Hi All Obituary of George A. THEOBALD George A. THEOBALD, who was born in England, in 1859. His parents were Congregationalists, and were truly devoted Christians, whose great desirewas to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He was led, through the influences of a friend, to attend Methodist services, and a deep impression was made by the Spirit of God upon his mind and heart, so that very shortly he decided for Christ, and joined himself to the Methodist Church, in which he had found the blessings of pardon and peace. After a period of service as a local preacher, he offered himself for the Ministry, and, after a course of training at Richmond College, he came to this country in 1882, and laboured with great acceptance in the Circuits of Simon's Town. Kimberley, Pietermaritzburg and East London. At the Conference of 1896, he was appointed to Bloemfontein, to succeed the Rev. James SCOTT. It was a trying position for so young a man. The situation was one fraught with singular difficulties; but he faced it bravely, and acted in all things with admirable prudence, so that by the blessing of God the Church continued to prosper. He was a brother dearly loved by all classes of the community, and particularly by his brethren in the ministry. As a preacher he was a faithful expositor of the Word of God. His sermons, which revealed careful study, were frequently attended with peculiar force and function. His pastorial visitation was all that a Methodist preacher's visitation should be. He dealt faithfully with his people, and continually aimed at making his intercourse with them in their homes a means of grace to the family circle. He was a holy man, and the peculiar sanctity of his spirit shone out in all that he said and did. He believed in fervent prayer, and was frequently heard agonising in supplication for those in sorrow; and, with a pure unselfishness, never wearied in endeavouring to lighten the burdens of those in distress. He was a man of blameless character, his beautiful life being an incentive to many to be more fully consecrated to God. His last illness was very brief, and until a few days before his death no thought of a fatal termination presented itself except to his own mind. He, however, frequently spoke of the nearness of the end, and of the Divine preparation he felt he was undergoing for the great change which was soon to come. His mind was full of the things of God; and even in delirium he spoke of little else. He was filled with perfect peace; and, rejoicing in the fullness of the grace imparted to him, he fell asleep, at Bloemfontein, on the 11th of June, 1897, in the thirty-eighth year of his age and the fifteenth year of his ministry. From; Minutes of the Sixteenth Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of SA, 1898 Transcribed by Darryl Allwright P O Box 166 Grahamstown 6140 Cell: 076-091-2764