Dr. John Wesley Hill

              Dr. John Wesley Hill



Pastor Metropolitan Temple, New York City



Figure



SUBJECTS



The Man with Brains


Pathos and Tragedy of Life among the Mormons


Abraham Lincoln


National Perils


George Washington


Politics and Religion




Under the Exclusive Management of LEE KEEDICK 150 Nassau Street, New York City







THE successful pastor of such a church as the Metropolitan Temple or 
The Church of the Open Door,
 as it is sometimes called—located in the business section of New York City, must be a man not only of strong and unusual personality but one who understands men of all occupations.  He must be a man of insight, a man of conviction, and a man of action.  In Dr. Hill we find the embodiment of all these traits, and in addition, the eloquence of earnestness.




No one can hear this big-souled man without recognizing the fact that he is a man among men—he is the lawyer's counselor, the business man's advisor, and the poor man's friend.




So deeply interested is Dr. Hill in all lines of activity which concern the nation's welfare that his church during the week has become a forum for the discussion of public questions by thinking people.




Here the politician, the reformer, the educator, and even the actor is given the right to express his views.  
What business has a preacher out of politics?
  is Dr. Hill's invariable response to the question so often heard, 
What business has a preacher in politics?




He is a minister who practises what he preaches.  So successful was he on the stump during the McKinley and Roosevelt campaigns that President Taft invited Dr. Hill, both by letter and telegram, to accompany him on his Western campaign and speak each day from the same car with him.




The picture on page three shows Dr. Hill driving home a political argument.




Dr. Hill's reputation as an orator is international.  During the summer of 1909 he occupied the pulpit of the Marylebone Church in London, where his success was instantaneous and phenomenal.



Figure

Dr. Hill preaching from Marylebone Pulpit in London


Figure

Copyright 1908 by Underwood & Underwood.


Dr. Hill speaking from the 
Taft Special
 in Iowa

APPRECIATIONS BY NOTED MEN.


He strikes from the shoulder and is most effective, whether in the pulpit or on the platform.  I greatly appreciate his public work.




THEODORE ROOSEVELT.




Dr. John Wesley Hill is versatile; is quick of thought; has an exceedingly pleasing address and an almost limitless vocabulary; and every time that I have been privileged to be one of his auditors, he has charmed his audience.



JAMES S. SHERMAN, Vice-President of the United States.




I greatly appreciate his splendid work upon the platform.




CHARLES E. HUGHES, Governor of New York.



One of the most wonderful sermons I ever heard—on either side of the sea—was from Rev. John Wesley Hill, at Ocean Grove, N. J., on July 4th, 1909.




JOHN WANAMAKER.


Figure

President William H. Taft, leaving the Metropolitan Temple, Sunday morning, December 13th, 1909.




DR. HILL IN LONDON
 The Rev. John Wesley Hill, Indorsed by Taft, to Aid a Mission There.



London, July 30, '09.  Special Cable to the Chicago Daily News.



The Rev. John Wesley Hill of the Metropolitan Temple, New York, friend and campaigner for Taft, Roosevelt, and McKinley, has arrived in London to undertake two months of evangelistic labor in the Marylebone Presbyterian Church.  Dr. Hill comes with an especially strong personal letter from President Taft commending him to the American Ambassador, the Consul General in London, and other influential Americans in this city.  Ambassador Reid will entertain the clergyman at luncheon and introduce him to a number of well-known people, and everything possible will be done to launch the Marylebone mission under favorable auspicies.


President Taft, as a matter of course, is deeply interested in all religious and moral effort,
 said Dr. Hill to The Daily News correspondent to-day.  
He believes in virility and determination in these matters as well as in what are sometimes regarded as more practical things.  He is well disposed to the idea not only of exchanging professors but of exchanging preachers as promoters of international good - will.  This accounts for his friendly and helpful interest in my summer's work in London.




The days of war and barbarism ought to be over.  The sight of sane and civilized men bickering and snarling like beasts puzzles as much as it depresses the lover of his kind.  The main part of my purpose is to speak with such power as I possess for the old but ever new and ever vital principles of the gospel.  Incidentally, however, I want to do some good if I can as a missionary of civility and sympathy between nations.





London, Aug. 21, 1909.  Special Cable to New York Herald.


The Rev. Dr. John Wesley Hill is proving a great success in his occupancy of the pulpit of Marylebone Presbyterian Church, London.  If curiosity to hear an American preacher whose reputation as an orator had preceded him and to see a Methodist clergyman in a Presbyterian pulpit had anything to do with the large congregation which crowded the church on his first appearance, Dr. Wesley Hill very soon made his power felt.  The church is always crowded, people coming from all parts of London to hear him, a most remarkable and exceptional thing in the summer time.  Indeed, it has not been known in Marylebone since the famous Dr. Lorimer was there.  Dr. Hill is in a class of his own.  While there are perhaps men among the English clergy who possesses what Shakespeare termed a 
pretty wit
, humor is far from being a characteristic of theirs.  That Dr. Hill is a humorist as well as a superb orator is perhaps one explanation of the great popularity he has gained here.


Rev. Dr. John Wesley Hill of New York was the speaker at the Whitfield Tabernacle Men's Meeting, last Sunday afternoon.  The address throughout was full of impassioned eloquence, while at the same time it was characterized by rugged and practical common sense.  The meeting can never be forgotten by those who were present.  —Sunday School Chronicle and Christian Outlook, London.





London, Aug. 12, Special to New York Times.


Dr. Hill began his ministry in this city this morning, preaching to a congregation that filled the large auditorium of the Marylebone Presbyterian Church to overflowing.  His introductory remarks touched upon the intimate relationship existing between Great Britain and the United States.  Among other things, he said, 
The Anglo-Saxon integrity is stronger than greed for land, and the Anglo-Saxon moral sense is the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night which is directing the forces of civilization.  I see more in this federation of the English speaking people than the movement of our Dreadnought police on the seas and the barking of our dogs of war.




A virile and striking preacher and a leader of international reputation is the Rev. Dr. John Wesley Hill, of New York City, who is now commanding sympathetic interest as a visitor of impressive personality and who has awakened throughout London deep regard by reason of his remarkable pulpit ability.  He recrosses the Atlantic to take up his work at the Metropolitan Temple with renewed energy and with the assurance of a multitude of new friends in the Old Country, that they will always be glad to give him a warm welcome back to these shores.—


The Christian, London, September 2.




With an extraordinary training in the school of varied experience, and with a record of successes in all his noble activities in the service of the church, public morals, exalted citizenship, and disinterested patriotism, the pastor of the Metropolitan Temple, New York City, is one of the forces to which that city looks for the promotion of civic righteousness and the betterment of the millions of inhabitants within its borders.  His preaching has attracted wide-spread attention, and has resulted in the strengthening of the Kingdom of God in our midst.  One characteristic that reveals itself quickly to the observer is his sense of humor.  He is a strong man and a serious one, who goes breast forward against the foes of the Kingdom of God, but his sense of humor is ever with him, and sparkles, not only in his private conversation, but in his pulpit and platform efforts.—


The Methodist Times, London.




The success of Dr. Hill in filling the Metropolitan Temple Sunday after Sunday is easily understood, in view of the great success he has met in London, especially during this holiday period.—


The Christian World, London.



LONDON NOTICES -- CONTINUED

Rev. John Wesley Hill, D.D., of the Metropolitan Temple, New York City, is creating a great stir in the pulpit of the Marylebone Presbyterian Church, London, where his reputation as one of the most remarkable men in the States and among the foremost pulpit orators there is being fully maintained.—


Liverpool Post, England.



America has sent to London one of the most distinguished of its preachers, Rev. John Wesley Hill, D.D., pastor of the Metropolitan Temple, New York City.  Dr. Hill has already gained a reputation in London of being a people's preacher, and this in view of the multitudes from all walks of life to whom he is preaching each Sunday.  He is not only a preacher of pre-eminent influence in his own country, but it is understood that he takes an active interest in political affairs.  In the last Presidential campaign he received the unique distinction of being invited to accompany Mr. Taft on his journey throughout the West.—


The London Chronicle.



Rev. Dr. John Wesley Hill, pastor of the Metropolitan Temple, New York, has already gained the admiration and esteem of the people of London.—


The Christian Endeavor Times, London.



The people of London are to have the pleasure of listening for several Sundays to one of the most noted of New York preachers, Dr. Wesley Hill.  On Sunday morning last, there was a large attendance to hear his opening sermon.  His appearance and delivery is suggestive of the remark lately made by a prominent American minister, viz., that 
Only men of robust physique are equal to the demands of the American pulpit.
  Dr. Hill is in the prime of life and appears to be of rugged constitution.  His voice is clear and ringing, his style has no trace of affectation, and the passages which are spoken with most passion are unstudied efforts of oratory.  His powerful sermon was heard with unmistakable interest.  He is learned and a deeply thoughtful preacher.—


The British Weekly, August 15, '09



A memorable meeting was held on Sunday, August 29, when Dr. John Wesley Hill, who succeeded Dr. Cadman as pastor of the Metropolitan Temple, New York, gave a wonderful address on 
Shadowed.
  Dr. Hill's utterance was a maganificent[sicmagnificent appeal to the finer feelings of all the men present and his description of the conscience of the evil doer compared with that of the man who is living a clean, conscientious life, was powerful, searching, and dramatic.—


London Signal.



Marylebone Presbyterian Church, London, is without a pastor, and so great has been Dr. Hill's success that it is reported from London that the people of that church would like to have him consider remaining as their permanent pastor.  It is not thought that Dr. Hill would leave America, for the reason that his success in Metropolitan Temple, where the Rev. S. Parkes Cadman was for a number of years the pastor, is very marked, and he has large plans of work to carry out there.—


Brooklyn Eagle.



London, Aug. 11, '09, Special to the Herald.



Dr. John Wesley Hill has been most warmly received by the representatives of the church and also by his own country.  He was entertained at luncheon at Dorchester House by Ambassador and Mrs. Whitelaw Reid yesterday.  He has also received numerous invitations to speak upon prominent occasions and in prominent places throughout the city.


I had the privilege of listening to Dr. John Wesley Hill on several occasions, during his occupancy of the pulpit of the Presbyterian Church, London, this summer.  I say without hesitation that no American preacher has, during my official residence in England, achieved such widespread recognition or won higher success.  He has what is indispensable, if you would move great masses of men,—a commanding personality.  He speaks out of a large and varied and rich experience, employing with rare skill illustrations drawn from many sources, to adorn and emphasize the subject.  If you have heard him once, you will return again and again, for his range is wide, his touch sure, his logic convincing, his style unique, and his elopuence[siceloquence] irresistible.  —Hon. John L. Griffiths, United States Consul General to England.




London, Sept. 6, '09.  Special despatch to the New York Herald.


Dr. John Wesley Hill, pastor of the Metropolitan Temple in New York, who has been filling the pulpit of the Marylebone Presbyterian Church here during the summer, preached his last sermon here to-night.  He leaves for home on the Majestic, next Wednesday.  His work in London has been a phenomenal success, congregations filling the church to overflowing every time he has preached, and everybody is sorry to part with him.  One of the congregation said to the Herald correspondent.  
It has been so refreshing to have Dr. Hill here.  He has been so different from anyone we have ever heard.  His originality, plainness of speech, and loyalty to the great principles of the Gospel have completely won us.
  To-morrow evening, the church is to give a farewell reception to Dr. Hill.  Among those announced to speak are Hon. John L. Griffiths, Consul General of the United States, Hon. Cecil Robertson, and Sir Gilbert Parker.  Dr. Hill has been invited to return to London next summer.  It is understood, however, that there is something more behind this invitation.  Marylebone Church is still without a pastor, and it is known for a fact that the church would like to have Dr. Hill for its pastor.  Many of the officiary have expressed this desire.  If Dr. Hill should accede to the desire, his welcome in the church would be unanimous.  The representative of the Herald questioned Dr. Hill as to his return to the pastorate of the Marylebone Church, but he only smiled a smile of pleasure to think he had been so much thought of, and then shook hands with the reporter in kindly goodbye.





AMERICAN NOTICES.



The Ocean Grove Auditorium had a record breaking crowd yesterday morning.  The gallery was opened for the first time this season, and every seat occupied.  At least 12,000 people were present.  Rev. John Wesley Hill, pastor of the Metropolitan Temple, New York City, delivered what has been characterized as one of the greatest sermons ever heard in Ocean Grove Auditorium.  The topic of his sermon was 
National Perils and Responsibilities.
—


The Asbury Park Journal, July 5, 1909.




The patriotic oratory of the Rev. John Wesley Hill, D.D., of New York, so enthused the vast audience at the Ocean Grove Auditorium, yesterday morning, that during a particularly brilliant passage by the preacher, the people sprang to their feet, broke forth spontaneously in applause which was repeated time and again as he proceeded.  No attempt was made to repress the popular demonstration.  It is the general opinion that Dr. Hill's sermon was the finest patriotic address ever heard from the Auditorium platform.—


The Asbury Park Morning Press, July 5, 1909.





PASTOR HILL'S VOICE.




At a Republican state convention, at Toledo, we think, some fifteen years ago, Rev. John Wesley Hill, of Fostorio, made the opening prayer.  It was such an earnest invocation and so full of good old Republican inspiration that at the close of the prayer, the convention broke out in thunderous applause.  Mr. Hill then belonged to the Central Ohio M. E. Conference, but since then has drifted east and is now pastor of the Metropolitan Temple, New York City.  During the last presidential campaign, he went about over the country a great deal with Mr. Taft, who had frequent occasion to make use of his rich eloquence.


Recently he has been in London, and at the Marylebone Presbyterian Church, delivered a series of sermons which made a great impression.  The large church was filled to overflowing every night.  His sermon last Sunday morning was largely devoted to disarmament for which he strongly pleaded.  That was a noble service he rendered his country, in standing for the policy of peace.  On Monday night, he was given a great reception attended by men prominent in government and letters.



We hope he will get a hearty reception on his return, and when he gets rested, go down to Washington and preach that sermon in the midst of the war technicalities and the 
get ready
 spendthrifts.—



Ohio State Journal.




REV. DR. HILL'S LECTURE



In the College Hall—Subject:  
Brains.




It would be simply impossible to do justice to Rev. Dr. Hill's Lecture in the College Hall last night in an ordinary newspaper report.  We think we can truthfully say, however, that as a lecturer, Dr. Hill exceeded all previous records and triumphantly carried off the palm.  To say the least the lecture last night was a brilliant oratorical production with enough variety, and humor, and magnetism, and sublimity in it to captivate the attention and delight the feelings of any audience, however great or diversified or fastidious their predilections might be.  With wonderful facility and great analytical skill, the learned Doctor held under consideration for a long time the physical and intellectual powers, most minutely describing the forces which operate successfully in the proper development of the one and the other.  The Doctor's climaxes were marvelous flights of oratory, which simply thrilled the audience with delight and elicited the most unbounded and enthusiastic applause.  From exordium to peroration there was no relaxation of interest, no diminution of applause.  The Doctor occupied two hours in the delivery of his lecture, yet the audience would gladly have waited upon his sublime and inspiring words for a much longer time.  The Doctor's happy and opportune allusions to the united interests and aims, and potentialities guarded and conserved by the united prestige and influence of the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes appealed most strongly to the loyalty as well as to the sentiment of the vast audience and called forth prolonged applause.  There were but two wishes expressed at the close of the lecture last night.  One was that the esteemed lecturer might not leave the city without affording the public another opportunity of hearing him.  The other was that if he could not stay longer with us that the good people would permit him to visit the Island again at the very earliest possible date.—


Evening Telegram, St. Johns, Newfoundland.




Dr. Hill is widely known as a pulpit and platform orator of remarkable ability and an untiring worker in his parishes.—


Western Advocate, Cincinnati.




Dr. Hill is not only an eloquent clergyman, but a very interesting and magnetic man, always a successful and popular preacher and lecturer.  He has been distinguished for breadth of opinion and has been invited to preach to Catholic, Jewish, and many other congregations of a faith different from his own.—


Washington Post.




His appearance is not suggestive of the clergyman.  His face is smooth, eyes light blue, and manner plain and simple.  Yet every movement indicates intensity of life and purpose and never fails to impress one with his strong personality.  As a speaker his words are clear, his voice magnetic, his thought thoroughly original and his style captivating.—


New York Sun.