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[ transcription of Obituary Notice in the Year Book of the Congregational Union of England & Wales for 1918, page 135, from a copy in Dr Williams's Library, London ]
HUNTER, John, D.D. (Glasgow), born in Aberdeen 1849, manifested at an early age a deep interest in religion. Profoundly moved as a boy by the religious revival in the North of Scotland, he was accustomed to attend with his mother the Episcopalian service, and he carried both these influences into his life-work. His gifts as a speaker, quickly discovered, led him to entering Nottingham Institute to train for the ministry, proceeding later to Springhill College, and as a student he at once made his mark as a preacher of exceptional power. For Dr. J.B. Paton he cherished a warm affection, acknowledging him as the chief source of his inspiration and enthusiasm.
When Salem Independent Church in York invited him to succeed the Rev. James Parsons he at first declined, regarding it as too important a charge, but ultimately accepted it and began his ministry in 1871. It was a conspicuous and brilliant success; crowded congregations thronged the church eager to hear the new message which was being passionately proclaimed, and on Sunday afternoons his services for working men filled the largest buildings in the city. Here too he introduced his first book of liturgical prayers, which he went on enlarging and perfecting through his lifetime. The deep earnestness and spirituality of his preaching combined with breadth of thought drew men of all Churches, among them some of the leading Quaker families. As preacher, teacher, and lecturer his fame spread through the land, and his services were eagerly sought for. He never spared himself, and served small village churches as willingly as the big ones in the cities.
In 1882 he accepted the charge of Wycliffe Church, Hull, and the success and influence he had achieved in York were repeated and extended during the four years he remained there. In January 1887 he began his ministry in Trinity Church, Glasgow, in succession to Dr. William Pulsford, and at once his eloquence and power drew overflowing congregations. It is with Trinity that his life-work will always be associated. His ripened and matured thought, his genius for prayer, his love for a reverent service and a beautiful sanctuary, all found their fullest expression there, and crowds stood waiting for admission to the church. Professors and large numbers of students from the University were among his hearers. Many who have attained positions of eminence in the Scottich Churches acknowledge the inspiration they derived from him during their student days. As a preacher and lecturer he was sought after all over Scotland, and his lectures on Carlyle, Burns, Browning, Milton, Hamlet, Faust, the Ancient Mariner, the Leaders of Scottish Thought in the Nineteenth Century, were remarkable for their insight and power.
In 1901 he left Glasgow to become minister of King's Weigh House Church in London, and gathered round him a congregation deeply attached to him, many of whom held important public positions. Discovering certain obligations were imposed by the property and institutions of the Church which he was unable to carry out, after three years of strenuous labour he resigned the King's Weigh House and returned at its earnest invitation to his old Church in Glasgow. He left London regretfully, but at Trinity at once resumed his old position of influence and power. Two visits to America, in 1907 and 1910, preaching and lecturing, brought him great satisfaction, but imposed a strain which an attack of influenza in 1911 developed into serious heart-weakness and he was forbidden to preach more than once a day. In spite of the treatment at Bad Nauheim he did not regain permanent strength, his people, as a mark of their devotion and esteem, presenting him with a cheque for £3,000.
The winter of 1913-14 was happily spent on the Riviera and in Italy, with some increase of strength, and on his return he felt able to conduct a series of services in University Hall, Gordon Square, and the following year in the Aeolian Hall, Bond Street -- these providing him with just the amount of work he was capable of, unfettered by ordinary Church responsibilities. These services were highly appreciated, for his preaching was never riper and more spiritual, and many found them a comfort and relief from the strain and sorrow of the war.
The death of his elder son on the Somme, July 2, 1916, was a grievous blow. His strength, already seriously undermined, gradually failed, and after a long and trying illness he passed away September 15, 1917.
What he has done to create a deeper reverence in worship cannot be told. His book of Liturgical Services is in almost every minister's vestry, and his "Hymns of Faith and Life" has been largely drawn upon in later compilations. His services at Trinity and King's Weigh House, and at the Aeolian Hall were unique through the use of these books. His published volumes "Out of the Depths," "God and Life," "Angels of God," "The Worshipful Church," "The Coming Church," reveal the wealth of his thought and the range of his reading. He lived for his work, and his work was preaching. Into that he put intense conviction and feeling. His theology, always aglow with moral passion, was progressive and spiritual rather than stationary and metaphysical. For forty-five years he proclaimed his message with an urgency and intensity which cost him the shortened years of his life. Shy and reserved in disposition he yet had a rare faculty for drawing friends, and their affection brought him a deep and abiding happiness. He was laid to rest close by his home, in the burial-ground of St. John's parish church Hampstead.
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(The Rejoice & Sing Enchiridion:edited by David Goodall; last amended 19/5/03)