Week-End Mission Conducted By Rev. L. A. North

Home

Centenary

Documents

1944

Week-End Mission Conducted By Rev. L. A. North - 1944

For the Week-End Mission conducted in Hastings by the Rev. L. A. North, the Church Extension Committee prepared an exceptionally well-designed folder. The face of it showed the Cross on the Dome of St. Paul's, towering above a mass of blitz wreckage. Inside, this comment appeared: "Amid all the wrecks that litter the path of time, there stands, unshaken, the Cross of Christ with its message of love, victory, and peace."

Mr North came to share with us his experience of Christ, and gave convincing evidence of the relevance of Christ to life in the modern scene. In addresses through which one felt the glow of his own devotion, he spoke on the beginning and issues of Christian discipleship. He appealed for a better quality of Christian within the Church, and in addresses on "What's wrong with the Church," and "Christian faith and daily life," he showed the totalitarian nature of the Saviour's claims. Typical evangelistic addresses which resulted in decisions were, "Wanted—Better men," and "What makes a Christian?"

Sunday afternoon's meeting was attended by young people from many churches, and was another occasion when the appeal for confession met with response. The message and singing of the large Sunday evening congregation were an inspiration.

Mr North delighted his audiences with his solos. A feature of the week-end was Saturday's—"An evening of Sacred Song and Story," when he sang many times, and was assisted in the service by the choir. The story of the Saviour was unfolded and applied by narrative, solos, anthems, and congregational hymns.

The mission was blessed, with fine weather. At the close of the final service, Mr North was met by the officers of the church, who expressed what encouragement and joy his ministry had brought.

There was nothing of ferment or sensationalism in Mr North's evangelism. As one worked with him, one was reminded of Ruskin's remark about the works of nature: "When we look at them," he wrote, "we do not say, ‘There is a great effort here,’ we say, ‘There is a great power here.’" —J. Russell Grave.