Oswald Smith

The Life of Dr. Oswald Smith

Dr. Oswald Smith was born in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Odessa, Ont., Nov. 8th, 1889. His father was a telegraph operator; thus his childhood days were spent in railway stations. The time spent in Mount Albert, Ont., a small, quiet country town, where he used to live for a while, has never been forgotten by him. After he had risen to fame, he returned there to meditate and to enjoy its pastoral scenery.

In 1906, a great evangelistic campaign was being conducted by the then famed Dr. R. A. Torrey in Massey Hall, Toronto. Though Oswald had never been at an evangelistic campaign before in his life drawn he was to it. During that campaign he was converted.

Soon after, he felt drawn to the preaching of the gospel. Yet, he had no idea how to go about entering into the ministry. "At both Embro and Mt. Albert my desire to preach had grown stronger day by day. I felt as though I could not wait for the time to come. So desperate was I that I made a very special plan. I said to myself, `I will go far from home. I will go so far away that no one will know me. I will go ten miles away, at least. And I will. find a little country church and ask the minister to let me preach, and if I fail I will then know that I am not called, and will return home a wiser boy.' You see, I had no one to advise me, no one to tell me what to do." Shortly after, Oswald Smith read a brief announcement about Toronto Bible College, which resulted in his attending the evening classes for one term. It was not until 1912 that he graduated from that institution. Last year (1968), he was chosen as the Toronto Bible College "Alumnus of the Year." Dr. Billy Graham, and the well-known evangelical journalist Miss Jane Scott, who graduated from Toronto Bible College in 1915, were present for that great occasion.

Dr. Smith's spiritual pilgrimage started in the Presbyterian church where he applied for a mission field under this denomination. However, he was considered too young for this difficult work. He applied to the Upper Canada Society and went as colporteur to Muskoka. In 1908, Oswald Smith , was given the opportunity to preach, despite his lack of theological and Biblical training. How his thrilled he was! Finally his hour had come! He relates, "In a corner of my room that night I knelt in prayer with my forehead touching the floor, and pled for guidance. I did not have a sermon for I had forgotten every one I had made up in bed. What was I to say? I remembered listening to a sermon in Toronto in Beverley Street Baptist Church by the Rev. Elmore Harris, D.D., one of the editors of the Scofield reference Bible, on Ephesians 1:3, a text that no one should take until he has been in the ministry 25 years at least, and since I had a good memory I was able to recall much of which I had heard. So I decided to use it." Though Dr. Smith started his ministry soon alter his conversion, he did not commence, strictly speaking, his theological studies until 1910. All in all, his academic training consists, of two years in Toronto Bible College, three years in McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, and special studies in Knox College, Toronto. He also had evening classes in Toronto Bible College, and one year in Manitoba College, As student, he also gained a great variety of practical experience in mission work which influenced his later ministry. His academic degrees are as follows: In 1936, Oswald Smith was given the degree of Doctor of Divinity (honorary) by Ashbury College. In 1940, he received the Doctor of Literature degree (honorary) from Bob Jones University. In 1946, he received the degree of Doctor of Laws (honorary) from Houghton College. He is a Life Member of the Royal Geographical Society of London, a member of The Eugene Field Society, the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom, and the American Society of Composers and Authors.

On April 30th, 1915, Dr. Smith was ordained into the ministry of the Gospel in the South Chicago Presbyterian Church, which he served as "Acting Pastor" while he was a student at McCormick Theological Seminary. In May, he left for Toronto, where he became Associate Pastor of Dale Presbyterian Church, a large church, seating capacity of 1,800, located at the corner of Queen Street and Bellwoods Avenue. The edifice was built by Rev. J. D. Morrow, one of the most remarkable ministers in Toronto at that time. Dr. Smith writes about him:

In 1916, Dr. Smith was placed in full charge of Dale, as Rev. Morrow had to leave for the Front. However, all was not well in the church. There was much strife in the choir, and a great deal of trouble was caused by church officials who were lodge members. The situation became so bad that it became impossible for him to stay and to effectively carry out his ministry. He was judged by the congregation as being too fundamentalistic. The revival meetings he conducted had become a source of offence. Many also objected to the gospel hymns which he had the people sing and the many prayer meetings being conducted. Though Dr. Smith left the Presbyterian church, he never left officially the Presbyterian ministry. He says "On November 5th, 1918, my diary records the fact that I was officially received into the Presbytery of Toronto, and given my full standing as a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, from which I have never resigned, although my work ever since leaving Dale has been, for the most part, outside the denomination."

Dr. Smith for some months supplied the pulpit of Beulah Tabernacle, Charles Street, Toronto. His actions betray that the charge made in Dale of being "too fundamentalist" was not unfounded. His actions, after he left Dale, prove that he had no concept of the covenant, no Reformed understanding of the doctrine of the church. His Christian faith was then and still is the strong individualistic type.

After Dr. Smith left Beulah, he traveled considerably and did independent evangelistic work. On the first Sunday of January, 1921, he was installed as Pastor of the Alliance Tabernacle. This gospel church greatly increased under his ministry. The methods rejected by Dale Presbyterian were now effectively used to increase the membership of the Tabernacle. It was 1921 which also marked the beginning of world-wide ministry. Dr. Smith has extensively traveled in every continent for the Gospel's sake. In 1926, he resigned to become the Superintendent of the Christian and Missionary Alliance for Eastern Canada. His manner of departure from the Alliance Tabernacle was rather sad. The reason for his resignation is difficult to understand for a Reformed Christian, but it can indeed happen, and it still does happen, in congregational governed churches. Dr. Smith writes,

Dr. Smith went for a year's ministry to Los Angeles and after that left again for Toronto. In August, 1928, he resigned as a member of the New York Board of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and joined the World-Wide Christian Couriers, and under its auspices was launched what is now "The Peoples Church." The place for the first meeting was Massey Hall, and the date, September 9th, 1928. The work was first called The Cosmopolitan Tabernacle." March 30th, 1930, the congregation was moved to the old St. James Square Presbyterian Church, 42 Gerrard Street East, where it was known as the Toronto Gospel Tabernacle. On October 1st, 1933, the name was changed to Peoples Church. On July 1st, 1934, The Peoples Church moved to what used to be then Central Methodist Church. In 1936, this building was bought for $75.000; $20.000 of which was donated by Mr. William G, Jaffray, owner and publisher of The Globe, Canada's national newspaper. In 1961, the Peoples Church moved to Sheppard Avenue East. The old church, now a parking - lot, was sold, for $650.000, a handsome profit, considering the original sum paid. The new church is a very modern and splendid structure, costing $1,000,000. The auditorium seats 2.000, at least; it features a grandpiano, an electric organ and a large platform for the choir, soloists and minister. There are many class rooms for Sunday School, meeting halls, offices, and a shipping and receiving room.

One of the unique features in Peoples Church is its missionary outreach. In 1929, Peoples Church Missionary Society was founded. Until 1935, it operated as an independent society which sent out and support missionaries outreach in the world. Faith missionary societies recruit their workers from many evangelical denominations. They are an important missionary arm of evangelical and fundamentalistic movements in the U.S.A. and Canada. In Canada alone, there are more than 80 missionary societies. Dr. Smith's reason for working with Faith missions was and is: "We have worked with Faith Missions because they are absolutely free of modernism and higher criticism. They are true to the Word of God. Their vision is to evangelize the unreached millions of earth and bring back the King. They do not major on institutional, educational and medical work. Their reliance is on God rather than on the church, and they practice self denial and sacrifice."

In 1930, $42,891 was contributed to Foreign Missions, and in 1968, $341,504.84. These monies are being used for the partial support of approximately 350 missionaries around the world. Dr. Oswald Smith's remarkable career includes also the writing of hymns. One of the better known of his products is "Then Jesus Came." This hymn was written in "The 1939 and put to the music by Dr. On H. Rodeheaver. This song has become a great favourite and has been sung by Bev. Shea in Billy Graham's Hour of Decision programme.

The Peoples Church is an out "standing fundamentalist" church. In a way she is an example of what old-fashioned fundamentalism used to be, yet she goes beyond that. She combines the weaknesses and strength of fundamentalism of the past, yet she has gone beyond the original intentions of fundamentalism. Original fundamentalism was neither extreme individualistic nor did it major on the pre-millennial, imminent return of Jesus Christ (Christ's return and then the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth.) Peoples Church is individualistic to the extreme and the doctrine of the second coming of Christ is stressed beyond all proportion. "The Peoples Church is an independent work, standing pre-eminently for the conversion of souls, the edification of believers, and world-wide evangelism; emphasizing especially the four great essentials: Salvation, the Deeper Life, Foreign Missions, and our Lord's Return; endeavouring by every means to get the message to the Christless masses, at home and abroad in the shortest time possible. We believe in an unmutilated Bible; salvation through the blood of Christ; entire separation from the world; victory over all known sin through the indwelling Spirit; rugged consecration to sacrificial service; practical faith in the sufficiency of Christ for spiritual, temporal and physical needs, purifying hope of the Lord’s return; and a burning missionary zeal for the bringing the back of the King through world evangelism. What does Dr. smith mean with the church? He believes the church to be a group of born again believers. “By the word ‘Church’ we do not refer to the institution known as “Roman Catholicism,” nor do we mean “the building in which we worship. ‘Church’, in the Bible is never used in reference to anything save ‘believers in Christ’. Sometimes the word ‘bride’ or ‘body’ is used. It never includes merely professing Christians; it is rather the men and women who have been purchased by the blood of Christ and brought into living union with Him, its Head, by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit."

God deals only with "individuals" . . . . He is choosing individual members who are to make up His church." The church did not exist in the Old Testament. The church, according to Dr. Smith, did not exist until the first coming of Jesus Christ. We live now in the period called the "Church-age." A sharp distinction is made between the church and the kingdom. Christ is not yet King.

He will become King when the millennium is ushered in. "Thus the Kingdom is yet to be established." At the missionary conference last year, there hung on the right hand side of the church auditorium a huge banner, which read, "First World Evangelization: Then The Reign of Christ." "God's ideal has always been an absolute monarchy, but an absolute monarchy with Christ on the throne. When that time comes the world will be governed in justice and as never before in all its history."

This theology denies consequently the Lordship of Jesus Christ in this present age. It has also little patience for social concern. There are no appeals made for "Benevolence or Home Missions." (21) Now I am the first one to say that Foreign Missions is of vital importance. A church must evangelize and send out missionaries, lest she disobeys her Lord. However, Foreign Missions should not crowd out the total program of the church and her concern for social needs. We cannot leave the ills of society untouched, believing that the second coming of Christ will solve every problem, every heartache. Of course, each Christian ought to long for Christ's second coming. A Christian knows that the second coming of Christ is the blessed hope. However, each Christian must also "occupy" until Christ comes again.

In 1926, Dr. Smith gave eight addresses in the Alliance Tabernacle under the heading "Is the Antichrist at hand?" For these addresses, which are not sermons, as they do not expound Scripture, Dr. Smith had gathered material from the fields of demonology, astrology, politics and religion. From these varied fields, and the Bible, Dr. Smith made some very remarkable predictions about the future. He was quite sure that the Great Tribulation, the revival of the Roman Empire, the reign of the Antichrist and the battle of Armageddon was to take place "before the year 1933." His book proves how careful one must be in expounding prophecy. Dr. Smith is still alive, but the man he believed would be the antichrist is dead. He was quite sure that Musasolini fitted in Revelation. "Thousands of eyes are turned just now toward Mussolini, the Prime Minister of Italy. Mussolini may not be the Emperor himself, but if not, he is certainly a remarkable fore-shadowing of the one whom the Bible predicts will reign. It is a well known fact that Mussolini's avowed intention is the revival of the Roman Empire."

In his third address, Dr. Smith refers to Mother Shipton's Prophecies to prove his sincere belief that 1926 was a crucial year in the light of prophecy. Mother Shipton's Prophecies were written nearly 500 years ago. She was born in Norfolk, England and she died at Clifton, Yorkshire, 1449 A.D. Dr. Smith did not believe that she prophecied, but rather interpreted prophecies of Scripture. The last two verses of her prophetic poem were considered of crucial importance by Dr. Smith.

From the then current history, Dr. Smith tried to prove the validity of Mother Shipton's remarkable claim that 1926 would be crucial. (6) All in all, his ability to interpret prophecy does not match his organizational talents. The years 1926 and 1933 are now but dates in history books. How careful one must be in dealing with the prophetic passages of Scripture!

Dr. Oswald Smith made a lasting impact upon the history of the Canadian Protestant church. He and his church, where Dr. Paul Smith, his son, is now pastor also are the driving force behind the work of Faith Missions. Their sacrificial work has benefited independent workers and small missionary societies. Dr. Oswald Smith is indeed a remarkable man who founded a unique church.

Introduction

Oswald J. Smith is one of the most versatile Christian leaders in the history of the Christian church. Perhaps never has one man done so many different things well. It all centered in Toronto, Ontario, where Smith pastored from 1915 to 1959. He raised some $14,000,000.00 for foreign missions, more than any other pastor in history. Half of this was from his own church.

Smith was a country boy and the eldest of ten children of Benjamin and Alice Smith. He had five brothers and four sisters. Smith was born at home above the train station. His father was a telegraph operator for the Canadian Pacific Railway. The family moved from Odessa to Walkerville, to Woodstock, and finally to Emro. Delicate in health most of his life, he was not expected to live to manhood. He truduged one and a half miles to school and attended the local church and Sunday school.

At age 13, his Sunday school teacher said, "Any of you boys might be a minister." He thought in that direction from that time on. His conversion at age 16 was the result of the Torrey-Alexander evangelistic team. He had been reading about the Torrey crusade in Toronto which the newspapers were describing. The reports of 3,000 gathering only 90 miles away challenged him to take a trip to Toronto. Attending the Massey Hall services for a few days, he was saved at the seventh service - one for boys and young men only, held January 28, 1906. Torrey preached on Isaiah 53:5.

Young Smith soon decided that Toronto was the place to get a job. For a while, he identified with a group of Christians called the Hornerites. Soon he spoke to a couple of youth groups in Mount Albert where his family had now moved, as well as speaking at the Beverly Street Baptist Church in Toronto. He began to attend Toronto Bible College evening school. This helped fire him up for mission work, and he applied to the Presbyterian Church for a mission field appointment. They rejected the desires of this brash 18-year-old. He then began to sell Bibles and was very successful in this venture. Then came another chance to preach - at the Severn Methodist Church - plus two more services in nearby circuit churches the same day. He then got a call from the Bible Society in Vancouver, so he was off on a train journey of six days to western Canada. In September of 1908, he began his work at Prince Rupert Island, working his way up the coast, selling Bibles and making contacts for the local pastors, making calls in remote lumber camps and homes. He soon ended up at Port Essington some 30 miles away. For the next few months, Smith sold Bibles and preached to the Indians.

He met a Methodist missionary, G.H. Raley, who wanted Smith as his associate to minister during the winter to the Indians at Hartley Bay. Smith got his supplies, which were $20 worth of food, a small cook stove, an axe, a hammer and nails, two quilts, a blanket, plus fifteen jars of fruit and jelly. Arriving at the village, he found it almost covered by deep snow and as bleak and barren as he had ever seen. Stoic Indians met him. That winter was the most difficult time of his life. Soaking clothes and nights of bitter cold followed as Smith fought with his stove in a desperate effort to keep the green wood burning and the small quarters warm. This expeience drove him closer to the Lord and also gave him an empathy with missionaries and their problems for years to come. He started a Sunday school, preached twice on Sundays and four times during the week, plus taught the Indian children at school. By April, 1909, he resumed his work selling Bibles, up and down the coast of British Columbia, plus preaching wherever he could.

Feeling the need for additional training, he went to the Manitoba College in Winnipeg in the fall of 1909. Returning home to Mount Albert for the Christmas holidays, his parents and friends heard him preach for the first time. This was quite a contrast to his previous holiday season, when he was with a few Indians in the wilds of British Columbia. Feeling a spiritual lack at the Manitoba school, he entered Toronto Bible College in the fall of 1910. By late November, Smith was chosen, along with five other students, to be one of the speakers at the Students' Public Meeting. His subject was "A Call to the Foreign Field," for his interest in missions was now beginning to grow. On December 8, 1910, he surrendered completely to God. His diary states:

At age 21, in January of 1911, he decided to hold a revival in Toronto - his first extended campaign. He used the Missionary Tabernacle, prepared 3,000 posters, and prepared his messages. Five were saved, and on Friday night Jennie Tyrrell sang. Five years of courtship and engagement followed. Soon J. Wilbur Chapman and Charles Alexander held a large crusade in Massey Hall, where Smith served as an usher and then as a counselor. Then in mid-summer 1911, he took a position with the Pocket Testament League of Canada to become their first traveling secretary, which gave him exposure throughout various areas in Ontario.

Then in November he became pastor of the Belwood (Ontario) Congregational Church. A second church at Garafraxa used his services simultaneously. Graduating from Toronto Bible College, he went off to Chicago in the fall of 1912 to begin further studies at McCormick Theological Seminary - a strong Presbyterian school in those days. In February of 1913, he assumed the pastorship of the Millard Avenue Presbyterian Church on Chicago's southwest side. He continued until May, then decided he would minister amongst the hills of Kentucky. He was assigned to a place called Cawood, a very small hamlet consisting of a combined store - post office and one house - as home base. Again, like British Columbia, it was a lonely ministry. Out of these experiences came some of his finest poems, which set the tone for many of his writings in later years. Towards the end of the summer, revival broke out at a place called Turtle Creek. His next year at McCormick Seminary (1913-14) saw him pastor the South Chicago Presbyterian Church also. His engagement to Miss Tyrrell was broken by mutual agreement in March, 1914.

He had begun to write verse in 1906 at age 17, and on September 5, 1914, he saw his first collection of hymns published. D.B. Towner had provided the music. Three days later, he wrote a well-known hymn, Deeper and Deeper. On April 29, 1915, he graduated from McCormick Theological Seminary, and on the following night, he was ordained in the church where he pastored. That day he spent in prayer, and he became convinced of two things - his work would be worldwide in coverage and Toronto would be his home base. He would leave Chicago. The congregation begged him to stay, but he felt impressed to take an associate pastor's position at the Dale Presbyterian Church in Toronto, where J.D. Morrow pastored.

June 6, 1915, began a lifetime of ministry in Toronto. Smith served with vigor at this work, and was impressed with one Daisy Billings, who was the senior deaconness of the church. By the spring of 1916, he was physically exhausted and had to take a complete rest. He went to Clifton Springs, New York, for an extended vacation. On September 12, 1916, he married Daisy Billings in a ceremony at the church by their pastor J.D. Morrow. Some 2,000 attended. Dale Presbyterian Church became the center of evangelism. Smith was learning fast from Morrow and soon was doing considerable preaching there. Morrow decided to become a chaplain in 1916, and Smith was made the pastor of this, the second largest Presbyterian church in Canada. In September of 1917, a real revival came to the church, which prompted Smith to write "A Revival Hymn". Morrow returned only briefly, but with failing health, he moved on to California in 1921, where he later died.

Smith's strong stand began to cause a concern amongst the liberal element, as has happened so often in history. Liberals were irritated by the revival meetings, the use of gospel hymns, the prayer meetings, the $600 raised for missions. The liberals succeeded in mounting so much pressure that, in October of 1918, Smith terminated his ministry. The Smiths' first son, Glen, was born June 22, 1917. A call was given to return to British Columbia under the Shantymen's Christian Association. Settling his family following their arrival on April 1, 1919, he began to preach to a needy and forgotten section of Canada's society.

However, a vision of Toronto and its masses burned in his soul, so he returned later in the year and served in various Christian causes until it was God's time to open up the right doors. On February 4, 1920, his only daughter Hope was born. Smith spent part of this summer in Kentucky again.

Smith, now 30 years of age, decided it was time for action. Renting the West End YMCA, he started his own services in October of 1920, calling the work the Gospel Tabernacle. Sixty-four people showed up in the 750-seat auditorium for the first service. Three months later this new work merged with the Parkdale Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, and Smith became the pastor of the new work in January of 1921. On June 1, 1921, their third child, Paul, was born. (Paul later would succeed his father as pastor of the famed People's Church.) A tent meeting to attract attention did just that when Smith had a "Bring Your Own Chair" shower on Sunday, July 3. The tent was filled with every kind of kitchen chair imaginable. A new church building was soon needed. For $40,000 they built an 80-by-130-foot auditorium seating 1,800. Paul Rader dedicated it on May 14, 1922, and the new work was called the Alliance Tabernacle.

He packed the auditorium by giving the people something they couldn't get any other place - variety. The best evangelists and singers in North America were constantly streaming across his platform. Establishing this kind of program made it easier for him to be gone weeks and months at a time later, because the people were used to different men filling the pulpit. He was now getting calls for many ministries elsewhere. The Alliance Tabernacle of New York called him to succeed A.B. Simpson, but he declined. One of the speakers at his church was William Fetler of the Russian Missionary Society, who had a burden for the Russian origin populace of the Baltic countries, who were ripe for the Gospel. Smith sailed on July 2, 1924, on his first of many trips outside the continent. Smith and Fetler had great meetings, with many of the auditoriums seating over 2,000 in such places as Latvia and Poland.

Back in Toronto with additional influence, the church grew until at times 1,000 would be turned away from a service. Smith pioneered soul-winning in Toronto. Gospel singing, intense evangelistic crusades, with a teaching ministry on Wednesday and Friday nights, continued to inspire the Christians throughout the area. Smith resigned in 1926 and did a year's worth of evangelistic efforts. In April, 1927, he accepted a call to the Gospel Tabernacle of Los Angeles, California. But Toronto continued to be in his heart. Even though he was drawing crowds of up to 2,200 and his church offered to build a 3,000-seat auditorium if he remained, he left in April, 1928, to go "back home."

Most people start at the bottom and work up, but not Smith. He rented Massey Hall and, on September 9, 1928, at this first service, he faced an audience of nearly 2,000 people. The Cosmopolitan Tabernacle was born, the crowds grew and so did the number of converts. On January 13, 1929, he was off to the Baltic countries for his second trip, now at the invitation of Paul Rader. He visited many countries this time. In Latvia over 2,000 were saved and one night a crowd of 1,300 sang his song Saved, which was the first time he had heard one of his songs in a foreign tongue.

He returned to Massey Hall, then on March 30, 1930, they moved to a permanent address - the empty 1,500-seat St. James Square Presbyterian Church on Gerrard Street East. It was now called the Toronto Gospel Tabernacle. He put the church on radio and kicked off the new work with a missionary convention. Soon it grew and he decided to move once again to the empty Central Methodist Church on July 1, 1934, and once again took on a new name - The Peoples Church, 100 Bloor Street East, a name that became famous from that time on.

Smith was now pastoring the largest church in Canada, and was often quoted in the media. Music was at its best, the Back Home Hour broadcast followed the evening service, the missionary conventions, the evangelistic crusades all helped bring in the crowds. The annual missionary conference going often for a full month was to eventually get $300,000 annually in faith promise offerings - a technique Smith widely and successfully utilized. The convention was loaded with mottos and displays from various missionaries. A large thermometer told the congregation how they were doing toward their goal.

Evangelism was emphasized. Soon, nearly 500 were saved each year, besides those from the radio broadcast. Eldon B. Lehman was an early musical director and had a choir of 135 voices and an orchestra of 40 pieces. Sometimes the evening crowds would be higher than the morning. Curtailing newspaper advertising for several years did not hold the crowds back. They had a $40,000 pipe organ that took too much space, so they sold it and built a second gallery. A 1944 evangelism crusade was moved to Massey Hall, and eventually to Maple Leaf Gardens. Over 11,000 people attended two Sunday nights.

On January 1, 1959, Smith turned over the reins of pastoring to his son Paul, while still enjoying such titles as founder, missionary pastor, pastor emeritus. It was in 1963 that the church was sold for $650,000 and a new church was built in the suburbs of Willowdale, where he resided. The original investment in the former church was only $75,000, so that in essence Smith and his associates were given a brand new church worth $575,000 absolutely free. How can anyone else get something like this? Smith replied, "All you have to do is give $5,000,000.00 to foreign missions over a 25-year period and God will give you a $500,000.00 church."

Smith's hymn writing had been an outlet for his feelings and emotions in hours of deepest depression and heartache. "Jesus Only" and "Christ Is Coming Back Again" were some of the early songs. One of his songs, "Saved", written in 1917, was the first of his hymns to gain universal attention. More than 1,200 hymn-poems followed, with musical settings by Ackley, Stebbins, Harkness, Towner, and other famed composers, with C.M. Alexander as publisher.

After Towner and Alexander died there was a lull un til he met B.D. Ackley in 1930. Hymn after hymn, Smith wrote and sent to him. Ackley provided music that fit the words and they began to be published by the Rodeheaver-Hall-Mack Company. From 1931 to 1946, there were 73 hymns that the two worked on together and that were successfully published. They became favorites overnight, and people everywhere were singing them.

Smith brought well-known Christian songs to the public year after year: In 1931, "Joy in Serving Jesus"; 1932, "The Saviour Can Solve Every Problem"; 1933, "A Revival Hymn"; 1934, "The Glory of His Presence"; 1935, "Take Thou O Lord"; 1936, "His Love Is All My Plea"; 1937; "God Understands"; 1938, "The Song of the Soul Set Free"; 1939, "The Need of the World Is Jesus"; 1940, "Then Jesus Came"; 1941, "A Wedding Prayer"; 1942, "Surrender".

His 1,200 hymns and poems made him one of the most widely used song writers. A few of the stories behind the hymns: "The Glory of His Presence", written in 1934 in the middle of the night; "God Understands" came as a result of Smith's youngest sister, Ruth, and her husband, Cliff Bicker's, plans to come home from Peru on their first furlough from missionary work. Just before leaving, Bicker was killed in an automobile accident. Then "Jesus Came" was written in 1939 in Philadelphia. Homer Rodeheaver had asked for a song depicting the change in men when Jesus came. He soon had a new solo to sing. A.H. Ackley gave Smith the music for "The Song of the Soul Set Free" and soon had the words for this widely used choir number.

To sum it up, seems as though you are describing the work of several men: As a pastor, Smith had ministered in Toronto since 1915. His congregation numbered about 3,500. About 2,000 attended the services, often three times each Sunday.

As an evangelist, he preached in the greatest churches in the world, and held some of the largest campaigns ever held in many places of the world.

As a missionary statesman, he led his church in a program that by the mid 1970s netted over $700,000.00 annually - the figure grew every year for foreign missions, more than any church on the face of the earth. This helped to support 350 missionaries from 35 faith missionary societies in 40 countries of the world. He stimulated this kind of program via the missionary convention route in scores of churches.

As an author, he published some 35 books which have sold over a million copies. The only other author to surpass this volume in the history of his publishing company - Marshall, Morgan and Scott of England is G. Campbell Morgan. His books, "The Passion for Souls" and "The Cry of the World", are the most challenging and practical books on missions ever written. Other titles are: "The Man God Blesses", "The Work God Blesses", "The Revival We Need", and scores more, published in 128 languages.

As an editor, he published a magazine, The People's Magazine, for 36 years, which enjoyed a worldwide circulation.

As a radio preacher, his church services were carried by as many as 42 stations at a time. In later years, he conducted "Radio Missionary Conventions" in major cities across the United States and Canada, challenging Christians and raising funds for the World Literature Crusade movement, of which he was honorary president.

As a world traveler, he toured 72 countries. His first major overseas tour was in 1924 when he visited nine countries in Europe. Tours after that included: 1929, England, France, Belgium, Monaco, Italy, Austria, Germany, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain, Poland, Switzerland; 1932, England, France, Spain, Egypt, Palestine, India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, the Dutch East Indies, French Somaliland, and Ethiopia; 1936, England, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Sweden, Den- mark, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Yu- goslavia, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Scotland; 1938, Ha- waii, Samoa, Fiji, Australia, the Solomon Islands, and New Zealand; 1941, Jamaica; 1946, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales; 1948, Ireland, England, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Iceland, and back to Jamaica; 1949, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Iceland; 1950, England, Bel- gium, Norway, Scotland, Germany, and Denmark; 1955, Azores, Portugal, Senega, Liberia, the Gold Coast, Congo, Rhodesia, South Africa, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Egypt, Italy, France, England, Scotland, and Newfoundland. Over 7,000 were converted in South Africa. Another tour in 1957 to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Equador, Colombia, and Panama, consisted of the largest united evangelistic campaigns in the history of South America, and saw some 4,500 conversions. Here the 67-year-old Oswald J. Smith preached to crowds averaging 15,000 nightly at the Luna Park indoor fight arena in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Three times over 20,000 attended. Three hundred churches participated and over 1,500 decisions were registered here.

Another tour took place in 1959, covering Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, England, Ireland, and Scotland. During this trip, he was received in Buckingham Palace. Then, later in the year, Smith went to Japan; to Hong Kong, preaching to 3,000 nightly; and to Hawaii.

In 1960, it was on to Alaska and then to Japan, where 1,000 decisions for Christ were made in the 2,200-seat Kyoritz Hall auditorium campaign in Tokyo. In 1961, Smith visited Hawaii, Fiji, and Australia, where over 1,000 young people volunteered for foreign service. Later in the year it was England, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Rhodesia, South Africa, and Sudan. In 1962, he visited Iceland, and in 1963, Ireland, England, and Wales.

Smith nearly died on three of his trips because of poor health, which as stated earlier plagued him all his life. Why such energy and talent given so unreservedly to Christ? Smith replied with a motto he originated that has become world-famous: "Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?"

On November 1, 1972, his beloved Daisy went to heaven after 56 years of marriage. Smith had preached his first sermon in a small Methodist church in the village of Muskoka in 1908. Nearly three quarters of a century and some 12,000 sermons later, he preached his last sermon at the Peoples Church in December, 1981 - at the age of 92. Bedridden for the last months of his life, he died at the age of 96. His funeral was Thursday, January 30, 1986, at the Peoples Church in Toronto. It featured the singing of George Beverly Shea and the preaching of Billy Graham.

He slipped away to be with the Lord, and Oswald J. Smith experienced what he wrote:

Some of Dr. Oswald J. Smith's favorite missionary mottoes allegedly originated by him were the following: "You must go or send a substitute." "If God wills the evangelization of the world, and you refuse to support missions, then you are opposed to the will of God." "Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God." "Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone has heard it once?" "Give according to your income lest God make your income according to your giving." "Now let me burn out for Christ." "The church which ceases to be evangelistic will soon cease to be evangelical." "This generation can only reach this generation." "The light that shines farthest shines brightest nearest home." "Not how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of God's money will I keep for myself." "The supreme task of the Church is the evangelization of the world."