OSBORNE, Richard Henry 1873 - 1951

Born in West Cornwall, in 1873. After training at Shebbear College, he entered the Bible Christian Ministry, and gave loyal and distinguished service to the following circuits : Okehampton, Penryn, Camborne, Chichester, Birmingham, London (Hackney), Yarmouth, Loughborough, Launceston, Gloucester, and Wellington (Shropshire).

His was a rich personality. Nature gave him an orderly mind, a keen intellect, and a kindly heart.

He loved good literature and music, and to the end of his days remained an eager and conscientious student.

When he became a minister, all these gifts were dedicated to the service of Christ. But, most of all, he cared for people.

It was not surprising that his congregations came to love him, for they were never in any doubt about his interest in their concerns and his readiness to be a sympathetic and helpful friend.

Nor did he hesitate to speak out boldly when the occasion demanded, as his conscience was always sensitive to social ills.

In his London days, for instance, he was responsible for organising a great crusade for moral purity in the area in which he lived.

But his greatest joy was to preach the Word of God and to uphold Christ as the answer to all human need ; and right well he did it.

His sermons were cultured, attractive, thought-provoking, and always gave evidence of painstaking preparation.

On his retirement he returned to Gloucester, where, as long as health permitted, he filled his time with preaching and pastoral work, the friend of young and old, the loyal encourager of his brethren still in active service.

On 18th October 1951, honoured and beloved of all, he passed into the fuller fight in the seventy-eighth year of his age and the fifty-fourth of his ministry.

©Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes 1952