Henry Francis LYONS

LYONS, HENRY FRANCIS (b. Prahran, Vic, 20 Nov 1885, d. Parkside, SA, 15 April 1938). Methodist minister.

Harry Lyons' father, a Jew, was president of the Melbourne synagogue but was deprived of his office when he married a Catholic. She died when Harry was only seven and her last wish was that he should be brought up in her faith. Accordingly he was sent to a Catholic college in Suva, Fiji. Several years later he rebelled against Catholicism and returned to Melbourne. To his father's disappointment he refused to attend the synagogue, saying he was finished with religion. Leaving home he worked on a farm in Gippsland. He gained a wide reputation as a sportsman, boxer and weightlifter. The local Methodist saw him as a bad influence on youth and prayed for his conversion for two years.

Out of curiosity he attended the opening service of a new Methodist chapel, when he was converted by a vision of Christ standing by the preacher and saying 'Come!' His about-face was at first greeted with incredulity. He began work as an evangelist in Fitzroy, and then in the Dandenongs. In 1909 he went to SA where he pioneered mission work along the Murray (1910-11). He was ordained by the SA Methodist Conference and was Conference Evangelist in 1921 and 1922. For the rest of his life he pastored country and suburban churches in that state.

He died unexpectedly on Good Friday 1938. The preacher at his funeral said, 'His passion for souls was a consuming fire. It burned up that life at noonday'. He rarely spoke of his unusual conversion, but it imparted a sense of reality and urgency to his preaching. An ardent evangelist, he deeply influenced many, including some who subsequently entered the ministry.

Australian Christian Commonwealth, 22 April, 4 Nov 1938

ARTHUR M JACKSON