George Jeffreys (1889 - 1962), the founder of the Elim Pentecostal Churches, was undoubtedly one of the greatest evangelists of the twentieth century.

With no support from any of the main denominations, he travelled all over the British Isles in the 1920s and 30s holding crusades in the country's largest halls. Tens of thousands came to know Christ as Saviour, and thousands more were healed as a result of his Spirit-anointed ministry.

He was born in Maesteg, Glamorgan, the sixth son of Thomas and Kezia Jeffreys, and was converted in November 1904 during the Welsh Revival. In 1910, he was Baptised in the Holy Spirit and associated himself with the growing Pentecostal Movement. Soon he began to be in demand as a preacher, at first in his own locality and then, as his reputation grew, further afield. In preparation for future ministry, he spent a short time in 1912 - 13 at the Pentecostal Missionary Union Bible College in Preston.

Following an invitation to preach in Bangor in 1914, he met a group of like-minded young men in Monaghan in January 1915. That meeting led to the formation of the Elim Evangelistic Band and eventually brought the Elim Pentecostal Churches into being.

George Jeffreys summarised the main distinctives of his preaching under the title "The Foursquare Gospel" in which he presented Jesus Christ as Saviour, Healer, Baptiser in the Holy Spirit and Coming King, a phrase which perfectly captures the emphases of Elim in its infancy.

You could not have sat for long in any Elim service in those days without hearing the call to salvation, without seeing practical evidence that Jesus Christ still healed the sick, without being urged to seek power to witness through the Baptism in the Spirit, and without being challenged by the message of the Second Coming. These truths formed the core of Elim preaching, praying and singing.

Without George Jeffreys there would have been no Elim Movement. He gave it impetus and direction. Two things about his ministry were distinctive. The first was his emphasis on the authority of the Bible.

In a day when many of the clergy denied the infallibility of Scripture, George Jeffreys' preaching was thoroughly biblical. He prayed for the sick and proclaimed the return of Christ because he saw these truths clearly set forth in God's Word. He was frequently pictured holding the open Bible in his hands.

The second distinctive feature of his ministry was his recognition that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were for the Church of every age to equip it for the proclamation of the Gospel. For him, Pentecostal power and evangelism went hand in hand.

Sadly, after 25 years George Jeffreys resigned from the Movement he had founded. He continued to preach throughout the U.K. and further afield for the rest of his life, but never with the impact of those early years. He died in 1962 at the age of 72.

He was a mighty man of God and we honour his memory.