Asking Father

Edwin was brought up and educated in the Metropolitan Church Association, a Christian community founded by his uncle, which had emerged from the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 1890's. After teaching in the high school for some years, Edwin was sent in 1935 to Great Britain to oversee the Scottish branch of the MCA. A few years later he returned to the US to marry Lillian Johnson whom he brought to Scotland. They remained through the Second World War ministering to people suffering the ravages of war. As principal of a Bible School in Glasgow and editor of a Christian magazine entitled, "The Message of Victory," Edwin soon found himself invited to speak in various denominations throughout Britain. This eventually caused a rift between himself and his home church in the States. Influenced by his circumstances and a thorough study of Scripture, he found himself looking beyond many denominational beliefs which he had formerly considered indispensable. His loyalty to a denomination was exchanged for a deeper loyalty to Christ and all believers of whatever background who had experienced the same divine touch from God. This change of viewpoint, however, never altered the deep gratitude which he felt for the early training given him by his denomination and the genuine revival in which he had experienced a profound work of grace. In 1956, Edwin and his family launched out on interdenominational lines and were soon engaged in leading an evangelistic team all over the British Isles. Concurrently, the editing of the Message of Victory led him and his wife to see the importance of deeper-life literature and they were soon collating articles and quotations from a wide range of authors which eventually formed the many compilations which bear their name. Reading Edwin's books, one will encounter many references to British and American authors and lifestyles. This is due to the fact that he was an American who spent many years in Great Britain: over twenty years in Scotland, and over twenty years in England. In 1982, after forty seven years of ministry in Britain, Edwin returned with his family to his native USA and "Passed into Life" shortly thereafter. Edwin F. Harvey was a man of the Word and of prayer. Above his bed were the words, "We will give ourselves to prayer and the ministry." This sense of devotion is apparent in all his writings.