| This book describes the life and ministry of one of
Christendom’s most colourful characters, Billy Sunday. Born
in 1862, Sunday was a professional baseball player and part-time fireman,
when he was converted through the ministry of the Garden Mission in
Chicago in 1886. In 1891 he began two years of service with the Chicago
YMCA and in 1894-5 assisted J. Wilbur Chapman in the planning and
promotion of large evangelistic crusades. From 1896 he launched out
on his own as an itinerant evangelist until his death in 1935, during
which time it is claimed that he won a million converts to Christ.
His success was due to a number of factors including advanced planning,
superb organization, massive publicity, musical excellence, specialist
ministries to businessmen, women, students and other sectional interests.
Thousands of church members were recruited to assist a group of
at least twenty specialists employed in the mechanics of city-wide
crusade evangelism.
Sunday’s sensational and flamboyant preaching style appealed
to the masses who responded to his sometimes outrageous sermons
on moral issues, especially the evils of alcohol.
Sunday can be described as a revivalist – a powerful and
successful evangelist who used all the ‘means’ he could
to see people converted – who occasionally saw signs of true
revival.
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