Hervey Perceval SMITH

SMITH, HERVEY PERCEVAL (b. London, England, c. 29 Nov 1869; d. Surrey Hills, Vic, 27 Dec 1947). Founder of Melbourne Gospel Crusade, founding secretary and council member of Upwey (now Belgrave Heights) Convention.

Smith married twice, his first wife, Nettie, died 1935; his second wife, Sarah Ann, survived him. There were no children. Converted at age 32 whilst manager of the Federal Hotel in Melbourne, H P Smith became a dominant figure in Melbourne evangelicalism in the first half of the twentieth century. After hearing Dr R A Torrey preach during the 1902 Torrey-Alexander Mission on John 3:18, a great sense of guilt and condemnation took possession of him and he recognised himself a lost sinner. But Christ's words in John 5:24 brought assurance and faith. The definiteness of H P Smith's experience was the mark of his extraordinary work for Christ which followed in later years. All of his business ability, forcefulness and drive were put into service. Meetings for prayer and study of the scriptures were held weekly in his private rooms at the Federal. Under his leadership, small convention meetings were held at Eltham and later at other locations around Melbourne. These activities led him to commence the Melbourne Gospel Crusade whose aim, was 'to declare the truth of God summed up in 'the three R's' - Ruin by the fall Redemption by the blood of Christ and Regeneration by the Holy Ghost'. Evangelism in Melbourne streets, on the Yarra bank and in country locations, meetings for children and Bible teaching and missionary gatherings, were held under his direction. His greatest work began when the first convention was held at Upwey in 1918 under the auspices of the Gospel Crusade. The first Upwey Convention Council was formed during the 1922-23 convention. Smith continued as honorary secretary, an influential position he held until his death. The profound and far-reaching influence of the Convention, the largest Keswick-style convention in Australia, continues largely due to his originating initiatives.

In 1924, Smith resigned from the Federal when it was granted a liquor licence. He then opened a city shop for the sale of evangelical literature. The Keswick Book Depot quickly became an influential centre for evangelical activities in Victoria with world-wide effects for the Gospel. In 1926, the Keswick Quarterly and Upwey Convention News was published with H P Smith as editor, to 'feed the Church of God which He has purchased with His own blood'. The magazine reported convention messages, provided book reviews and reported news of Bible college, evangelistic and missionary activities. It circulated free with up to 10 000 copies printed quarterly. He took a keen interest in the formation of the MBI and was involved in the promotion of numerous interdenominational missionary societies. Leonard Buck, a later chairman of Belgrave Heights Convention, described H P Smith as 'one of God's mountaineers, a modern Caleb, the language of his heart and life constantly declaring, 'Give me this mountain!'. Prayer was part of his daily warfare; he could give a strong lead and follow a difficult one; he not only lived Christ, but acted for Christ'. He was used of God as were few others in his generation.

Keswick Quarterly, Feb, May 1926, Feb 1948; Letter to Presbyterian Messenger from H P Smith, 30 Mar 1926; Minutes of Melbourne Gospel Crusade in possession of David B Renshaw, New Life8 Jan 1948

WILL F RENSHAW