Bible Christian Magazine John Stedeford

Rev. John Britton Stedeford
(Secretary of Examining Committee)

THE subject of this brief sketch comes from the City of Bristol, where he was born on August 12th, 1857. From the first he was surrounded with religious influences, and early in life he became sensitive to their power. The Christian atmosphere in the home, supplemented with the influences brought to bear in the Sunday school at Gladstone Street, where he was one of the first scholars, induced him to surrender his life to Christ when about thirteen years of age. After serving for a few months as a local preacher, he became a probationer at the Conference of 1878, and was ordained at the Plymouth Conference in 1882. The circuits in which he has travelled

are Cleveland, Barnstaple, Devonport, Neath, Chatham, Shanklin, Weston-super-Mare, Torrington, Forest Hill, and Bideford.

In 1899 he received the appointment of General Sunday School Secretary, and served in this office for five years. He was made a member of the Examining Committee in 1893, and was elected its secretary in 1902, on the retirement of Rev. J. H. Batt. In the work attached to this office he manifests the keenest interest, since he is not only desirous that suitable men shall be chosen for the work of the ministry, but is solicitous that those selected shall be favoured with the best possible mental discipline and training. Himself a student, he appreciates and values the student spirit possessed by those who present themselves as candidates for the ministry, and endeavours to assist in its cultivation and development by useful counsel in relation to books and reading.

Medium in height, there is but little in his personal appearance to differentiate him from the majority of his ministerial brethren, and it is only when he stands in the pulpit, and pours out the riches of his mind and heart, that the discovery of his mental

strength and spiritual force is made. He is reputed to be one of the most devoted students of theological literature, possessing an acquaintance with German theology which few of his brethren can claim. He is one of the limited number capable of reading German theological literature at first hand. His election to the secretariat of the Examining Committee was a testimony to his culture and learning, and was also an expression of the esteem in which he is held by his brethren. Popular gifts as a preacher he makes no claim to possess, and there is no attempt in his sermons simply to meet popular needs. Nature has not built him for this purpose, and his instincts and aptitudes do not lend themselves to it. The tricks of oratory, whatever they may be, and however useful for the accomplishment of specific, definite ends, are foreign to his mind. Intellectual and spiritual, and tinged with the spirit of mysticism, which discloses itself now and again in his theological studies, his discourses are the result of quiet thought and close study, and reveal an acquaintance with mental realms transcending far the thought-worlds of the average popular preacher. To him has been vouchsafed the power of spiritual vision--a

gift which he exercises in penetrating beneath the surface of things to perceive the beauty and strength of the essential and the permanent. Spiritual perception rather than sweep of vision - depth rather than breadth, are the characteristic elements of his mind, the range of his theological thought and sympathy being less extensive than that of some minds not equally endowed. In his sermons he invariably appeals to the highest and best in his hearers, believing that to convince the intellect and enlighten the conscience is to ensure the best permanent results. Modest, unassuming, and somewhat reserved and retiring, he is a potent intellectual and spiritual force, which will doubtless increase with the passing of the years. The tributes to his ability during recent years from some of the best judges in the Connexion show his worth and power. At the Conference at St. Austell, in 1904, Mr. Stedeford preached one of the missionary sermons, and such was the impression produced that the following resolution was passed: "That the best thanks of this Conference be given to Bro. J. B. Stedeford for his most suggestive and helpful sermon on Sunday morning in behalf of the Missionary

Society, and as in our opinion it went to the very heart of things, we trust it may appear in the Bible Christian Magazine and the Christian World Pulpit." When it is remembered that the late Mr. Bourne was the inspirer of this resolution, little more need be said respecting the quality and power of the sermon which produced so profound an impression. To such preachers as Mr. Stedeford it is always a delight to listen, and to listen with an open mind is to be inspired and enriched.

[ Volume 2 pages 20 - 24 ]

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