he formal ministry of William Evander Penn didn’t begin until he was nearly fifty, but he had already been a dedicated servant of Christ for decades. William Penn, the Baptist not the Quaker, was born on this day in 1832 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. At the age of fifteen he was born again, joining the Baptist church at Murfreesboro. Not feeling the call of God to the ministry, William became a lawyer. During the War between the States, he served in the confederate army, was captured and after a year was released to serve again. He retired from the army with the rank of major, and from that point on was often addressed as Major Penn. The war had ruined him financially, so he moved his family to Jefferson, Texas, and once again began to practice law. But he was also a member of the local Baptist church where he assisted the pastor in building the largest Sunday School in town. In 1875 while attending a Sunday School conference in Tyler, Texas, he was asked to speak to the Baptist church led by J.H. Stribbling. He agreed. When the community heard that a lawyer would be in the pulpit that Sunday, a great crowd gathered, and God poured out His blessings. For five weeks revival flooded the town of Tyler, and many people were converted to Christ. That series of meetings changed the life of Major William Penn. He began preaching more often, and on December 4, 1880 he was ordained to the ministry. For the next twenty years he preached throughout Texas, across the South and even in England and Scotland, becoming known as the “Texas Evangelist.” The Penns eventually moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and it was there that this God-blessed evangelist passed away in 1895.
