Kirby, Gilbert W. 1914-2006 (Gilbert Walter Kirby)
Kirby, Gilbert W. 1914-2006 (Gilbert Walter Kirby)
OBITUARY NOTICE—
See index for CA sketch: Born September 7, 1914, in London, England; died October 15, 2006. Minister, college administrator, and author. Kirby was former general secretary of London's Evangelical Alliance and principal of the London Bible College. A Cambridge graduate, he earned his B.A. in 1936 and his M.A. in 1938 from Fitzwilliam College and was quickly ordained a minister in the Congregational church. Through the war years, he was a pastor in Halstead, and from 1945 to 1956 he served in Middlesex. His leadership abilities were recognized by the church, and Kirby was named general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance in 1956. During this time, he helped with the success of the Tear Fund and the World Evangelical Fellowship. Then, in 1966, Kirby was elected president of London Bible College, which is now the London School of Theology. In this role, he helped expand the campus, moved the school to Northwood, and mentored future church leaders. Kirby retired from the school in 1980, but returned to the Evangelical Alliance, where he was president until 1983. He was the author of such texts as The Protestant Church of Britain (1963), The Way We Care (1977; revised as Understanding Christian Ethics, 1978), All One in Christ Jesus? (1984), and Why All These Denominations? (1988).
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:
PERIODICALS
Times (London, England), November 3, 2006, p. 79.