65 High St, Edinburgh EH1 1SR
Dwight Moody preached at the laying of the foundation stone in 1883, and less than one year later, he delivered the first evangelical sermon in the new Mission. This was a remarkable achievement of speed; contrast that with the time it took to construct Old St Paul’s, which was begun three years earlier, yet took fully a quarter of a century to complete! The new mission was designed by John Armstrong, and was of sturdy construction, its façade being dominated by four massive columns with flanking pilasters rising through two stories. The building continues to perform a similar function to this day.
Moody’s great co-worker here was Ira Sankey, another American evangelist, who also preached in the Mission, though he was more highly renowned as an organist and vocalist. Coincidentally, his birthplace was in the town of Edinboro in Pennsylvania (and not in Edinburg, in the same state!). These two men were so popular in Britain that they even appeared as a pair on people’s mantle-shelves, in the form of Staffordshire figurines.
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