He is remembered with affection and esteem by many in all parts of South Africa. After service in Scotland as an Evangelist, he came to this country in 1922 and, for four years, he laboured among railwaymen under the auspices of the S.A.R. Christian Union. During this period he married Miss Kathleen Fox, of the Africa Evangelistic Band.
A pastorate in Scotland followed but, in 1929, Mr and Mrs Walker returned to South Africa and, for the next twenty-one years, served churches in Kimberley, Observatory, Johannesburg Central and Wale Street, Cape Town. Mr Walker was elected President of the Baptist Union of S.A. in 1942.
After a period of pastoral work in London, Mr. Walker conducted evangelistic campaigns in the U.S.A and Canada and ministered in a church in Texas. Thereafter South Africa claimed him once more and he served the churches in Pietermaritzburg and Fish Hoek.
Mr. Walker’s two sons, Alastair and Ian, emigrated to the United States to prepare for the ministry, and both subsequently accepted pastorates in that country. Thus, when Mr. Walker retired, he and Mrs. Walker returned once more to that country in order to be near their sons. He spent the last two-and-a-half years of his life in Hendersonville, North Carolina where he continued to serve churches as interim pastor. His last sermon was preached at the Horse Shoe Baptist Church, North Carolina, barely a week before his passing.
Mr. Walker was a fearless and uncompromising preacher of the Gospel and a faithful expositor of Scripture. Possessed of a natural eloquence, he proclaimed the Whole Counsel of God in the power of the Holy Spirit, and with a tender concern for the souls of his hearers.
Written by: Syd Hudson-Reed
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