Ministry
A transcription of obituary published in the Primitive Methodist Magazine by James Shaw is attached. Shaw writes; “ The deductions to be drawn from the brief history of Henry Kirk are: First, he was a good man. He was a good man in the truest sense of the word. His goodness did not consist in any special mannerism; he was good at heart; he was what he professed to be in deed and in truth—a real Christian man. The real secret of his power in prayer and preaching lay chiefly in this—at the centre of his being he was righteous. He took the Bible for his guide, Christ for his Saviour, the Spirit of God for his Help and Comforter, and he lived and moved in the light and love of God.
Second. He was a good preacher. With him preaching was a passion. The love of Christ constrained him. He said what he thought fearlessly, for the good of man and the glory of God. In his preaching there was thought and power; such preaching is all too rare. His discourses were carefully prepared, but his chief preparation was himself. His peculiar distinction and power as a preacher consisted not in any special natural gift, but in what he was and the life he lived. If preaching is ‘that rare speech of a man to his fellow-men whereby in their inmost hearts they know that he in his inmost heart believes,’ then Henry Kirk had attained this rare acquirement in a marked and distinguished degree.
Third. A good and faithful preacher still generally shares the goodwill and affection of the people.”
Family
Henry was born on 25 December 1857 at Caister, Lincolnshire. I have not been able to identify his parents in online records.
He married Jane Parkinson Milson (1855-1938) in the summer of 1882in the Sheffield Registration District, Yorkshire. She was a daughter of Parkinson Milson, a PM minister.
Henry died on 17 January 1891 at Bradford, Yorkshire.
Circuits
- Sunderland
- 1878 Rotherham
- 1881 Chesterfield
- 1884 Leicester I
- 1886 Bradford II
References
Primitive Methodist Magazine 1892/625
PM Minutes 1891/13
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
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