March 1927
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As P astor and E vangelist Since that time he has held pastorates in which he has happily combined pastoral work and occasional evangelistic cam paigns of from ten to twelve days. These pastorates have been held in London; Liverpool; Toronto,,Canada; Denver, Colorado; Birmingham, Alabama; New York City and Philadelphia. While pastor of the great Central Church in Denver, during the World War, an urgent request came from the National Executive of the British Y. M. C. A. of London, of which Lord Kinnard, known for many a day as an evangelical peer, was the presi dent. He accepted this invitation and for two and a half years he did religious work among the troops in the Y. M. C. A. huts in Great Britain,- France, Egypt and .Palestine. He was wonder fully fitted for that particular type of work and few men were a greater inspiration and blessing to the officers and men of the British Army. When the war was over the tug of his children on this side of the ocean brought him back to America again. When he returned he took up work in a great church that was passing through stressful times in Birmingham, Alabama and through his gracious ministry was able to .lead them out into calmer waters and a larger place of service. From there he went to New York City where he served the Fort Washington Presbyterian Church and, notwithstanding the fact that the Jews are crowding around it on every hand, he was able to attract large congrega tions and did a fine bit of constructive work. From there he went to the old Tenth Presbyterian Church in the city of Phila delphia, from which he came to Los Angeles, and we hope that this may prove to be not alone the crowning of his great min istry, but also the greatest work that he. has ever done. A ssociated W ith M oody We first came to know Dr. McNeill in 1893 while he was taking part in that unique evangelistic campaign conducted by D. L. Moody in the city of Chicago during the World’s Fair. This great master of men and evangelism gathered around him in the city of Chicago at that time outstanding preachers from all parts of the world. Among them were Stoker of Germany, Munod of France, Robertson and Varley of England, Wharton, Dickson, Hall, Chapman, A. J. Gordon and Torrey of America, but unquestionably the two outstanding preachers of that cam paign were D. L .Moody and John McNeill. Dr. McNeill was put in some of the hardest situations that could possibly test the genius and power of a preacher of the Gospel but, as far as we know, he never failed to attract the crowds. Again and again it was said that it would be impossible to get any great number to hear the Gospel in Chicago during such a time as the World’s Fair. D. L. Moody believed in the Gospel and its draw ing power and demonstrated to the church that among all of the gay interests of a world event it was possible to get the people to turn aside and listen to the preaching of the Word. It is no secret that no one was more effective in the carrying out of this venturesome experiment than the man who was then known as the Scottish Spurgeon. G ripping B ible E xpositions Dr. McNeill is in the best sense a Gospel preacher. He never turns aside to the alluring popular themes that woo many a great man away from the greatest theme in all the world. His expo sitions are original, constructive and gripping. His mind is well stored with the fine things of literature and few men are able to use the best of our poets to greater effect. He makes a very fine use of his Scotch-Irish humor and wit. This, however, is never used to cheapen his message and is never mechanical or forced. He is an orator of the first rank and has wonderful command of the interests of the common people. His ministry is wholesome and never given to exploiting fads. With the passing of the years it grows in mellowness and rich insight, which makes it a very great blessing to those who are privileged to share in it.
WhoIsJohn McNeill? Our John is not the Canadian Baptist John MacNeill—but the great Scottish Presbyterian Preacher, one time Asso ciate of D. L. Moody. D R. JOHN McNEILL, who has been recently called to a position on the faculty of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and to be the pastor of the Church of the Open Door, which worships in the auditorium of the Institute, is one of the most interesting and outstanding preachers of the Gospel in the Anglo- Saxon world. This new work, which he has now taken up, is a fitting consummation of a thoroughly great ministry and offers to him one of the greatest opportunities for the exercise of his unique gifts found anywhere in the world. Dr. McNeill is a Scotchman, who was. educated in Edinburgh University and Glasgow Theological Seminary of the Free Church. He was ordained in Edinburgh in July, 1886 and was, at that time,, installed as pastor of the McCrie Roxbury Free Church of Edinburgh. His ministry immediately became popu lar and his fame as a preacher spread rapidly, not only in Scot land, but throughout Great Britain. When the late Dr. J. O. Dykes, who was at that time pas tor of the historic Regent Square Presbyterian Church of Lon don, became president of the Theological Seminary of the Pres byterian Church of England, Dr. McNeill, although quite a young man, was called to succeed him. This brought him to a first rank pulpit and gave him a unique opportunity which chal lenged him to do his finest work. While occupying that pulpit he published three volumes of sermons which are among the finest work that he has done. These published sermons helped to bring him before the people and demonstrated that he had a gripping, as well as vital, message for his day. A P astor at L arge At a conference of leaders from the Established Church of Scotland and the Free and United Churches, which was convened for the consideration of the state of religion in the land and which was presided over by Dr. Marshall Lang, the father of the present Archbishop of York, it was decided that this mes sage was too important to be limited to a single pulpit. The late Dwight Lyman Moody had arrived in Great Britain for his third, and what proved to be his last, visit and was overwhelmed with requests which he could not possibly fill, indicating a desire on the part of the people to hear a message such as Dr. McNeill was delivering in London. The conference sent Dr. McNeill an urgent and unanimous request to carry- this message to the churches for two or three years. The call expressed the con viction that the message was to the churches, rather than to the outside world. They said they were not so anxious about bring ing people from the outside as they were to improve those who were inside. Said the letter, “We are not sure whether the half of our church members are assets or liabilities and we consider your ministry is to the churches first of all.” Under the urgency of this message he resigned his great pastorate at Regent Square and entered upon a new ministry which he meant to be only for two or three years, but which proved so effective, worth-while and unique with the manifest blessing of God that he stayed with it for sixteen years. As he says himself in referring to these years, “happy, laborious years.”
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