Henrietta Mears

Henrietta Mears (1890-1963) stood before her church at age five and announced her intention to join with uncommon clarity and conviction. She taught her first Sunday school class at twelve. When warned in her teens that she would become blind if she continued with her studies, she remarked, “Then blind I shall be—but I want something in my head to think about.” During a sabbatical from teaching high school, the pastor of Hollywood Presbyterian Church offered her the job as Director of Christian Education. Henrietta not only made her mark with her flamboyant hats and colorful wardrobe, but she raised the bar for Sunday school. She sent back the official denominational Sunday school curriculum, marking it as poorly organized and not age appropriate. No doubt, the comment in the curriculum that “St. Paul survived a shipwreck by eating his vegetables” had something to do with it. Word got out about her teaching, and the Sunday school grew to six thousand. Yes, you read that right, six thousand! Four hundred college students entered full-time ministry because of her teaching. Consider her influence in terms of the young men (affectionately known as “Miss Mears’ boys) who were influenced by her ministry: Bill Bright started Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU), Dawson Trotman founded Navigators, Jim Rayburn launched Young Life, Richard Halverson became Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, Billy Graham preached to more people than anyone in history and Ronald Reagan became our 40th president.
Several young pastors spent an evening with Henrietta near the end of her life. One asked, “If you were going to do it all over again, is there anything you would have done differently?” Without hesitation, she answered, “I would trust God more.” What a great way to enter into prayer today: