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Durr, George H. L.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
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DET~O IT CONFE~JNCE
HISTORICAL
------'I'r'"fnTfy-Metnodist Church
S0~1ETY
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When filled in please return tC' J:.-.J....-fi(!lo}i}R1i.'eei:"' 13l00 Woodward, Hig..l-J.lend Par,k,
Mlchigan.
Nome in full:
Birth:
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Date
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Personal Appearance
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Place
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Weight__..._..
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Color of
Hair -~
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Family Background:
2. Mother's Maiden Nem
Date of
3. Marriage of
Birth: Qro/~/£;1SPlaoe ~ ,~..k- Nation~ity ~
Pc.rents fnate~/(1l$>Place
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4. Places of residence
5. Names
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Sisters
6. Note disttngQiBhed services for which any brothers or siste rs ere known·:..
?, All available information concerning parents , race, nationality, education,
occupetj.ons, connectioy s, services.' death, e~ ~ O?;z,r. ~P, /i'~C
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PERSONAL HISTORY
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12. Favorite r ecreations, hobbies , etc.
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13. Oflfices held in Church and Community
14. · A4thor of what books and Publications-------------------------------------
16. Appointment.s served
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or public life:
18. Biographical comments, experiences ,
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19. Can you give on a separate paper one or two or three dr amat ia incidents
occurring during your ministry which might be published in a book ~- s ucb
a title as "Highlights of Met hodist Ministers"? .
20 . If the subject of this sketch is deceased, please give
Dat e of deeth
Place of Burial
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Place
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Ne.mea of Officiating Minist ers:
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G eorge L. Durr f/~/#
By Hardy A. Ingham
O BE commissioned a minister of
the Gospel of Christ is no light
responsibility. It is likewise a most
solemn trust. To be counted worthy of
such a trust is one of life's highest
honors. To have performed that trust
well is the highest attainment in service.
Rev. George L. Durr was such a minister. His was a good life, full of earnest, efficient service. His call to the
ministry was clear and definite. It
came when he was 20 years old. His
fil-st appointment was as a supply to
Cedardale on the Port Huron District
in 1891. He was admitted to the Detroit
Annual Conference in September 1892
and served for 37 years on the following charges: Huron City, Capac, Downington, Marlette, Port Huron-Mills
Memorial, Romeo, Lake Orion, DetroitCentenary and Highland Park-St. Paul's
In 1921 Mr. Durr served as Detroit Conference Evangelist.
Jl. t hroat infection caused his retirement in 1929 and he m oved to Montrose,
California, where he organized the
1Montrose Methodist Church of which
he was pastor for three years, and later
organized the Sparr H eights Community Church which he served for two
years. For the last 15 years his home
bad been in Glendale, Calif.
Mr. Durr was born in Barry, Ontario,
Sept. 18, 18'10. ite was united in marriage to Miss Lottie H . Spotts in Elwood,
Ill., Oct. 14, 1897. He was educated in
the public schools, the Park Hill High
School of Ontario, and Garrett Biblical
Institute.
He died March 19 at his home followl i~g a stroke suffered three days preVIOusly. Mr. Durr is s urvived by his
wife, Mrs. Lottie H. Durr, 521 Glenwood Road, Glendale, Calif.; one daughter, Mrs. Mahon of Detroit; five grandchildt·en and t}vo g reat grandchildren.
'Funeral services were held March 17
in the "Wee Kirk o' the Heather," Forest
Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, conducted by Dr. P aul Huebner, pastor of
the First Methodist Chu1·ch, Glendale,
and Dr. Hardy A. Ingham, a former
pastor of the same church.
T
HI GHL I GHT S
While a t Par khi ll, Ontario and in my t eens , I had
decided I wa nted to be a medica l doctor.
My pastor a n d other
fri end s had t old me t ha t t hey we re impres s e d t ha t I should be
a pr ea cher.
At t h e age of t wenty , one Sunday night while pray-
i ng for those les s f avor ed t han I , God ca l l e d me t o go and pr each .
For t hr ee h our s I wre stled and pr ayed a nd wept, asking
God t o exc use me, and a r guing t ha t 1 neve r coul d pre a ch , but
t hat I would ma ke a g ood doctor.
Between mio nie bt and one
o ' clo c k , my p illow, wet wit h te a r s , I g ot out of bed a nd on my
knees pr omised God I would go and do t he best I could .
Dr. Isas c E . Spring er had just be en a ppointed Pre s id ing Elde r of t h e Port Huron District, s o I wrote him a s k ing wha t
school I should attend t o prepa re f or entra nce int o t he De tro it
Annual Conference.
He wrote bac k s a y ing I was just t h e yo ung
man he had been looking for and pra ying a bout , and saying that
Cedarda le had a nice church building but had h ad no pre a che r
for more than t wo years and to come as s oon as I coul d g et ready.
I purcha sed a horse a n d cart and on the 30th of Decembe r, 1 891, I bade my f ather a nd mothe r Goodbye and St a rte d f or
Michigan.
The first night out I s ta yed at a friend's home a bout
t wenty-f ive miles fro m Par khill, a nd here fought my first gre a t
battle wi th the e nemy of my soul.
Satan came as an Angel of
Light while I was prayin3 be fore retir i ng , and said "Now y ou a r e
m3k ing t he mi stske of your life.
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I am the Lor d .
Back in Parkh ill
when you t ho ugh t y ou
t he Lor d t ha t y ou would p r ea ch ,
pr~mi s ed
you were t a l ki ng to t h e Devil.
will make a pr eacher.
Now I am the Lord and y ou never
Bet t er t urn back i n t he morning and p urs ue
your me di cal course."
I bec ame de spe r a te and cried :
what wilt t h ou have me to do?"
The n the
"Lord , show me th y f a ce;
L~r d
spoke to me:
"You have started on your way , g o on t o Cedardal e , pr each t he
best yo u can the remainder of this Conferen ce Ye ar, and if not a
soul is converted , t hat will be the criterion t ha t you are not
ca l led of God to the ministry . "
"On the other hand , i f just one
soul is conver ted that you have good reasons to be l iev e was s aved
because of your ministr y , tha t will be your evide nce tha t you a re
ca l led of God to pr each ."
I a r rived a t Cedardale J anuary 2 , 1892 , fo und myself a
boarding pl ace in
Downing t~n
a revival meeting .
six weeks .
and smooth .
and within t wo wee ks was plunge d into
I pre a ch ed each night except Saturday for
There was l i ttle snow t ha t winter ;
the roads were ha rd
I n those days t he re was no tel ephone , no r ad io , and
only a weekly newspane r.
The neighbo r hood
amusemen~s
were ca rd -
play ing and dancing .
The first wee k of t h e me eting s t h e chur ch
wa s a bo ut half fu ll.
Then word was passed ar ound t hat a young
pr ea cher fro m Can a da was hold ing r evival meeting s a t Gedardale
and peopl e began c oming from five miles a round.
fi lled to capacit y.
I was
i n~xp erie n ced,
The church was
but after a Song Service
and a Season of Pr qyer , I would read some portion of Scripture,
take a text, make a few c omment s or preac h a little ser mon a nd
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t h en d r aw t he ne t.
barren a lter.
As I r emerr.be r now, . t h ere nev e r was a
What pr aying !
What c onfessing !
Vlhat we ek ping!
It was not unc ommon to have fifteen or twenty seekers at the
a l ter .
Gr eat rejoic ing followed as bac ksliders were recla i med
and si nners were c onverted, and woul d testify to t he s aving p ower
of Je sus.
Family a lters were erected in scores of homes.
The
dancing and c ard-pl ay ing ceased , and t h e sun shone on a new world
around Ceda rda le.
Now my barga in with the Lord!
If one soul is converted, th a t will be the criterion
t hat you are called of God to preach .
In those six weeks there
were 115 converts, - "exceeding abundant l y".
tt
About three miles north from Cedardale was the village
of Palms , strictly Roman Cat holic .
The Catholic young people
used to pl ay c ards and dance with the Protestant young people.
The Reviv a l Me etings beeame more attr a ctive t han t he dances a nd
so man y of the Catholics came to the church, - some were
conve rted~
Fina lly t h e prie s t forbade t hei r attendance at the mee ting s but
still some c ame , and n ot enough were left to have a dance.
The
l a st wee k of t he s pecia l meeting s , s ome of my church offi cial s
came to me a nd said:
"Brother Durr, the Ca th olics are coming
down Sunday night to ta ke you f or a ride or t a r and feat h er you ."
I laughed at the idea dnd said:
"Don't wo rry. They will n ot c ome."
On Friday night the chairma n of the Boar d of Trustees
ca lled a meet i ng of a ll officials and said:
If
"Now we 've go t this
straight from several of our young people tha t the Catholic s ~
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c : > ming Sunday ni ght ."
I still wa s n::>t dist urbed .
Sun day
n i g ht c ame , t he church was filled wh en i n came t went y big , husky
men, - all strangers.
t he p l atform
~ nd
Our men g ave up t heir se a ts a nd ca me to
sat ::>n t h e floor.
That n i ght I had g re at li be rt y.
The Spirit of the Lor d move d mi ghtily upon t he pe opl e , and whe n
an alter ca l l was made, the a l t er was soon fi l led wi th weeping
penitent s .
When th e service cl osed , I hurried to the door,
shook hand s with all those me n, t h a nked them fo r comi ng , and
as ked them to come a gain .
could s peak .
The y were so n onpl used tha t not a man
They went out, go t into t heir wag::>ns an d dr ove away •
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Durr, George H. L.