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.

The Life And Ministry Of Harold Emanuel Griffiths. Part 2

Part 1 can be read here. 

Ruth recalls that while ministering in Ireland their family would travel in a gospel caravan. They were quite poor and dependent on donations from others. Despite this, Harold was a Welshmen and he wanted his children born in Wales. They would travel back to Wales to give birth to each of their children. (1)

I am not certain of the exact year Harold returned from Ireland. The 1931 census covered England, Wales and Scotland, but not Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland had its own census in 1926. The British census was also destroyed so its details will forever be a secret. What I do know is during the early to mid 1930's renowned evangelist Edward Jeffrey's put on several evangelistic crusades across the Potteries and Liverpool. He requested that Harold join him as singer and pianist during these crusades. The Bethel Evangelistic Society was formed from this movement. Harold was a significant part of this. (2)

In a much earlier post I described one of the songs that Harold Griffiths wrote while part of these campaigns. As mentioned in part 1, he had a booming tenor and was a beautiful singer. The Bootle Times annual of 1935 mentions the affect of one of his songs and the Crusades in Liverpool.

“A foreman remarked that the men had never worked so well together as now; there was little blaspheming and the general topic of conversation was "the Tent." Men are heard singing at their work, "I fell in love with the Nazarene," and there is concord and a spirit of harmony where once there was cursing and swearing." (3)

As mentioned in my other blog, I am blessed to have a copy of the song sheet for "I fell in love with the Nazarene." 

Several people that attended the Liverpool "revival' and are still alive, left some feedback on the website liverpoolrevival.org.uk about the impact this song had on them. 

Sally Wing says, "...during this meeting a song was sung which made such an impression on her that she remembers every word of this to this day, 71 years later: -

I fell in love with the Nazarene
The beautiful Nazarene
Whose face in glory was the light
The fairest I’ve ever seen
By his side I would abide
With never a veil between
Since I fell so deeply in love
With Jesus the Nazarene.

"The Rev. Richard Kays records “He remembers well the Bethel songs that were sung such as "Jesus is mighty to save" and "I fell in love with the Nazarene," which have lived with him for 70 years."

By 1934 they were definitely in Cheddleton, England. Their daughter Ruth recalls they lived in a Bungalow there when she was 5. Harold was both a strict and very loving father. He expected his children to do as they were told but he was also "as soft as a teddy bear." (4)

Ruth continued to recall that, "My Mum was always very placid,but a nice lady. Everyone respected them and they were very much loved in the church. People were always calling in with their troubles.We kids were sent out to play for my Dad to council them as it is called now. Mum would bake welsh cakes & we used to hope there would be some left for us."

Ruth also remembered that usually they were given a crust of bread with jam on it for their tea. (5) Times were hard and the family were very poor. One time Naomi didn't eat all of hers so they hid it under the flap of a tent that Harold had set up in the field at the back of their bungalow. They or friends would often set up tents for evangelistic church meetings. The next day Harold found it and came into the house asking who had wasted it. Naomi was often caught lying about such things and Harold ended up breaking it in half and making both Ruth and Naomi eat it because food should not be wasted. To this day Ruth insists it was "wet and vile."

Harold was often away from home because of work. Ministry still paid little so he would sell Christian books at a market stall and continue to work in the mines where he could. He used to keep cardboard in his shoes because there was a hole in the sole. None of his children went to high school because you had to pay for it in those days and the family could not afford it. They were taught to sing and play piano by Harold and Annie.

For transportation Harold had a little motorbike with a side car. One day he brought it home to take it apart and fix it. He then asked Annie to ride with him and test it out. Ruth was watching as they rounded a nearby corner and the side car came off, sending Annie one way and Harold the other. He had forgotten to screw the side car to the motorbike.  Fortunately neither were injured and were able to continue their ministry as the late 1930's approached. 

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(1) Confirmed by interview with Harold's youngest daughter, Ruth Salmon.
(2) Several books and websites talk about the missions and life of Edward Jeffreys. Seminary and Masters of Divinity graduates have written many papers on him. There is not room here to talk about everything he did and I only mention him because I know that Harold worked a great deal with Edward Jeffreys. A summary of Edward Jeffrey's life and missions can be found here.  When Harold Griffiths died Edward Jeffreys wrote a letter of condolence as was noted in Redemption Tidings 1968 Volume 4, February edition. 
(3) Excerpts of this newspaper and others which talk about the Jeffrey's crusades in Liverpool can be read on a website dedicated to his remembrance.
(4) Confirmed by interview with Ruth Salmon in 2012. 
(5) To the Welsh and northern English the last meal of the day is called tea. To this day I still get confused looks from Americans when I ask what they're having for tea. The southern English call it 'dinner' and that, along with how to pronounce the word 'scones', can still be guaranteed a good 20 minutes argument if raised in conversation.