Listen to this interview of Al Barth, by Ben Virgo at Christian Heritage London. Ben leads church history tours in London and I recently had the pleasure to learn from Ben, and also sing John Newton’s “Amazing Grace” in the hymn writer’s church, St. Mary Woolnoth (see, back right).
Also on that tour was Al Barth. Al is part of the founding team of Redeemer City to City in the late 1990s. Al now oversees Global Catalyst for City to City, particularly, in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, and is Executive Director of City to City North America.
Al is a wealth of stories. Early in his ministry, he planted four churches. While working with Tim Keller, he tells how a collection of “conservative, emotionally reserved, cognitively oriented, highly theological” Presbyterians became part of a global church planting movement. He tells how this movement reached Amsterdam. How a phone call connected this movement with William Taylor of St. Helen’s Bishopsgate London, one of my favorite preachers (see Whose sermons do you like?). He tells stories about Richard “Dick” Halverson (d. 1995), former Chaplain of the United States Senate, who was an amazing person. He describes exciting work in Africa.
Al is a tremendously humble man. But he has had front-row seats to an astounding work of grace, the planting of Reformed churches worldwide.
