Sketch On The Work Of John T. Lewis

     Graduate of Nashville Bible School in 1906. Did much work in Alabama, helping to plant churches throughout the Birmingham area. During this time he fought the influence of the digressive movement, establishing new congregations throughout the area. He preached in a meeting at Childersburg when the father of Emily Cleveland Cliett was baptized into Christ. Emily later married the late B.C. Goodpasture in 1918. Her sister, Mildred married J.M. Powell. Their mother was the sister-in-law of J.M. Barnes. 
     He was a pall bearer in April, 1913 at the funeral of J.M. Barnes. A few years later he was a pall bearer bearing of body of David Lipscomb to his grave November 12, 1917.
     He was very influential in his preaching. In 1917 he preached a meeting in Eldridge, Alabama. Attending the meeting was the young bride of Gus Nichols. With the impressions Lewis left on Matilda Nichols, she soon afterwards put her Lord on in baptism by Charley Wheeler.
     Lewis once said, "I would rather have thousands to say to me at the judgment, 'We heard you preach, and you hurt our feelings, than to have just one soul to say, 'I heard you preach, but you did not tell me the truth'."
     He was instrumental in founding many churches, including the church at Almaville very close to his home. When he died, his funeral was held in the little building that still stands at Almaville. He was then buried in a little family cemetery a few miles away.

Two Veteran Preachers
John T. Lewis and G. A. Dunn
Are Dead

   I have one striking characteristic—only are however—in common with the prophet Amos. He began as a poor country preacher, and so did I. When I was a boy my home church—Antioch in Jefferson County, Alabama—had little contact with the brotherhood at large. My acquaintance with gospel preachers was limited to C. A. Wheeler, J. H. Horton. L. N. Moody, Pryde Hinton, Charlie Nichols, and M A. Creel. When I was a junior in high school, John P. Lewis made a sweeping tour through our community to talk to one of the seniors about his attending David Lipscomb College. I did not know until then that such a school existed among our brethren. I had preached my first sermon before I saw a copy of the Gospel Advocate. Verily, I did not begin my ministerial life as “a prophet, neither as a prophet's son.”
In those days every gospel preacher was in my sight a great man of God and worthy of my imitation. When I began to preach, I added other able, dedicated preachers to my list of acquaintances. Those men took a sincere interest in my welfare. I sought out their company, and I asked for and received their instruction, guidance and counsel. I sat at their feet, and I learned.
In time, I learned that those gospel preachers were after-all only men and that they were subject to mistakes and the weaknesses of the flesh as other men are. I was momentarily disillusioned and discouraged, but I immediately recovered from my disillusionment and discouragement when I realized that I, too, am only a man. As I reflect upon the past, I have become increasingly more keenly conscious of how indebted I am to those gospel preachers who have helped me so much.
   The years have passed swiftly, and many of those men have already gone on to their reward. Others are now counted as old men, and I myself am counted as a middle-aged man. Recently two men to whom I am very much indebted—John T. Lewis and G. A. Dunn, Sr.—passed from this life.
   On Sunday. February 18, I attended the funeral service for John T. Lewis. Bother Lewis died at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His body was carried to the Ensley church in Birmingham for the funeral service, and it was then carried back to Murfreesboro for burial. The Ensley church is where Brother Lewis preached for such a long time. A. C. Moore, who succeeded Brother Lewis at the time of his retirement, conducted the funeral service. Though through seeming necessity, the funeral was held at 1:30 P.M., an overflow audience was in attendance. Sister Lewis had preceded Brother Lewis in death by some ten months.
   As I reflect upon my acquaintance and association with John T. Lewis, I could summarize his influence upon my life by saying: As a boy I feared him; as a beginning preacher I respected him; and as a coworker I loved him. John T. Lewis set for himself one goal or aim in life and that was to preach Christ. In his mind, there was no calling greater than that of preaching the gospel.
   If Brother Lewis had lived until the tenth of March he would have been ninety-one years of age. He had lived in Birmingham for sixty years. There is hardly a community in the great Birmingham area where he did not at one time or another pitch a tent and conduct a gospel meeting. Brother Lewis was a devout student of the Bible. He possessed a large and very select library. He was positive and outspoken, but he had the fine characteristic of bring able to disagree with another and at the same time maintain a cordial relationship.
   I am thankful for the association that I have had with Brother Lewis. He has been a guest in our home during gospel meetings and lecture programs, and I and the members of my family have been enriched by our having had such association with him. I conducted some three meetings at the Ensley church when, he was the minister. I thoroughly enjoyed everyday of each meeting.
   Early on March 1, I received a telephone call from Sister G. A. Dunn. Sr. —a gracious lady, a loyal wife, and a devoted Christian. She was calling to inform me that Brother Dunn has passed away the night before. Sister Dunn's desire—and also that of Brother Dunn—was that I should conduct the funeral. I was assisted by Tom W. Pickard, minister of the Edgefield church, Dallas, Texas.
   The funeral was held in the Edgefield church building where some three to four hundred kindred and friends had gathered. In addition to Brother Dunn's children and grandchildren, a large number of nephews and nieces from several States were present. There were also present several gospel preachers. If Brother Dunn had lived until the second of June, he too would have been ninety-one years old.
   Brother Dunn, is another one of the gospel preachers to whom I am much indebted. He was about sixty years old when I first heard him preach. I thought that he was one of the greatest preachers ever, but the brethren in Montgomery said that I should have heard him when he was in his prime. The late I. L. Boles once said of Brother Dunn: "No dancing master was ever more graceful on the dance floor then G. A. Dunn was in the pulpit." He was tall handsome and genial in manner. He was always dignified and well-dressed.
   Brother Dunn, was a man of great intellect He held two graduate degrees—the M.A. and the B.D. degrees. Except for Gus Nichols, I never knew a man who had committed to memory so much of the Scriptures and thus could call up the book, chapter, and verse that would express so accurately the point at hand.
   Brother Dunn was often in our home, and he had a great influence on my life and that of my family. He filled me with a burning desire to study the Bible and to go everywhere preaching the Word. In my mind, I can see him now when he would arrive at the Bus Station to conduct a meeting. He often would be carrying two suit cases—one containing his clothing, and the other one—made of metal—containing numbers of chart sermons.
   Brother Dunn held from twenty to twenty-five meetings per year so long as he was active, and he baptized thousands of persons. In a single meeting at Sherman, Texas he baptized ninety-five persons. He engaged a number of able sectarians in debate. The greatest sermon that I ever heard Brother Dunn preach was on the subject, "Heaven." If anyone who reads this should happen to have a recording of his sermon on "Heaven;” I would like very much to get a copy of it.
—Rex Turner, Gospel Advocate, May 4, 1967, pages 277,278