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Reuben Archer Torrey
(1856-1928), American evangelist, pastor,
educator, and writer.
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Torrey was born in
Hoboken, New Jersey on January 28, 1856. He graduated from Yale University
in 1875 and Yale divinity School in 1878. Following graduation, Torrey
became a Congregational minister in Garrettsville, Ohio in 1878, marrying
Clara Smith there in October, 1879. From 1881 to 1893, the Torreys had five
children.
After further
studies of theology at Leipzig University and Erlangen University in
1882-1883, Torrey joined Dwight L. Moody in his evangelistic work in
Chicago in 1889, and became superintendent of the Bible Institute of the
Chicago Evangelization Society (now Moody Bible Institute). Five years
later, he became pastor of the Chicago Avenue Church (now The Moody Church)
in 1894.
In 1898, Torrey
served as a chaplain with the YMCA at Camp Chicamauga
during the Spanish-American War. Later, during World War II, he performed
similar service at Camp Bowie (a POW camp in Texas) and Camp Kearny.
In 1902–1903, he
preached in nearly every part of the English-speaking world, and with song
leader Charles McCallon Alexander, conducted
revival services in Great Britain in 1903–1905. During this period, he also
visited China, Japan, Australia, and India. Torrey conducted a similar
campaign in American and Canadian cities in 1906–1907. Throughout these
campaigns, Torrey utilized a meeting style that he borrowed from Moody's
campaigns of the 1870s.
In 1912, he served
as Dean of Bible Institute of Los Angeles (now Biola
University) and in 1915, pastor of the Church of the Open Door, Los
Angeles.
His last evangelistic
meeting was in Florida in 1927. Future planned meetings were canceled due
to his failing health. He died at home in Asheville, North Carolina on
October 26, 1928, having preached the world over and having left a legacy
of over forty books.
Extract from http://www.ccel.org/ccel/torrey.
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