James Douglas MILL

MILL, JAMES DOUGLAS (b. Christchurch, New Zealand, 2 Feb 1879; d. Sydney, NSW, 22 Jan 1944). Baptist pastor.

James Mill was the first pastor of the Hamilton Baptist Church, New Zealand, having married Ethel Wilkinson Harbron in Wellington in 1906. In 1914 he accepted a call to pastor Waverley Baptist Church in Sydney and in 1921 was called to pastor the newly formed Chatswood Baptist Church, only to discover it was sinless perfectionist in its emphasis. Mr Smedley, as church secretary and leader of this opposition, chose to sit on the platform behind Mill as he preached, often indicating disapproval by head movements. Tension developed to the point where the perfectionists folded their arms refusing to pass the offering plates, intending to starve the pastor (with eight children) out of office.

Having preached a forceful sermon countering the perfectionist error, Mill declared the existing church roll null and void, and stated he had a new register and invited any who would stand with him to come to the Communion Table and sign. At first only two people came forward. The service finished in disarray, the crowd spilling on to the footpath with heated argument following. Only a handfull of people came to the evening service, the perfectionists having retreated to the Smedley home. The following Sunday they met in a public hall and continued for two years when finally some began to see their error, coming back and apologising.

Mill was a member of the Board of SSEM. On hearing of the dispute, Florence Young (q.v.) and other families of the Young/Deck relationship rallied to support Mill's congregation both in person and finance until it began to grow again. Ten years later the perfectionist teaching began to infiltrate the Mission in the Solomons, introduced through two missionaries returning from furlough. The Mission was in no mood to allow error to gain a foothold in a work that had the reputation in the South Pacific of having Bible-grounded and well-taught people. The missionaries involved were asked to resign.

Mill was an evangelist, pastor and missionary enthusiast: for many years he was editor of the Baptist missionary magazine Our Indian Field. His zeal for sharing the gospel was infectious and in open-air preaching he set an example to an ever growing young people's work. Many of the young men who later went into the Baptist ministry found their voices and confidence in testimony in open-air preaching under Mill's prompting.

His ministry was also known for his emphasis on the Lord's Return as well as the proclamation of the Gospel: 'It was at Chatswood I could bring an unconverted friend and know he would hear the Gospel faithfully preached'. This challenge of commitment of lives to the service of Christ resulted in six of his eight children becoming either missionaries or marrying pastors. In addition, during his fifteen years at Chatswood, seventeen other young people made commitments and went into full-time Christian service.

JOHN STUART MILL