T. T. Shields

Shields, Thomas Todhunter. (Bristol, England, November 1, 1873--April 4, 1955, Toronto, Ontario). Baptist. Educated mostly by his father, a Baptist pastor who came to Canada in 1888. Pastorates (in Ontario) at Florence (1894-1895), Dutton (1895-1897), Delhi (1897-1900), Hamilton (1900-1903), London (1904-1910), Toronto (1910-1955). As outstanding preacher, he felt bound as pastor of Canada's largest Baptist church (Jarvis Street, Toronto) to denounce Modernist theology, especially as taught at the denominational university (McMaster), until in 1926 the Canadian Baptist Convention voted to back McMaster and expel him and his congregation. In January 1927 he opened Toronto Baptist Seminary to train pastors committed to fundamentalism, while The Gospel Witness, the paper he had edited and largely written since 1922, helped to united Baptists who shared his conservative views. When his church burned in March 1938, he hastily compiled a hymnbook, including one hymn of his own, for use during and just after the rebuilding.

See: Tarr, Leslie K. (1967). Shields of Canada. Grand Rapids: Baker.

--Hugh D. McKellar, DNAH Archives