Gypsy Smith was, perhaps, the best loved evangelist of all time. When he would give his life story, the crowds that came to hear usually overflowed the halls and auditoriums. His trips across the Atlantic Ocean were so numerous that historians seemingly disagree on the exact number.
Born in a gypsy tent six miles northeast of London, at Epping Forest, he received no education. The family made a living selling baskets, tin ware and clothes pegs. His father Cornelius, and his mother, Mary (Polly) Welch, provided a home that was happy in the gypsy wagon, despite the fact that father played his violin in the pubs at this time. Young Rodney would dance and collect money for the entertainment. Yet he never drank or smoked, which may have contributed to his longevity.
Gypsy Smith is relatively unknown today, but he preached to more people than anyone in history, prior to Billy Graham. He was born in a tent near Epping Forest in North East London and never went to school. He worked hard, helping his father Cornelius make baskets and clothes pegs. His mother, Mary, sadly died of smallpox when he was young.
In 1876, Gypsy Smith came to faith at his local Methodist church and taught himself to read and write. He felt called to preach and learnt his trade by walking the fields ‘preaching to the turnips’. He was a man of the people and believed that his Roma community was a lost tribe of Israel. Just as the Jews had their traditions of cleaning and sanitation, their unique burial customs, language, and appearance, so did the Roma community. They also both shared a history of persecution.
In 1877, Gypsy Smith met William Booth, who was drawn to his singing talent. Gypsy Smith gave his testimony and was invited to join the Salvation Army. His first assignment was in Chatham where the congregation grew from 10 to 250 in nine months under his preaching. He was then sent to Hull. Here, over a thousand people came each week to hear him preach. To show their appreciation the church presented Gypsy Smith and his wife with the gift of a gold watch. However, after accepting the watch, he was dismissed by the Salvation Army for breaching their policy.
He was married on December 17, 1879 to Annie E. Pennock, one of his converts from Whitby, and their first assignment together was at Chatham. Here the crowd grew from 13 to 250 in nine months. Their first child, Albany, was born December 31, 1880. Then it was six months in Hull in 1881. Here the name "Gipsy" Smith first began to circulate. Meetings at the Ice House grew rapidly and soon 1,500 would attend an early Sunday prayer meeting. A meeting for converts drew 1,000. Then came Derby with defeats and discouragements.
However, the Moody 1881 visit in London was a big encouragement. Their last move was to Hanley, in December 1881. He considered this his second home for the rest of his life. By June 1882, great crowds were coming and the work was growing. On July 31st a gold watch was given him and about $20.00 was presented to his wife by the warm-hearted folks there. Acceptance of these gifts was a breach of the rules and regulations of the Salvation Army, and for this, he was dismissed from them. The love in Hanley was returned by Smith, for when his second son was born on August 5th, he named him Alfred Hanley. His eight assignments with the Salvation Army had produced 23,000 decisions and his crowds were anywhere up to 1,500.
In 1891, Gypsy Smith accepted his first of many invites to preach in America, where he would speak to more than 10,000 at a time. It was in Boston, in 1896 when 116,000 people attended his crusade that Gypsy Smith was given the title of ‘the Greatest Evangelist in the World.’
One of the highlights of his life was his trip to South Africa in 1904 (age 44). He took his wife along. His daughter, Zillah, was the soloist. They spend six months there. He closed out in Cape Town on May 10th seeing some 3,000 come to the inquiry rooms during his crusade there. A tent meeting in Johannesburg started on June 9th in a 3,000 seat tent. He finally left in September, and it was estimated that 300,000 attended his meetings with 18,000 decisions for Christ during the whole African tour.
Gypsy Smith continued to receive invitations to speak all across the United Kingdom and Europe.
In 1922, Gypsy Smith was speaking in Nashville, Tennessee to a 6,000 strong and exclusively black audience when he was asked, ‘What colour are we going to be in heaven? Shall we be black or white?’ Gypsy Smith replied, ‘We are going to be just like Christ.’
A large youth crusade was conducted in London in 1931. 1934 found him at an open air meeting near the spot where his gipsy mother died. Some 3,500 heard him. A church was started there as a result, called the North Methodist Mission. In June, 1935, he had a rally at Epping Forest near the spot where he was born. 10,000 showed up to hear him talk about his life. His 1936 tour of America featured a great crusade in Elizabeth, New Jersey with 5,000 attending the last night which was the 60th anniversary of his conversion! Hundreds were saved. His favourite song, "He is Mine," was sung.
Gipsy Smith's wife, Annie, died in 1937 at the age of 79 while he was in America. All of their children turned out well: a minister, an evangelist, and a soloist.
Harold Murray was his constant friend and biographer for thirty years and was pianist for him starting with the first World War.
Front page headlines on June 2, 1938 carried the news of the 78 year old widower marrying Mary Alice Shaw on her 27th birthday. This, of course, brought some criticism. But it was a good marriage, for she helped him in his meetings, sang, did secretarial work, and later nursed him when his health failed. He toured the United States and Canada from 1939 to 1945. In 1945 they went back to England. He preached a bit, but the country was pre-occupied with recovery from the war.
Gipsy was now very tired, and thinking the sunshine of Florida might be good for his health, they embarked again for America. Three hours out of New York, he died on the Queen Mary, stricken by a heart attack. Some say this was his 45th crossing of the Atlantic. His funeral was held August 8, 1947 in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York. A memorial with a plaque was unveiled on July 2, 1949 at Mill Plain, Epping Forest, England, his birthplace. So ends the life of one who once said, "I didn't go through your colleges and seminaries. They wouldn't have me...but I have been to the feet of Jesus where the only true scholarship is learned." And learned it well,—to even compel Queen Victoria of England to write him a letter.
Gipsy never wrote a sermon out for preaching purposes. Only once did he use notes when he needed some Prohibition facts.
Smith wrote several books: "As Jesus Passed By" (1905), "Gipsy Smith: His Work and Life" (1906), "Evangelistic Talks" (1922), "Real Religion" (1929), "The Beauty of Jesus" (1932) and "The Lost Christ."
Because Gypsy Smith came from an oral tradition, he didn’t rely on manuscripts and notes, but used storytelling to preach the gospel. He could paint pictures with his words and present the gospel in a wonderfully clear way. His style of preaching reached the masses and was understood by all who heard him. He famously said, ‘The way to Jesus is not by Cambridge and Oxford, Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Socrates, Plato, Shakespeare or the poets. It is over an old-fashioned hill called Calvary.’
On another occasion he said, ‘You may climb to the stars and have the sun to play with, and the moon for a hoop and the stars for marbles, but if you want to heal men of broken hearts and guilt you have got to come back to the gospel.’
Gypsy Smith had a unique style that appealed to all people, but the gospel was always clear and he left his audience in no doubt of their personal responsibility to live a life that attested to the faith they proclaim. He said, ‘Find a piece of chalk, and find an empty room. Go into that room and shut the door. Draw a circle on the floor with that chalk, kneel down in that circle, and ask God to start revival right there.’
He knew that God could change lives and work through whoever came to him regardless of their wealth, or status in life. He said, ‘St. Paul’s cathedral is nothing but a glorified quarry if Christ be out of it, and my old gypsy tent is a cathedral when Christ is in it.’
Gypsy Smith was an unsung hero of the faith. He was involved in hundreds of evangelistic campaigns across the whole world and was a part of many revivals. He preached to millions of people and pointed them to Christ. During his lifetime he also wrote several books including his autobiography and As Jesus Passed By, The Beauty of Jesus and The Lost Christ.
He was a man who came from such humble beginnings but who had a ministry that stretched across continents. Although he was a Methodist, ministers of all denominations loved him. It is said that he never had a meeting without conversions.
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