there were seven hundred people present and a collection of £45.14.4d was taken towards the building fund.
At around this time Moody and Sankey came to England from America. With Moody’s preaching and Sankey’s gospel singing they turned things upside down spiritually. The Moody-Sankey hymns were used and greatly loved by those Tabor converts especially in the Thursday evening preaching and prayer meetings.
Based on “The History of Tabor” by Wilf Bridges
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