Introduction

This volume is planned to be one of seven bringing together ministry by Alfred J Gardiner not previously collected in this form. The volumes together comprise nearly 250 articles. I am very grateful to others who have helped to collect this material, and to make it fit to publish.

Several volumes of our brother’s ministry (listed at the end of this book) can be readily found second-hand. A lot more of his ministry, however, was published in monthly periodicals, leaflets, and other forms. These are no longer in print, and the articles are therefore much less accessible.

These other sources have been used in this collection, as shown at the end of almost every article. Material from two magazines is translated from French; this includes ministry given in France, and ministry elsewhere rendered in French—I have found few of these in English publications so far. I am sure others are more able at translating, but I am sufficiently confident that I have given a good account of this very useful ministry.

After producing two new books, a lot more material came to hand. This book has additional articles ministered from late 1954 to 1959. I assume what has been already published in English was revised before first publication—and expect that the author was able to do this himself. I have read every item carefully, without doing my own revision.

In my early years, I attended meetings in Streatham where Mr Gardiner broke bread; and have held him in great affection and regard. He was, of course, very active in ministry, and often away, but he never forgot his local meeting—either in his prayers or his attention to our practical and spiritual welfare. I remember him as apt to repeat himself in ministry, but I now know this was not a sign of age—it will be seen in these books too. As the sorrow falls within the period covered by this book, it might be recorded that Mr Gardiner was widowed at the beginning of 1958.

Mr Gardiner says this about reading on page 265: ‘We do not arrive at things merely by being very assiduous in reading the ministry, although by all means let us read the ministry, but that is not everything’; and he exhorts elsewhere that it be done with the Spirit’s help and prayer. May reading of these books be taken up in this spirit to God’s glory!

ANDREW BURR

2020