IO
T H E
K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
January, 1936
asHe was Known
R. A. TORREY
in GREAT BRITAIN By MRS. A. C. DIXON
Upon her arrival in Baltimore, Md., from England, several weeks ago, Mrs. Dixon readily agreed to write o f Dr. Torrey in relation to his work in Great Britain. A s the wife o f Charles M. Alexander, TorreVs song leader and colaborer during the strenu ous campaigns abroad, Mrs. Dixon had opportunity to know Torrey well'.* §he is not only the able author of books and articles, but is also the founder and international president of. the Pocket Testament League. T he opening of the Twentieth Century was a period of high-water mark in the spiritual life o f the British Empire. No personality played a more important part in producing the movements which led through the grace of God to the salvation of th'ousanads o f souls and the train ing o f an army of Christian workers than R. A. Torrey. With his colleague, Charles M. Alexander, Dr. Torrey was the leader o f the memorable Torrey-Alexander evangelistic campaigns that stirred Australia and New Zealand in 1902, touched India and Ceylon in passing, and furrowed deep into the religious life of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland during three years. Later visits o f Dr. Torrey to the British Isles for short periods, and the influence of his books and various writings, strengthened the impres sions and deepened the blessings of the great years of service. M oody ’ s S uccessor Dr. Torrey’s work in Great Britain followed, with the intervening break o f a few years, the undying labors of D. L. Moody, who had been called Home in 1899. Torrey’s work was, in fact, an outcome of Moody’s ministry, for shortly before his death, Moody had been urgently invited to visit Australia with Mr. Sankey. It was upon R. A .
nia, and New Zealand. Tidings of the powerful spiritual awakening in the Antipodes reached England and led to an urgent invitation from London, which opened up a pro longed evangelistic effort stirring every part of the British Isles from January, 1903, to November, 1905. Punctuated by short visits to the summer Bible con ferences of the United States, the great movement swept through England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. In October o f 1904, a memorable campaign in Cardiff led to a spiritual upheaval in South Wales, a revival movement widely ex tended through a great gathering o f ministers drawn from the surrounding counties, individuals upon whom the Spirit o f God fell as Dr. Torrey probed and pleaded for utter surrender to Christ. Without doubt, the Cardiff campaign was an instrument used o f God to bring about the great Welsh Revival which spread through Wales almost im mediately afterwards, attracting the attention o f the world. The second mission in Liverpool ran into three months of concentrated effort, leaving its marks for generations upon the northern territory. W ork in L ondon ' •The most far-reaching work o f the three arduous years in the British Isles was accomplished through the great London Mission o f 1905. The London Evangelistic Coun cil, presided over by Lord Kinnaird, was inspired by the evident moving of the Holy Spirit in other parts o f the country, to make bold plans for a campaign commensurate with the size o f the great metropolis. Preceded by weeks of prayer and eager preparation, the campaign opened on February 4 in the Royal Albert Hall, which had been en gaged for the whole o f February and March. More than forty thousand applications were received for the opening service, and the streets surrounding the Albert Hall were thronged with thousands o f people unable to gain admission after the huge concert hall had been packed to overflowing. Membership in the choir, under Charles M. Alexander’s leadership, was closed when the number o f applicants reached four thousand, insuring an attendance o f about two thousand night after night through the two months. Probably at no other time in the record o f this historic place has the building ever been used consecutively by any organi zation for so long a period. Families and individuals came. from distant parts of the British Isles, from the Continent, and from the United States, to share in all or part o f the campaign. The greatest desire o f the leaders was that all the honor should be given, not to them, but to their Lord. And at the closing meeting o f the campaign, with charac teristic self-effacement, Dr. Torrey slipped away from the platform, according to custom, while the roof still rang with praise in song from thousands of happy worshipers.*' E arned A pproval Throughout his work in Great Britain, Dr. Torrey earned the respect and approval o f all of his fellow workers and committees by his straightforward honesty and unsel-
Torrey, then pas tor o f the Chicago Av e n u e Church (now the Moody C h u r c h ) a n d D e a n o f t h e Moody Bible In stitute, that the choice fell to take Moody’s place in leading the great meetings in Aus tralia. Dr. Torrey was then a man of forty-six, at the full tide o f men tal vigor and phys ical energy, when he set out upon his world - wide mission. For five months o f 1902, he and Alexander c on d u cte d cam paigns in cities of Australia, Tasma
Torrey's Text
“ God is calling all Christians to rouse up and go to work, witnessing for Christ.” — Torrey.
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