EVANGELISTIC SERVICE

Taranaki Daily News, 8 October 1929, Page 11

EVANGELISTIC SERVICE

THE LIFE OF “BILLY SUNDAY.” REV. JOHN BISSETT LECTURES. Taking the most widely known evangelist for the text of his lecture, the Rev. John Bissett painted a graphic picture of the great American evangelist at the opening of his mission at St. Andrew’s Church, ; New Plymouth, last night. Adopting:’.an unorthodox but bright, interesting' -manner of translating the Scriptures,the reply of Billy Sunday to the,mall, who objected to his straight line of talkjand considered that Sunday was stroking, the cat the wrong way was simply —“Well, let the cat turn round and it will be all right.” “There was a man sent from God called John,” quoted Mr. Bissett, and he was firmly convinced that Sunday was a prophet raised up. Sunday was born in 1862, he continued, when the States were in the throes of Civil War. His father joined the forces and died, leaving his mother with three infant boys to care for. . Mrs. Sunday worked for nine years for.: her children and then her health broke down and she was forced. to seffd i'Billy and one of his brothers to a: soldiers’: orphanage. At the orphanage sat! Gl&nmore, Billy worked for five iyears;,'.'■ learning farm work, which lie did 'anot like. With an impulse to- earn something to keep his mother-he -took a position jn a school, wherri;:'he U*as the porter. His duties there were mainly .before the scholars earner to ■ • school, and he was left to . employ.. this time "in the' forenoons, and aftemdmw in= the playing •fields, where he took! up baseball. It was not long before hib aptitude gained him renown- and soon hci htld achieved the honour of being the/be-st baseball player in America. : if. J'. < j.rtffif!;. BILLY SUNDAY’S/ It was while he was discussing baseball topics one Sunday afternoon that Billy Sunday heard/an' open-air church meeting. He was so impressed that he took up the invitation to go along to the mission. It . was not, however, until he was requested to take ups-the position as assistant secretary of-the Y.M.C.A. that he. became prominently associated with religion,'and after doing a vast amount of good for that institution he took up the position as advance agent for a well-known evangelist. . , His employer suddenly became ill and Sunday was. invited to carry on the work, and through force of personality and'fervour had won. renown in evangelistic campaigning. ... ; ■ In New York he gaye.. a mission in an enormous tabernacle., which held 25,000 people., Some idpa. ( ;pf. the large scale upon which was .conducted could be gauged from the fact that a choir of 5000 voices sang in this church. V ' Throughout the . the church was crowded and on tlie last Sunday night the tabernacle wak, filled to overcrowding three and a-qiiarter hours before the scheduled the- service. All the enthusiasm and of his baseball days was thrown into religion, and it was his personality and eloquence that attracted the people. The'. supposition that lie worked for a - monetary gain was dispelled when- he gave the total proceeds of the <>New York Mission, £20,000, to benefit the men-fighting in France. . Prior to the.lecture Mrs. A. B. Mac-, donald and Miss Cocker were heard to advantage in vocal numbers, and Mrs. Simpson gave a pianoforte solo.