FOREWORD
The main object of these five volumes is to collect the articles of ministry by our brother Bert Taylor that were first published in two magazines, A Word in its Season and Notes of Ministry. These have been supplemented from addresses published in several other books, and a few recordings of meetings that have not been published before. Our brother served in a number of special three-day meetings for which notes were published in books; these are not included in this collection. Ministry published in periodicals becomes less available than what is issued in books, and I want some of this wealth of material to be available to different generations, some of whom would not ever have had copies of the magazines, or known our brother when he was serving.
Robert Taylor was born to Andrew and Lily Taylor on
11 September 1925 and grew up in Markinch, Fife, where his family supported the local meeting. His father was a cobbler. He served a bakery apprenticeship in Dundee and spent his working life in the industry, including, after his marriage, a time in Northern Ireland; and some years with a chain of shops owned by his uncle. A need for employment brought him with his wife and daughter to live in Hendon for nearly twenty years up to 1993, before he eventually returned with his wife to Kirkcaldy for the remainder of his life. The Lord took our brother on 15 December 2024, at the age of 99.
The articles collected in these books show how widely and for how many years Bert Taylor served the Lord and His people in ministry. They span a period of over 40 years from 1974 to 2017. These were years of recovery for those with whom he had fellowship; ministry the Lord gave through many different men not only re-establishing what had been overshadowed and departed from, but pointing a way forward, and bearing on their present state and needs.
Many will remember appreciating our brother’s part in this—as I did—a sense of urgency with which he exhorted the brethren to look beyond the limitations of our times and to seek out and stand in the good of the inheritance that God has set before us.
Previously published texts, which our brother will have reviewed, have not been materially altered; those appearing for the first time in these books have been lightly revised from transcripts.
I trust others who are now able to read this selection will profit from it for the glory of the Lord.
ANDREW BURR
2026