Every man ready for glory

Many Primitive Methodists were mineworkers who bore witness to their faith in the dark and dangerous circumstances of work down the pit. The Seaham Colliery disaster of 8 September 1880 provides a dramatic example.

"164 men and boys perished, many of whom were trapped down the pit and suffered a slow death. When the rescuers finally broke through the blocked shaft they found a poignant message chalked on a wooden plank. It reads as follows: ‘The Lord is with us. We are all ready for heaven. Bless the Lord. We have had a jolly prayer meeting, every man ready for glory. Praise the Lord. Signed Ric. Cole’."

"Richard Cole was a Primitive Methodist local preacher who would often have ministered to his colleagues from the pulpit. Here at the tragic conclusion of his life, and in unimaginable and deeply moving circumstances, he ministered to them for the last time, as a dying man to dying men."

From 'Primitive Methodism', Geoffrey Milburn, page 57, quoting ‘Wesley Historical Society North East Bulletin, 34, page17’