In the Steps of Smith Wigglesworth

In the Steps of Smith Wigglesworth, by Philip B. Taylor. England: The Author, 2007.

This a beautifully produced book. It contains over 150 photographs, many in colour of places connected with the ministry of Smith Wigglesworth. Here are the house and churches of the young Smith. From the humble beginning from his christening in 1859 to his conversion in Menston Chapel aged eight, all of these buildings are shown within the narrative of the story. Other places from Bowland Street in Bradford to All Saints’ in Sunderland and Glad Tidings in Wakefield where he died are all shown in full colour. Anyone interested in the life and ministry of Wigglesworth will want to add this sumptuous volume to their collection. For anyone wishing to follow the Wigglesworth trail or simply view the places when reading about him it makes an ideal companion. The compiler is congratulated on his production that is a valuable addition to the history of Pentecostalism in Britain.

Reviewed by Desmond Cartwright, Elim Pentecostal Church

Paperback, 128 pages, illustrated. £10.99 plus postage. Order from: www.smithwigglesworth.com

Doris Dresselhaus Menzies Autobiography

Young at Heart: The Story of a Heart Transplant Recipient, by Doris Dresselhaus Menzies. Springfield, MO: Celebration Publishing, 2007.

Doris Dresselhaus Menzies has had two famous last names. Her husband, Dr. William W. Menzies, is one of the most highly-regarded educators in the Assemblies of God. Her cousin, Dr. Richard Dresselhaus, served as the long-time pastor of San Diego (CA) First Assembly of God and continues to serve as an executive presbyter of the Assemblies of God. Few people can claim to be related to one statesman of their caliber, much less two!

But Doris Menzies has her own story to tell. In Young at Heart: The Story of a Heart Transplant Recipient, Menzies recounted her testimony — from her Assemblies of God upbringing in Iowa, to her years in the ministry with her husband, to her roles as wife and mother, to her recent medical triumphs as a heart transplant recipient and as a cancer survivor.

Born on a frigid December day in 1932 on an Iowa farm, Doris was reared in the sturdy Willard and Beatrice Dresselhaus family. Her mother taught Sunday school, and her father was the Sunday school superintendent of the Decorah Assembly of God. Willard, a farmer, served as Farm Bureau president for Winneshiek County, was involved in local politics, and owned his own plane. Young at Heart challenges the assumption, held by certain historians, that early Pentecostals were disinherited or socially uninvolved.

Doris met Bill Menzies, her future husband, at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Bill graduated in 1953 and accepted the pastorate of the little Assemblies of God church in Big Rapids, Michigan. They married soon after Doris’ 1955 graduation and settled into pastoral ministry.