In Birmingham he began his Sunday afternoon lectures which were so popular that after a couple of years he was forced to use the Town Hall as the numbers had become so great. They were at time said to have reached 4000 people. He was ordained into the Methodist New Connexion in 1877. After four years at Ladywood the Methodist New Connexion wanted to send him to London, but a committee was set up to use the redundant Highbury chapel in Graham Street and he was invited to be the pastor and hence he became an Independent or Congregational minister. He ran a very successful chapel for seven years and also became a regular speaker for, and officer in, the Liberal party. In 1884 he was elected to the Birmingham School Board. However, in 1886, when Joseph Chamberlain split the party he sided with Gladstone which left him in a difficult position in Liberal Unionist dominated Birmingham.