William E. Biederwolf
1867 - 1939

"No one but a child of God can grieve the Holy Spirit; and this is the sad thing about it. Others may resist Him, but only the Christian can grieve Him."

Presbyterians produced some of the most noteworthy evangelists of the late 1800s and early 1900s-and a notable among them was William E. Biederwolf.

After his conversion, he continued his education at Princeton, Erlangen and Berlin universities, and at the Sorbonne in Paris.

Biederwolf's first church was the Broadway Presbyterian Church of Logansport, Indiana, the state where he was born. Then he became a chaplain in the Spanish-American War and then entered evangelism-a ministry he was to serve for 35 years.

In conjunction with his evangelism, Dr. Biederwolf was associated with the world-renowned Winona Lake Bible Conference for 40 years.

In 1929, he became pastor at the storied Royal Poinciana Chapel in Palm Beach, Florida, a position he held until his death.

Biederwolf's ministry was mighty. Perhaps his greatest campaign was in Oil City, Pennsylvania, in the bitter winter of 1914. Thousands thronged the tabernacle. Twice it was enlarged. His messages were pungent and powerful. His kind of preaching brought men and women from every walk in life coming in deep contrition for their sins-the mayor of the city, physicians, lawyers, and men from the factories, young people from the schools; and the whole city and county were mightily stirred in deep concern about the things of God.

He was the author of several books.