The Life And Ministry Of Harold Emanuel Griffiths. Part 3

Annie Griffiths (Simpkins) on the left with Naiomi on her knee. Iris Griffiths(Davies) behind. David, Jack (Harold) Then Annie, and Ruth, Harold Griffiths.

The above photograph was taken in the early 1930's.

Part 1 can be read here.
Part 2 can be read here.

In the late 1930's Harold and his family were well established in what is called "The Potteries", which is an area surrounding Stoke on Trent, in England. It received it's name from the pottery industry that it became famous for.

His name shows up in the Redemption Tidings magazine, published by the Assemblies of God.

Firstly he is received into service as an official Assemblies of God minister. (2)

You can see his name, clearly highlighted in blue to the right. His congregations meets in Milton, Stoke-on-Trent. His daughter, Ruth, confirmed the location of the church, and he built his own church building there in the 1950's. At this point, I presume, he is using an older building, one potentially with dual use.

It is worth noting that in part 2 of this series I mentioned Harold worked with renowned evangelist, Edward Jeffreys. Despite Edward's older brothers helping to found the A.O.G. there came to exist some doctrinal differences between the younger Jeffrey's teachings and the older Jeffrey's brothers. Many of the churches founded during Edward Jeffrey's campaigns were named Bethel. As his teachings began to shift from that of his older brothers there was some fall out and many of the Bethel churches left and eventually joined either Elim or the Assemblies of God.  A summary of the doctrinal issues as well as the life and ministry of Edward Jeffreys can be found here. 

It's possible that it took a few years for Harold's church to be accepted into the A.O.G. He was heavily involved in the Jeffrey's missions of the early 1930's as has been discussed in part 2. (3)

Secondly, in May 1938 we read about his Easter Monday message as part of an Easter convention in the Potteries.

"The Potteries Convention, held in the Queen's Hall, Burslem, on Easter Monday, was attended by a great measure of blessing. In the afternoon, Bro. Dawson Perry, of Belfast, ministered an inspiring word from Joshua 1. "Go forward" was the key note. An ecellent tea was provided on the premises and many sat down. A good open air witness was held on the Market Square before the evening meeting. Brother H. Griffiths, of Milton, ministered at the evening session, from Isaiah 6, followed by Dawson perry, who expounded the "Glory of God" from Ex 33:18."  

For those unfamiliar with the text of Isaiah 6, it is about the time that the prophet Isaiah was given his commission by God and has the famous refrain, "Here I am, send me." 

In July 1938 it is mentioned that H. Griffiths aided a Christian Campaign/Convention that occurred in June.

Since the text is small, the pertinent section reads,  "Bro. H. Griffiths of Milton, and Bro W.T. Guest of Burslem gave much help in the house visitation, assisted by Bro. and Sister P. Currie, and Bro F. Baker of Stoke. Everyone worked with willing hands."(1)

Harold did a lot of door to door work, even during World War 2, which we will look at shortly.

By late 1938 Harold had moved to Birmingham. I am not sure about why this happened, but his daughter Ruth explained that they were always moving about. At first I thought it may have been to help out another minister, or be due in part to moving where there was work. In an interview in 2012 with Harold's daughter, Ruth, she recalled that they had moved to Birmingham and that she did not believe it was connected to a church because while in Birmingham, Harold would still commute to the Stoke for the weekend so he could lead his church.

I know that by Christmas 1938 his daughter Iris was married in Bethel Gospel Temple, Wardend Road, Birmingham, England. Ruth also recalls that she and her parents moved back to Stoke around 1940 to 1941. They took Wendy with them because the roof was blown off their house during the war. Idris and Iris stayed in Birmingham while the Griffiths looked after Wendy.

During the war Harold would always be out at nights during the bombings, praying with people. In the interview from 2012 Ruth recalled, "My Dad never came in the shelter either he was out there praying with people that were dying." (4)

Just because there was a war on didn't mean that Harold stopped any of the ministry he was involved in. Instead, he saw it as a good time to connect with people and minister to them.
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(1) Taken from Redemption Tidings Vol 14, July, 1938
(2) Taken from Redemption Tidings Vol 14, March 1938
(3) Taken from Redemption Tidings Vol 14, May 1938
(4) I have the full interview and transcript these memories were taken from. It was conducted over Facebook Messages with Ruth on June 18th 2012. The context of the interview was about Ruth and Iris' family life growing up.