EVANS, William, Rev, M.A., B.D. (1882-1947)
Assembly memorial minute, 1947
William Evans was born at Vaughan, Victoria, on November 13, 1882. Before he heard his call to the holy ministry—a call which to him was very distinct and authoritative- - he touched practical life at many points. He knew the perils of gold mining, and had experience, too, of the perils of the sea. He touched life at another point as a clerk. These experiences gave him a wide knowledge of life. On hearing his call, he decided to enter the Congregational ministry. He studied under Principal Gosman, D.D., in the Congregational College, and was a very keen student. He was deeply interested in the profound questions of theology, and the relation of religion to social life. He graduated Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne in 1915, and later took his Master of Arts degree. He also went through the College of Divinity, and obtained the Bachelor of Divinity degree. He was ordained as a Congregational minister in Gardiner about 1916, and remained there for three and a half years. But through actual experience he came to feel that there was something lacking in the Congregational polity, and that a more concentrated power of spiritual influence was possible through the Presbyterian polity. He therefore resigned from the Congregational ministry in December, 1919. Next year he petitioned General Asembly of Australia to be received as a minister of the Presbyterian Church. On the motion of the Rev. P.J. Murdoch and Mr. A.L. Pryde, the Presbytery of Melbourne South supported his application, and the petition was granted.
He was inducted into Lindenow on January 11th, 1921, translated to Boort on February 8th, 1922, and to Sunshine on March 6th, 1933. His last illness was short. A severe stroke rendered him unconscious, and three days after, he passed away (April 19th, 1947).
William Evans was filled with an eager thirst for knowledge. He was a wide reader in literature, and ever sought to make his equipment for the ministry more perfect. He was keenly conscious of the imperfections of human society, and deeply convinced that the only hope for the world was in Jesus Christ. He was very evangelical in his preaching, and all his convictions and utterances were marked by an eager intensity. It would be no disparagement to describe him as a visionary. He was possessed of an excellent command of language, and he would sometimes be carried away by his own spiritual enthusiasm. He was a warm-hearted and sympathetic friend. He deeply felt the sorrows of the world, especially those that follow in the train of war: and it is a consolation to his friends that he has passed “To where beyond these voices there is peace. ”
He leaves a widow, who was his second wife, also a married daughter and a son. To them all the Assembly tenders sincere sympathy.
Gender
- Male