Born on 1 January 1882 at Gayle, Wensleydale. During World War I he served as a chaplain on the Somme Front and wrote of his experiences in The Kitten in the Crater (2nd edition, 1917; abridged as The Cross at the Front, 1939), The Soul of the Soldier (1918) and poems In the Trenches (1916). In 1922 he began a 45-year ministry in Lambeth. He was a pioneer in the evangelistic use of films and transformed the church into a cinema. He wrote of this in Spiritual Adventure: the Story of the Ideal Film Service (1935). Inspired in his youth by the poems of Robert Burns, he wrote over 250 hymns, published in four collections in 1939, 1940, 1944 and 1946. Methodist International House at Lambeth was the fulfilment of his dream. He died in London on 7 January 1967.

Entry written by: JDB
Category: Person
Comment on this entry