George Hale (minister)

He was praised for his oratorical skills: clear perfect diction and a pleasant voice, slow and deliberate (an asset in such a large space with no acoustic treatment) and rising in pitch for emphasis.

His sermons would have been taxing for the uneducated but deeply satisfying for the academically inclined, as he assumed some knowledge of History, Mythology, Psychology and Classical languages from his audience, but withal punctuated by a lively sense of humour.

The subjects of his Sunday sermons were always clearly defined and often topical, and posted on a large notice board in front of the church early in the week.

Pacifism was not a tenet of the Unitarian denomination, and many men from the Wakefield Street church were posted overseas, more than a few losing their lives.

The deliberate downright pacifists will, along with the soldier, have much to suffer, but he will be sustained with the thought that, as God lives and the way of Christ is the way where the light dwelleth, his witness is grandly worth while[9]Long after he retired, Hale would on occasion return to the Wakefield Street pulpit.