George Harpur

George Harpur (1910 - 1987)
George Harpur was a native of Dublin city in the South of Ireland. His upbringing was in the Church of Ireland where he was both christened and confirmed. Throughout childhood and youth he attended Sunday School and Bible Class there, and fully participated in the young people's activities. From the age of six he showed a fondness for books which continued with him for the rest of his life.

George also attended the Boys' branch of the Dublin Y.M.C.A. which was then led by the famous Captain Reginald Wallis, author of "The New Life" series of books for young Christians, possibly the first such series produced by Christian publishers. When he was seventeen George Harpur, one of a group of five young men, trusted the Saviour. They all went on for the Lord, held occasional reunions, and went on to become faithful servants of the Lord.

It was the intention that George would become a Civil Servant but instead he became a commercial traveller, which occupation proved to be a good preparation for his life's work. First his business contacts broke down his natural reserve, while overnights in hotels were spent in Bible study. The weekends at home were occupied with preaching. But George Harpur soon felt called to full-time service for the Lord. Stepping out in faith he crossed to London to the Honor Oak Christian Fellowship, with which he spent two and a half years learning how to do pastoral work and engaging in Bible teaching and evangelism in Missions and Chapels. Towards the end of that time he came into fellowship with assemblies of the Lord's people with which he continued until the Lord took him home.

In those pre-war days George Harpur was an evangelist. He worked a lot with Luther Rees and engaged in gospel campaign both indoors and in tents with others like John McAlpine an Harold Wildish. It was during this period that he married Ruth Jeffers Bandon in Ireland, whom he had met on his rounds in h commercial traveller days and fell in love with her at first sigh However marriage was not possible until 1935 and this required the setting up of a home in Bournemouth.

During World War II, George Harpur combined his preaching with administrative work connected with the Air Raid Precautions Service, the old name for Civil Defence, based at Muller's Homes in Bristol. He seized the opportunity to arrange Sunday services for A.R.P. staff which attendances of a thousand were not uncommon.

Assembly Christians had long been noted for their Bible knowledge. The war years made George Harpur realise that this was no longer true. He decided on a change of direction in Christian service to give more of his attention to Bible teaching. This was to be his passion for the remainder of his life and took him into corners of the United Kingdom where he had not been before. He came to the old Glasgow Half-Yearly Meetings; partnered brethren like Harold St. John and E. W. Rogers at Ayr, Largs and Aberdeen Bible Readings but above all conducted the annual Glasgow Summer Bible School from 1956 until 1986. This met on Monday and Friday evenings for a whole month, and attracted young Christians from a wide area to Anniesland Hall in the West End of the city. During this time, his beloved wife was called home. While the 1987 session was planned, the Lord's servant was called home beforehand.

On the personal level, the Harpurs moved from Bristol in 1956 and joined the Brentwood assembly in Essex where they continued until the Lord called them home. Writing for "The Harvester" just shortly before his end, one of the brethren from Brentwood said, "George stands out as a man with a wide vision, yet who still believes in 'assembly principles'; as a man of deep Biblical knowledge, yet who is approachable with the simplest question; as a man who carries out a daunting timetable, yet who has always time to advise and help."