James Alexander Lord is best known as the Editor of the Christian Standard magazine, a weekly published in Cincinnati, Ohio. Before this assignment, he preached in Missouri as can be seen from the table above. We normally would not include an eastern preacher in this series of pioneer gospel preachers of the Northwest. But Mr. Lord came west and set an example that senior-age gospel preachers need to hear.

In his earlier years, he had preached regularly to churches with membership as high as 800. He wrote extensively and some of his work is still in print.

J. A. Lord

In the later years of his successful life, he settled at Milton, Oregon, and was a member of the Milton Christian Church. On Sundays, he walked northeast seven miles and preached at the village of Umapine, then called Vincent.

This sentence from the Milton Eagle of Friday, 27 Feb 1891, reveals the origin of the Vincent Church:

There will be no preaching at the Christian church next Sunday, on account of the Dedicatory Services at the new Union church near Vinson school house, to which all are invited.

We think that "Vinson" here is a typo and means "Vincent." Vincent is about five miles distant and we can understand why they would close services to go there. But Vinson is more than 50 miles to the south, past Pendleton. This trip would take many hours.

Since Mr. Lord is not listed in the 1910 census of Milton, we conclude that he arrived just after that event and preached at Vincent prior to the time the village name was changed to Umapine 1916.

His dedication to his country mission is highlighted in a document of the Milton Church that reads as follows:

This work was carried on largely through the efforts of Brother J. A. Lord. Mr. Lord was faithful indeed to his rural flock and many times, even after he became an old man, and the effort almost beyond his strength, he walked the seven miles to the little schoolhouse where the services were held. Many lives were touched by the gospel through this ministry that otherwise would not have been.

This fine, cultured and godly man was revered by all. No service was considered too small or insignificant, too large or sacrificial for him to render his fellow men. When he was forced by failing health to give up his work as an active pastor, he was given charge of the Bible studies at the Northwest Christian College at Spokane.

We believe the writer confused two schools and that Mr. Lord was at Spokane University in Spokane instead of Northwest Christian College in Eugene. In that era, it was known as Eugene Bible University.

Though Mr. Lord was not able to preach in a large church or a major city, he diligently served his Lord with the opportunities that he had. By this example, he has set a model for those who come after him. Instead of retiring to oblivion, he saw the opportunity to minister to a few people as God's calling for his life.

Main Pioneer Menu  |   Profiles Index  |   Search Engine