As we strolled along lanes together on a perfect June evening, we came to a little green meadow surrounded by the ubiquitous poplars. There we settled down comfortably by a running stream. The setting was idyllic and away from the motley. I felt at peace with the world - so much so that when Bradley told me that the little green field was the venue for a Wesleyan service that evening I readily stayed.
The small congregation of Wesleyan faith and others sat around on the grass. We heard no sermon; the padre just chatted and encouraged us to talk. In so doing we found ourselves in complete harmony with one who fully understood our problems and heartaches and one who would not spare himself on our behalf. He closed the meeting by inviting every man to help himself from the vast pile of literature suitable to every taste which he presumably carried around with him.
The Rev. Tiplady CF was a great man.*
* "In World War I, Rev. Tiplady was a chaplain with the Queen’s Westminster Rifles in the Somme and Arras campaigns in France. There he caught “trench fever,” which laid him up for some time; after recovery, he was stationed at Abbeville until the war’s end.
Following the war, he conducted a five month speaking tour in America. Upon return to England, he was appointed to the Buxton Road Church in Huddersfield, then became Superintendent of the Lambeth Mission in London in 1922, and was there 32 years.
In addition to writing over 250 hymns, Tiplady pioneered the use of films in evangelism, helping found the Religious Film Society of London. In 1931, he visited America as a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference of Methodism in Atlanta, Georgia ..."
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/t/i/p/tiplady_t.htm
Following the war, he conducted a five month speaking tour in America. Upon return to England, he was appointed to the Buxton Road Church in Huddersfield, then became Superintendent of the Lambeth Mission in London in 1922, and was there 32 years.
In addition to writing over 250 hymns, Tiplady pioneered the use of films in evangelism, helping found the Religious Film Society of London. In 1931, he visited America as a delegate to the Ecumenical Conference of Methodism in Atlanta, Georgia ..."
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/t/i/p/tiplady_t.htm
Church parade on battalion parade ground.
Wesleyan service in evening in the field by the stream.
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| Original diary entry |
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| Original journal notes |