REV. W. M. CLOW

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 116, 23 November 1928, Page 3

REV. W. M. CLOW

A GREAT TEACHER OLD AUCKLAND BOY VISIT TO DOMINION (From "Tho Post's" Representative.) LONDON,'-llth October. Iv the near future New Zealand is to have a visit from one of the best known and most distijjuuished preachers and teachers of tho-Scottish Church,'the Eev. William Macallum Clow, M.A., 8.D., D.D., Emeritus Principal of tho United Free Church Theological College at Glasgow. Although Dr. Clow first saw the light in that city, his boyhood's days were spent in Auckland, and, therefore, in a sense, he will be going home, in fulfilment of a denire to see earlier haunts once again, and to take a message to the brethren of the Presbyterian Church in the "Britain beyond the Seas," for whom and for whose enterprise ho has always had a high regard. It is expected that Dr. Clow, who is to be accompanied by Mrs. Clow, will bear with him a Commission from the Colonial Committee of his own Church to the Presbytenau Church of New Zealand. Passages have been booked by the Narkunda for 10th November for Sydney, where, in WOO, Dr. Clow fulfilled a six months' ministry. "-In New Zealand, Dunfidin will be the first place of call, where Mrs. Clow has kinsfolk whose forbears went out about 1851. Seventeen years have passed since Dr. Clow was culled to fill the important Chair of Practical Training and Christian Ethics at the Glasgow College of the U.F.C. of Ccotland, and during the past seven years.he has held, in addition, the responsible position of principal. It is not too much to say that' for both fellow professors and old students alike, as well as b' ymany f tho leading laymen of the Church, warmly worded tributes and appreciations have been given to the excellence of his work. His attractive per- | sonality, .his wide reading, his mental alertness, his abounding human sympathies, his loyalty to the Evangel, his experience as an active preacher and pastor, and his deep conviction that the preacher's calling is the most honourable of all, made hint an ideal professor, while his extraordinary zusiness capacity,, his diligence, energy, and courtesy, admirably fitted him for the position of principal. A FORCE WITH STUDENTS. Throughout his whole career he has exerted a powerful attraction upon younger men, and the editor of one of the largest and roost important journals hi the country, who attended Dr, Clow's ministry as a young man in Aberdeen, has testified that the power of his message was one of the most inspiring and regulating forces iv the life of the young men and women in that city. And Dr. VV. M. Macgregor, who has succeeded him iv the active principalship, has stated that everyone who knows the history of the United Free Church in the last generation also knows how iv every field where Dr. Clow was set down he made a lasting mark. His methods in dealing with the subject of practical training have been somewhat out of the common, but have proved themselves to be effective in the highest degree. And in relation to the subject of Christian. Ethics, the eminently practical bent of his mind was evident. It never sufficed Dr. Clow merely to sketch the history of Ethics iv general, or merely to discuss the principles that govern Christian Ethics in particular. The whole subject was brought right down into the modern world, for Dr. Clow kept himself abreast with the currents of contemporary thought and literature, and with all the economic and kindred problems with which this generation is faced, and he led his students into the very heart, of things with which they were to deal' in their ministerial life. It may not have always been possible for them to agree with their professor's ideas or judgments, but all confess that, his lectures and answers to questions in his discussion hours were of solid value and an inspiring stimulus. Those who have read his books will be of like mind Some of these are very well known, and others might be-better known, such as "In the Day of the Cross," "The Cross in Christian Experience," "The Church and the Sacraments," etc. A CHURCH BUILDER. Dr. Clow was ordained to the ministry in the charge of Cambusnethan in the year 1881. A few years later he was called to Uddingston, and in the year 1889 to the South Church, Aberdeen. It is almost a truism to say that in the pulpits of that

ctiy at the time Dr. Clow was the most outstanding figure, and his sermons ar.d lectures left an influence for good upon the city at large. Indeed, as some wise judge has stated, his work in that one charge was by itself the eehievement of 'd lifetime. But after a period in the Granite City, he was called to one of the largest congregations iv Edinburgh, and tlien again to build up an entirely newcongregation in his native city of Glasgow. It was while minister in that church. btcyeiißon Memorial, that he was called wi -i P}' ofcssov's Chair in the year 1911. While there was no little lamentation when Dr. Clow's retiral became known last spring there was a universal feefrnß that ho well deserved a period of rest and lreedom from active duty A desire arose spontaneously that something should.be done to honour him, and he was entertained at a public luncheon in dune last, when, in addition to cordial oral testimonies and letters from old students and fellow-workers, he was made the recipient of a handsome' gfft iii Token oi the esteem in which he is held by the public generally. He is beloved in his old charge, Stevenson Memorial, of wh eh he has remained a member, and that contoTi Tnr 1M aiTnV ged,t? Give a farewell In his younger days Dr. Clow was a a enthusiastic goFfer, while fishing was another of his recreations. His name is we - known as a writer. Publications from 1^ pen, m addition to those already mentioned, melude "The Secret of the' Lord*' Chnst in the Social Order," "The Evangel of the Strait_Gate,'-' "The Christion MesfgVV, tlle,, Li b'ht °f War," "The Idylls ?L^ c ,llffi" "'The Q«cst of Industrial leace, 'Ihe Old Old Story." One who has known him well for over thirty years remarks: "He is a most lovable.man, to meet whom has always been inspiring." JJr and Mrs. Clow have two sons and two daughters, but none of them will accompany their parents to New Zealand. TRIBUTE TO PERSONALITY.1 At the time of Dr. Clow's resignation from the Prmcipalship of the United Free w' nir "lle°loS"-'"l College at Glasgow. Dr. U. Macintosh Maekay moved the acceptance ot the resignation with regret. "It W° i,, , the iQelia S of the Assembly," lie said, that some words should be said in recognition of the- long and splendid series which Dr. Clow had rendered to their Church, not only as Professor and Principal, but as a minister. When he came to the Chair of Practical Training some seventeen years ago he came with an equipment of experience which could hardly have been equalled by any minister oi the Church. He had been in five charges of the most varied kind, one in. a rural district, one in a suburban district, and three in the great cities. He had built up one of thuse churches from the very foundation to be one of the leading city churches in Glasgow. He then came to the work of the professorship with a great record which augured well for his work as a trainer of men in the actual duties of the Christian ministry. Those who had had the' good fortune to sit in his class would bear him out that . this promise had been abundantly fulfilled, and that his work as a professor of Practical Training had been carried out with,an efficiency which had rarely, if ever, been equalled in the history of the chair. He spoke out of a knowledge of many men who had passed through his class. "As a member of the Students' Oversight Committee in the Glasgow Presbytery, ho had interviewed many of those who had passed through the Glasgow College, ajid every one of them testified with gratitude to the practical services, which Dr. Clow had rendered them in the work ot the ministry. In visiting the class also as a member of the College Committee, he was struck by his wonderful gifts, especially in the questionnaire method of teaching, lie was not content to lecture, but ofl en threw open part of the hour to questions from the students; and the mental alertness with which he answered the questions was a revelation to him. He could not help thinking thai it Dr. Clow had stood for Parliament he would have been a past master in meeting the heckler. ■ "Dr. Clow's work as a minister. iv Aberdeen was well known to many. He had followed him in that pastorate, and he did not wish to have such a task to do again. He could only follow afar off. The Moderator had remarked in his opening address ■oh the difficulty, if not impossibility, in the modern conditions of city life, of discharging adequately the dutes of preacher and pastor together. That impossible task was carried out with marvellous success by Dr. Clow in Aberdeen. "As a preacher he had exerted a great and permanent ministry in that city and throughout the land. He had the testimony of the editor of one of the largest and most important daily journals in the country, who attended Dr. Clow's ministry as a young man in Aberdeen, that the power of his message was one of the most inspiring and regulating forces in his life and in that of many young men in that city. He was if possible still greater as a pastor. There were wonderful 6tories of his almost uncanny memory of faces. He seemed to visualise his whole congregation every time he preached, so that every man, woman, and child was known to him in that congregation of 1200 members. In addition to that work he had laid the Church under a vast debt by his contributions to' Christian literature. His name had been carried far beyond the precincts of their own Church, and in many lands the message of the Cross which he preached to the world through his great book, 'The Cross in Christian. Experience/ would live in the minds of many, especially at a Communion season." He asked them to pass this motion, and, in doing so, to express their gratitude to one of the most efficient and most laborious of the servants of the Church.