Pepys was a very influential citizen of London and was personally involved in the return of Charles II to England. He rose to a high position in the naval office and was largely responsible for the rehabilitation of the British navy in Restoration days. He was a personal friend of many prominent Londoners and government officials, including Admiral Sir William Penn, the father of William Penn, and John Evelyn, one of the founders of the Royal Society.
Pepys worshipped at St Olave’s Church, Hart Street. He is included in this history of Christian London because his famous Diary, kept between the fateful years of 1659 and 1669, contains a gold mine of eyewitness observations of London churches, their clergy and the religious affairs of the time. Here is a sample:
Aug. 10th, 1662 (Lord’s Day) Being to dine at my brother’s, I walked to St Dunstan’s, the church now being finished; and here I heard Dr Bates, who made a most eloquent sermon; and I am sorry I have hitherto had so low an opinion of the man, for I have not heard a neater sermon a great while, and more to my content.
Pepys thus gives us the reaction of the man in the pew to the result of the Act of Uniformity which forced so many of England’s Nonconformist ministers to leave their callings. The minister mentioned here, William Bates, gave his last sermon on 17 August, using a text from Hebrews 13:20, ‘Now may the God of peace...’ We know this because Pepys also recorded his farewell words.