Houghton, William Henry (1887–1947). Fundamentalist Baptist minister and president of Moody Bible Institute. Born in South Boston, Massachusetts, Houghton was educated in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. In 1901, at the age of fourteen, he was converted in an evangelistic meeting in Lynn, Massachusetts. In his earlier years he pursued an interest in music and drama, but in 1909, under the preaching of a Nazarene pastor, he was convicted of his life of disobedience, gave up his stage career and soon enrolled in Eastern Nazarene College. After no more than six months at college (c.1910), he was invited by Reuben A. Torrey to be his evangelistic and Bible conference song leader. Torrey looked after his further instruction in the faith and served as his mentor in succeeding years. Houghton was ordained a Baptist minister in 1915 and served churches in Canton (1915–1917), New Bethlehem (1918–1922) and Norristown (1922–1924), Pennsylvania. During his years at Bethlehem, he published some successful tracts and began a short-lived periodical The Baptist Believer; at Norristown he increasingly became involved in evangelistic endeavors. An evangelistic campaign in Ireland in 1924 was followed by further successful pastorates at the Baptist Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia (1925–1930), and Calvary Baptist Church in New York City (1930–1934), where he succeeded John Roach Straton. Finally, in 1934 he became president of Moody Bible Institute, where he succeeded James M. Gray. At Moody he built up the faculty and student body (from 848 in 1934 to 1,428 in 1945) and edited and expanded the circulation of Moody Monthly (from 35,000 in 1934 to 75,000 in 1945). Houghton, with Irwin A. Moon, initiated the idea of a periodic meeting of Christians involved in science, which eventually became the American Scientific Affiliation. Moon carried out a novel form of evangelism called “sermons from science,” which under Houghton’s leadership become the Moody Institute of Science. A passionate leader and tireless worker, Houghton’s years at Moody were a significant chapter in the institution’s life. Houghton died in Los Angeles after several months of coronary problems.
Posted on: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 20:33:18 +0000