J. Wilbur
Chapman
Contributor
John Wilbur Chapman was born in Richmond, Indiana, on June 17, 1859 to Christian parents who raised him in preparation for the ministry. He publicly professed Christ at seventeen and entered college and then the seminary. He pastored several Presbyterian churches before entering evangelism in 1893. He preached with D. L. Moody, acting as an "advance man" for him in his crusades. When he later began his own evangelistic meetings, he hired a young man named billy Sunday as his own advance man. From 1904-1909 Chapman began to develop and promote a new method of urban evangelism. His idea was to hold several meetings throughout a city simultaneously, thereby reaching more people and stirring more hearts to enter into Christian service. He began in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and included cities in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Philippines, Ireland, Scotland and India in his world-wide itinerary. What became known as "mass evangelism" came from his techniques. His sermons were put in book form and even still can be found today. We was a writer of hymns, the three most popular being, "One Day," "Tis Jesus," and "One Great Day." Chapman was a theological conservative who believed in the imminent return of Christ and the inerrancy of Scripture. He once advocated that his denomination recall all foreign missionaries from the field who did not hold to inerrancy. He possessed a deep and musical voice in the pulpit and a good sense of humor. His sermons were well illustrated and fully applied, and serve as excellent models for today's preacher. "I cannot ever recall any hesitation as to being a minister," he said. "It just had to be."
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