Hello! My name is Michael Ives. I serve as minister of the Presbyterian Reformed Church of Rhode Island. In this blog, I focus on ministry issues from a confessionally Reformed perspective, and especially the history, theory, and contemporary applicability of the parish model for Gospel witness and church extension.
The title ‘West Port Experiment’ refers to the efforts of Dr. Thomas Chalmers in the late 1840s who, after leaving the endowments of the establishment in the Disruption of 1843, implemented his cherished parish model of church extension and paternalistic philanthropy in one of the worst slums of industrialized Edinburgh. Chalmers’ Territorial Church in the West Port stands as a kind of monument to the adaptability of the old parish plan in a new social, economic, and political context and to the complementarity of Christian vision and practical experimentation.
If you are Reformed and are presently practicing parish missions – adopting a geographic district for regular house-to-house evangelism – I’d love to hear from you. You can e-mail me at mjives dot refparish dot gmail dot com.
Below are several pieces I’ve published or am seeking publication on Chalmers and the parish model; all WPE posts I’ve authored are here. I also write for a broader audience, especially for unbelievers at the Reformed Parish.
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Chalmers: A Closer Look
If you’re interested in exploring the thought of Thomas Chalmers further, check out the following:
1. Chalmers Secondary Sources. This link provides some basic introductory resources on Thomas Chalmers.
2. Chalmers Audio Library. If you’re a commuter, a multi-tasker, or just limited on time and would like to hear Chalmers, check out these recordings. This collection is everything I’ve recorded, popular, polemic, and academic.
3. Chalmers Primary Sources. Sadly, much of Chalmers’ rich, published works have not been republished since the 19th century. They are accessible online; but here, particular works are separated out, organized for convenience, and integrated with audio files from the library above.
Further, below are my own published writings on Chalmers and his reformed, parochial mission theory.
Popular Writings
1. “Parish Evangelism: Rediscovering Focus in Evangelistic & Pastoral Effort” is a more popular introduction on Chalmers’ parish theory, a paper I wrote back in seminary. It reflected my first discovery of Chalmers’ parish principle for missions back in 2005 when I first got the bug.
2. “A Reformed View of Scotland’s Parish System” was published in The Bulwark (2013) (article above starts at p. 9). As the title suggests, it’s somewhat broader than Chalmers, situating him within the pastoral and evangelistic legacy of the Church of Scotland.
3. “An Open Door: Re-thinking Door-to-Door Evangelism.” This was a blog post that was later published in the Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth (2019), the magazine of the Heritage Reformed Congregations.
Academic Writings
1. “Desert Rose: Thomas Chalmers’ West Port Experiment (1844-1847)” was published in the 2018 edition of The Confessional Presbyterian. To purchase a copy of the journal, click 
here. This is the story that has, above all, persuaded me of the viability of parish method of missions outside a church establishment. Further, it embodies the nearly-lost ideal of a confessional Presbyterianism witness married to a robust, urban mission to the neglected underclass, without falling into a this-worldly social gospel.
2. “Pastor and Parish Redux: Thomas Chalmers’ Conversion & Kilmany Ministry, 1811-1815.” Published in June 2020 in the Puritan Reformed Theological Journal. This article introduces Chalmers’ ministry and, in particular, the genesis of his life-long passion for parish mission.
Recorded Lectures
1. “Parish Missions: The Story of Thomas Chalmers’ West Port Experiment, 1844-47”
