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G.W. North

George Walter North (1913 - 2003). British evangelist, author, and founder of New Covenant fellowships, born in Bethnal Green, London, England. Converted at 15 during a 1928 tent meeting, he trained at Elim Bible College and began preaching in Kent. Ordained in the Elim Pentecostal Church, he pastored in Kent and Bradford, later leading a revivalist ministry in Liverpool during the 1960s. By 1968, he established house fellowships in England, emphasizing one baptism in the Holy Spirit, detailed in his book One Baptism (1971). North traveled globally, preaching in Malawi, Australia, and the U.S., impacting thousands with his focus on heart purity and New Creation theology. Married with one daughter, Judith Raistrick, who chronicled his life in The Story of G.W. North, he ministered into his 80s. His sermons, available at gwnorth.net, stress spiritual transformation over institutional religion, influencing Pentecostal and charismatic movements worldwide.
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G.W. North emphasizes the profound significance of 'the communion' as more than just a ritual, but as a deep spiritual union with the body of Christ. He explains that the act of breaking bread and drinking wine symbolizes a vital connection, akin to the relationship between blood and body, where both are essential for life. This communion represents a glorious union of believers, each part contributing to the whole, and highlights the sacredness of the observance. North urges the congregation to appreciate the spiritual meaning behind this ordinance, recognizing it as a vital expression of their faith and unity in Christ.
Scriptures
The Living Body
This being so, when we use the term 'the communion' as a name for the ordinance, we must not let the simplicity of Paul's words rob us of the great truth he is revealing here. He is not just speaking of 'the communion' in order to introduce an alternative name for the ordinance, lest through sentimentality we lose esteem for a sacred observance; he is directing our attention to a far more wonderful thing than that: 'the communion of the body of Christ'. He is explaining what the Communion really is. Well-considered, this is a most amazing statement. Luke's homely title, 'Breaking of Bread' is descriptive of 'manner', and Paul's later title, 'the Lord's Supper' lays a much-needed emphasis, but here he spells out what it is actually taking place when we engage in breaking bread and drinking wine at the table of the Lord. He is revealing to us the spiritual meaning lying behind the memorial act. Most basically of all, the feast is the Communion. This is the real reason for doing it. There is scarcely a better figure by which we could learn the fact and result of Communion than a living body with blood flowing through its veins. The human body is a universe of its own; it is a marvellous entity, a glorious union of many co-ordinated parts, each one of which, if studied for its own sake alone, would enthral and hold our rapt attention. Yet of all these systems and organs within the human frame, the most vital is the blood's union with the flesh. Blood without a body cannot live, nor can a body live without blood. Body and blood are so completely one that it is normally impossible to think of one without the other, nor does it ever cross our minds to do so. Except by the discoveries of modern science, it is quite impossible to preserve life in either the blood or the body if these two be separated, and to attempt to do so would be most unusual and abnormal. The union between body and blood is so wonderful that no better non-scientific word could be found to describe their oneness than this word communion.
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George Walter North (1913 - 2003). British evangelist, author, and founder of New Covenant fellowships, born in Bethnal Green, London, England. Converted at 15 during a 1928 tent meeting, he trained at Elim Bible College and began preaching in Kent. Ordained in the Elim Pentecostal Church, he pastored in Kent and Bradford, later leading a revivalist ministry in Liverpool during the 1960s. By 1968, he established house fellowships in England, emphasizing one baptism in the Holy Spirit, detailed in his book One Baptism (1971). North traveled globally, preaching in Malawi, Australia, and the U.S., impacting thousands with his focus on heart purity and New Creation theology. Married with one daughter, Judith Raistrick, who chronicled his life in The Story of G.W. North, he ministered into his 80s. His sermons, available at gwnorth.net, stress spiritual transformation over institutional religion, influencing Pentecostal and charismatic movements worldwide.