DR F. W. NORWOOD'S VISIT

Evening Star, Issue 21744, 12 June 1934, Page 12

DR F. W. NORWOOD'S VISIT

Dr F. W. Norwood is the minister of the City Temple, London, the most widely known of the Free Churches in the world. He is a past chairman, of the Congregational Union of England and Wales - and an outstanding leader among the churches of all denominations in Great Britain. Dr Norwood was bom in Bendigo, Victoria. His early years were divided between managing a factory and lay preaching. At thirty-four he entered the Baptist ministry, and held pastorates in Victoria and South Australia. Then he went to the war. as a Y.M.C.A. representative, his special work being that of - lecturing among the Australian troops in France, Belgium, and England. It was this position that opened the doors for his entry to the pastorate of the 9 City Temple. ' ', ~ . How he came to London’s Great white pulpit ” is an interesting story. It had been resolved that the fourth anniversary of Britain’s entry into the war should be observed as Remembrance Day. Dr Norwood was asked to speak at {he gathering in the London Opera House, but when the programme reached him his name appeared- m small type near the bottom, and Ins task was merely to second a resolution paying a tribute to the fallen. There was no room for him on the platform, so that when his name was called he had to make his way to the front. He soon had a vast audience in the hollow of his hand. As a result of that tenminute speech he was in demand all over England, and he was invited to preach at: the City Temple and later appointed the permanent minister. This gifted, genial, virile Australian has now completed fourteen rears of remarkable work in London. He is general I r regarded as a Christian .prophet and a keen student of affairs. _ He is a man of deep human sympathies, and has-won a place all his own in the life of the British nation. . x ' Much of his time he devotes to the task of promoting peace. He has a profound influence among leaders of all sections in Groat Britain, and recently spent sis months crusading for peace through the length and breadth of the British Isles. The Archbishop of Canterhurv arranged for the pulpits of the English, cathedrals to be onen to him. Til his present’ itinerary Dr Norwood has made an extensive tour of India, (‘lihr'. and Japan, where lie has met Gandhi. Kagawa. and other leaders nt political anti religious . life. He arrived in the dominion on June I]. being induced by friends to break his journey for a fortnight prior to proceeding to the United States.