Londoners have heard with much regret of the resignation of
the Rev. H. R. L. Sheppard, the Vicar Of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. When he came to Trafalgar Square twelve years ago he faced what. seemed to be an .impossible task. He wanted to bring new life into the services of a London church and to find a congrega- tion which was missing. He succeeded, we imagine, far beyond his modest dreams. His church became famous as the centre of a new religious life in London. Every passer-by was astonished by the queue of people waiting on Sunday evenings at the doors.. Many had to be content with standing room, and many others had to .be turned away. Men and women came who never went to other :churches. The secrets of Mr. Sheppard's „success were:his sympathy and his understanding ; he • had not the arts of a -Liddon. He never spared himself, and his illness is largely the result of the prodigality with which he spent his strength. Formalists have been known to object to his unconventional methods, but though he used the arts of publicity, he used them to gain an end and used them with unerring taste. Through the broadcasting of his sermons his voice was probably better known than that of any other clergyman. We share the opinion of one of Mr. Sheppard's friends, who said : " If Dick Sheppard's religion isn't Christianity, I don't know what Christianity is."
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