H. Elvet Lewis

H. Elvet Lewis

3 Sermons
H. Elvet Lewis (April 14, 1860 – December 10, 1953) was a Welsh preacher, hymn-writer, and poet whose ministry within the Congregational Church bridged pulpit preaching and literary devotion across seven decades. Born in Y Gangell, near Blaenycoed, Carmarthenshire, Wales, to James Lewis, a farm laborer, and Anna Davies, a shopkeeper, he was the eldest of twelve children in a humble family. With limited early schooling, he taught himself using his father’s Bible and chapel resources, later attending Newcastle Emlyn Grammar School at 14 and training for ministry at Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, where he was ordained in 1880. Lewis’s preaching career began at Buckley English Congregational Church in Flintshire (1880–1884), followed by pastorates at Fish Street in Hull (1884–1891), Park Chapel in Llanelli (1891–1898), Harecourt Chapel in London (1898–1904), and Tabernacle Chapel, King’s Cross (1904–1940), a Welsh-language congregation where he served until retirement. Known as the “boy-preacher” in his youth, his sermons—marked by revivalist zeal during the 1904–1914 Welsh Revival—called for spiritual awakening and hope, notably during wartime and the Depression. A prolific hymn-writer, he penned works like “Lord of Light, Whose Name Outshineth” and edited Y Caniedydd Cynulleidfaol (1895), while his poetry won National Eisteddfod crowns (1888, 1889, 1894). Married three times—to Mary Taylor in 1887 (seven children, died 1918), Elisabeth Lloyd in 1923 (died 1927), and Mary Davies in 1930—he passed away at age 93 in Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales.
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