W. L. Jarvis
Wilfred Lemuel Jarvis was a Baptist evangelist and gospel singer in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia.
History
Jarvis was born in Cheshire, England, a son of Harriett Ann Jarvis and Arthur Charles Jarvis.The family moved to Australia around 1910, and A. C. Jarvis was soon preaching at the Jireh Baptist Church and pastor of the Ipswich Baptist church 1919–1920, followed by Burnie, and other towns in Tasmania 1921–1923, then returned to New South Wales.
Jarvis volunteered for service with the First AIF on 19 July 1918, giving his occupation as "theological student", but was not required to serve overseas as the Armistice intervened, and was discharged in November 1918.
In the 1920s he toured Australia and New Zealand, popular for his forceful preaching and musicality. He was an excellent pianist, vocalist and expert leader of community singing. He was assisted by his father, A. C. Jarvis, in Tasmania in 1922.
In 1932 he was assistant to Rev. C. James Tinsley, president of the Australian Baptist Union and of Stanmore Baptist Church.
He was appointed pastor of the Bathurst Street Baptist Church, reckoned the "mother church" of Baptists in NSW, in 1935 and left in 1937.
He was elected president of the Council of Churches in New South Wales in 1937, at a time of upheaval, the Church of England having quit the organisation.
In 1952 he was elected President-General of the Baptist Union of Australia and a vice-president of the Baptist World Alliance.
Publications
- The King of Kings
- ''Cheer Up the Heart Campaign Song Book''
Family
Jarvis was a brother of Charles Jarvis; Edwin Jarvis, and Grace Jarvis.Jarvis married Bessie May Stumbles, Sunday-school teacher at Jireh in Brisbane in 1920. Their children include:
- Doreen May Jarvis married C. D. Ransley
- Wilfred Arthur Henry Jarvis engaged to Hilary Kelshaw; professor of psychology, married Pamela Salkeld
- David Ronald Jarvis
- Edith May Jarvis