Alan Redpath (9 January 1907 – 16 March 1989), was a well-known British

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a com ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and author.

Biography

Alan Redpath was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

, the only son of James and Christina Redpath. He went to

Durham School Durham School is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England and was an all-boys institution until 1985, when girls were admitted to the sixth form. The school takes pupils ...

, and then studied to be chartered

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certi ...

in Newcastle, completing this in 1928. He then worked as the chartered accountant for ICI until 1935. In 1936, he joined the Young Life, National Young Life Campaign as an evangelist, where he served until he was called to be pastor of Duke Street

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

, London in May 1940. In 1953 he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

and became the pastor of the

Moody Church The Moody Church (often referred to as Moody Memorial Church, after a sign hung on the North Avenue side of the building) is a historic evangelical Christian (Nondenominational Christianity) church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illi ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. In 1955, Redpath was elected President of

Unevangelized Fields Mission Crossworld is an international Christian missionary organization. As of 2021, Crossworld has more than 300 disciple-makers in 35 countries, who are involved in church ministry, education, healthcare, community development, refugee work, business ...

in the United Kingdom. Redpath ministered at Moody Church until 1962. In 1961,

Houghton College Houghton University is a private Christian liberal arts college in Houghton, New York. Houghton was founded in 1883 by Willard J. Houghton and is affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.

awarded Redpath an honorary

Doctorate of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

degree. Redpath returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1962 as pastor of

Charlotte Baptist Chapel The Charlotte Chapel, also known by its previous name, St George's West Church, is a historic church building located in Shandwick Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. It belongs to an Independent Baptist congregation, and was originally a parish church ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. While at Charlotte Baptist, he suffered a near-fatal stroke in 1964, but was able to recover, although he suffered from deep depression for a period afterwards. He preached there until 1966, when he embarked on ministry as a traveling missionary and conference speaker. In 1969, he became Field Representative for Capernwray Missionary Fellowship, and then in 1975 he was named Pastoral Dean of Capernwray Bible School. Redpath married, and had two daughters. He died on 16 March 1989 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, England. Perhaps his most well-known quote is, "When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible man, and he crushes him." Other notable quotes are;
"The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime."
"The Christian life doesn't get easier as one gets older."

Bibliography

Alan Redpath authored the following books: * ''Answer for Today'' (1951) * ''Getting to know the Will of God'' (1955) – an

IVF In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an ovum, egg is combined with spermatozoon, sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's Ovulation cycle, ovulatory process, remo ...

booklet * ''Victorious Christian Living : studies in the Book of Joshua'' (1955) * ''Victorious Praying : studies in the family prayer'' (1956) – on the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

* ''Victorious Christian Service : studies in the book of Nehemiah'' (1958) * ''The Royal Route to Heaven : studies in First Corinthians'' (1960) * ''Learning to Live'' (1961) * ''The Making of a Man of God : studies in the life of David'' (1962) * ''Blessings Out of Buffetings : studies in II Corinthians'' (1965) * ''Faith for the times : studies in the prophecy of Isaiah'' ; 2 vols. ** Part I. ''The promise of deliverance : ... chapters 40 to 66'' (1972) ** Part II. ''The plan of deliverance : ... chapters 49 to 54'' (1975) * ''Captivity to conquest : studies in the prophecy of Isaiah, chapters 40-66'' (1978) – originally published as ''Faith for the times'' * ''Law and liberty : a new look at the Ten Commandments in the light of contemporary society'' (1978) * ''Victorious Christian Faith'' (1984) A book of daily readings from his writings was compiled by Marjorie Redpath as * ''The Life of Victory'' (1991), , republished (2000) .

Sources

Wheaton College info on RedpathStroke and its effects

References

External links

CrossWorld
– formerly known as the Unevangelized Fields Mission.
Young Life
– formerly known as the National Young Life Campaign. {{DEFAULTSORT:Redpath 1907 births 1989 deaths Evangelists British writers People educated at Durham School