RMS Titanic : 100 Years Ago Tonight

On 14 April at 11.40 pm (ship's time, GMT-3), the Titanic hit an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York , USA. 1514 people died, one of them was the Rev John Harper, a minister from Glasgow.

Tonight we went along to Harper Memorial Baptist Church in Glasgow, for an evening of music, drama and ministry marking the event that took place exactly 100 years ago. Two of our family were taking part. The church had been decorated with artwork from the local Lorne Primary School, and this large piece was above the baptistry at the front of the sanctuary. The speaker was Dr Erwin Lutzer, the present senior pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago, John Harper's intended destination. We also sang "Nearer my God to Thee", which the band played as the ship went down.

I quote from the programme for the event :-

"The first minister of our church was Rev John Harper, a passenger on the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage. He was on his way to preach at the Moody Church in Chicago when the ship hit an iceberg and sank, with the loss of over 1500 lives. He was travelling with his daughter Nan, who was six years old at the time, and grown-up niece, Jessie Leitch. They both survived the disaster.

Survivor accounts consistently paint a picture of John Harper desperately trying to save souls of drowning passengers. It was reported he gave away his own lifebelt and that he was seen swimming to people in the icy water, hoping to lead them to faith in Christ before they died. Indeed, at least one man later testified that he was John Harper's last "convert" that night.

When the present church building was opened in 1921, as a mark of respect for the memory of such a Godly minister, the church formerly known as Paisley Road Baptist Church was renamed Harper Memorial Baptist Church."

Info about the event from BBC Scotland News website.

Link to the film "Harper the Hero" which was shown this evening.

And I have posted this entry at exactly the time 100 years ago that disaster struck!