Graham Stuart Harrison was first and foremost a powerful preacher and faithful pastor.
He became minister of Alma Street Baptist Chapel, Newport in 1962 — re-named Emmanuel Evangelical Church in 1977 when a new building was erected — and laboured indefatigably there until his retirement in 2010.
He was devoted to the flock of God. His many and varied gifts, however, equipped him for wider ministry in God’s kingdom. He was heavily involved in the work of the Evangelical Movement of Wales (EMW), serving for many years as chair of the editorial board of its English language magazine and as one of the editors of Christian Hymns. In 1972 he became the first principal and lecturer in systematic theology on its Theological Training Course, in which capacity he trained scores of men for gospel ministry. Five years later he became the first lecturer in systematics at the newly formed London Theological Seminary.
Gospel unity
His passionate commitment to gospel unity found expression first in his involvement in Inter Varsity Fellowship (now UCCF) and TSF (now Religious & Theological Studies Fellowship) when he was a student, in a local fellowship of gospel churches in Newport, and through his work in EMW and Associating Evangelical Churches of Wales, and in his contributions to the former British Evangelical Council.
He stressed the experiential element of Christian living and for many years longed to see spiritual awakening. Some who did not know him misunderstood this emphasis: he was certainly not downplaying the importance of theology or evangelism; rather, he believed and taught that the New Testament held out a greater degree of intimacy with God and of spiritual blessing than what has become the accepted norm among us.
Such was the power and speed of his intellect that those who engaged him in debate were wont to come ‘limp out of his grip’, especially if they had simply taken up with the latest evangelical fad. But, though he could be devastating in thus exposing nonsense, he was a kind and tender-hearted man, especially to those in distress. While he was unafraid to engage in polemics when necessary, he was, at heart, sensitive and a man of peace. The quality of the hymns he wrote and translated testifies to these qualities.
He was suddenly called home on May 20. We mourn the passing of a great and beloved man of God and commend to the Lord in our prayers his dear wife Eluned, his daughter Nia and her husband Anton, and his grandson Rhys.
