Griffith Jones, Llanddowror: A Worldly Cleric

The attacks on Griffith Jones for preaching in other churches in no way served to keep him from preaching where he could. Some twenty years later, Griffith Jones was preaching in the ancient collegiate church at Llanddewi Brefi. Present on that occasion was the curate of the church, a man who had been appointed on account of his being brother to the Rector, rather than because of any spiritual fitness for the post. This man took his place by the pulpit, although he had not an ounce of respect for the word going forth, as the deacons who sat in the 'Sedd Fawr' when Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached up and down Wales in a later age. This curate despised the message going forth from the pulpit, and made no attempt to conceal this. Touched to the heart, and probably not a little annoyed, Griffith Jones departed from his text, pointed to the curate and raised his voice, declaring:

"Oh for a word to reach your heart, young man!"

The rebuke had some effect, and instead of storming out of the church, affronted at being so addressed, the young curate became subdued. He listened intently to the remainder of the sermon. Indeed, the words struck home, like a fiery dart, and the heart of the curate was pierced. He sought the Lord, and found him.

Th at curate was Daniel Rowland, one of the great leaders of the Methodist Revival in Wales, and one of the most powerful preachers the world has ever known.