rejected on the grounds that the 900 capacity of the church was too small, although in 1851 1,370 attended a service with a sermon delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The plot was also considered too small to rebuild a larger church which led to a new parish church being built nearby at Rosslyn Hill named St. Stephen's, with the then minister of St John's Downshire Hill, Joshua Kirkman, becoming the first vicar of St. Stephen's. The scholar Robert Baker Girdlestone was minister of St John's from 1889 to 1903. 1916–present In 1916, following financial difficulties during the First World War, the freehold was bought by Mr Albert Leslie Wright, the son of Rev. Henry Wright who had been the minister 1872–1880. Leslie Wright then leased the church back to the congregation for a nominal rent. In his will he directed that trustees "postpone the sale of the said chapel so long as there is sufficient congregation", with the choice of trustees (CPAS) ensuring that the church would continue along evangelical lines following his death. Leslie Wright died in 1938, with the church continuing to operate according to these provisions until the freehold of the property was purchased by the congregation from Wright's trustees in 2003. The church has had strong links to overseas Christian mission, with Rev. Henry Wright beginning an enduring link with the Church Missionary Society, donations to missionary societies forming the largest item of expenditure annually from the earliest church records (1872) until World War I, and various ministers involved in overseas missionary work, including Douglas Butcher (1957–1960, was Honorary Canon of Cairo cathedral and later returned to the Middle East), Douglas Paterson (1962–1965, later joined the Ruanda Mission) and Kenneth Howell (1972–1979, earlier first Bishop of Chile, Bolivia and Peru). Tom Watts was licensed as the senior minister of St John's in January 2018. The chapel stands in the conservative evangelical tradition, and has passed resolutions rejecting the leadership and/or ordination of women. It receives alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Maidstone (currently Rod Thomas). Building The church building is Grade I listed and has a Regency stuccoed, cream-painted facade. Its notable features include a Doric porch, portico and cupola and a double-staircased vestibule. The main auditorium features a five-bay nave and galleries on three sides. The church has no recessed chancel, inscribed panels (previously along with a prominent pulpit and small communion table,