E W Rogers

Ebenezer W. (E.W.) Rogers (1893 - 1977)

The greatest memory that most assembly Christians cherish of E. W. as he was familiarly called, is of a small man standing motionless on the platform, apart from moving lips, and pouring forth in short lucid sentences the truth of God. His motionlessness did not prevent his ministry being interesting. It is known that at least one youth, even before his conversion, was so impressed by the little man as he taught the Word of God that he acquired a lasting interest in him and his writings. E. W. couldn't recall the date of his conversion. This indicates a Christian upbringing, because of which his conversion was not spectacular. He was bookish from an early age and because of bouts of sickness and headaches was advised to leave his books and get out into the fresh air. His mother saw to it that he got out into the fresh air but E. W. took his books with him. E. W. was self-taught. Till the end of his days he believed that if there was a meeting on, it was a sin not to be there. If there was no meeting on in those early days he would join his father in another room from the rest of the family and get on with his studying. On those evenings he learned Hebrew, Greek and shorthand, without even the help of evening classes. From those early days E. W. was principled. When the first world war came along, he took advantage of the conscience clause in the call-up arrangements and got non-combatant service in which he first met Andrew Borland. Apart from that, E. W. spent his working life as a Civil Servant in the Patent Office. It was generally believed that E. W.’s working life enabled him to apply the same principles of analysis, conciseness and definiteness to his ministry. He married in 1920 and had nine children, or to put it in his own humorous way, six and a half dozen. E. W. was in great demand, even from his early days, both for the Bloomsbury meetings in London and for conferences throughout the country. He remained involved in local assembly affairs and was correspondent for Sanderstead in Surrey. The little man enjoyed preaching the gospel on a Sunday evening and was a bit disturbed that he saw few results from it. He was delighted when one of the inmates of Polmont Borstal professed when he was there. He also knew of a few others but longed for more. About 1950 E. W. retired early from the Civil Service to leave himself entirely free to serve the Lord. He had been urged to do so by J. M. Davies who wanted him to go to India for a trip to engage in ministry, especially since his daughter, Olive, was a missionary out there. Some little time later he complied and had a fruitful visit to that sub-continent. It was the first of many visits abroad— Africa, Canada, Faroe Islands, etc. Thereafter E. W. became a regular, not only at the conferences at which he had spoken for years, but also at the various places which had series of Bible Readings annually. He was one of the two brethren who conducted Readings on a great variety of scripture passages every year for many years at both Largs and Ayr. He was nearly as regular at Eastbourne and occasionally at Aberdeen, etc. He revelled in readings and in earlier days hated to see them diverted from the subject. He enjoyed the thrust of debate and was rapier-like in his retorts. He was fearless, and became a tower of strength to those individuals and assemblies that were standing against modernism, both in Bible interpretation and assembly practices. On the platform E. W. looked austere, but people enjoyed having him in their homes. For a time his dear wife travelled with him with the intention of baby-sitting so that young mothers could get to hear the ministry. After a meeting he would bring out his little book of stories and jokes so that the company present might relax. He was a great reader of the "Daily Telegraph" for two reasons. He studied the obituary column so that he could write to sympathise with friends who had been bereaved and so that he could sharpen his mind with the crossword. His last few years were spent in the Eventide Home at Ealing. While he slowed down mentally and physically during his last eighteen months and began to repeat himself, E. W. went home with colours flying. His last address was given at Ebenezer Hall, Southall, London a week before he died. He spoke with acceptance on Heb. 1. His last prayer at the close of the Morning Meeting at the Grove, Ealing comprised a backward look to the cross, an upward look to Christ on the throne and a forward look to the coming. He knew that he hadn't long to go. E. W. must have contributed to most assembly magazines in his time. He wrote articles on many subjects and answered questions. His books include "Him That Endured" on Heb., "Concerning the Future", "The Revelation and Future Events", none of them long, but all typical of the man's oral ministry. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest gifts to the church in the twentieth century.