Originally from here.

At the time of Stanley Frodsham’s birth in 1882 in Bournemouth, England, many women were losing their lives in childbirth, so his mother who walked with God gave herself unto prayer dedicating him to the Lord while he was yet in the womb. As he grew she would read to him from the Bible and often as she did tears would flow from her eyes. His father was also a godly man and known for his strict integrity. He always carried a copy of the Book of Proverbs with him and read a chapter a day by which he governed his life. Young Stanley was well educated as he grew, even beginning to learn French and Latin at the age of seven. From a young age he had a deep desire to be a writer. He was an avid reader and studied hard the English language but came to see that the simpler he wrote the better people understood him. He was raised in a Congregational church where the greatest visiting speakers were always the simplest. One day he read the life story of Hudson Taylor the founder of the China Inland Mission, he was challenged to the core by the reality of this man of God and by his life of faith. He now hungered to know God just as Taylor had known him. As he sought God he had a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ, the old sins of swearing and smoking fell off immediately. Along with his brother he started a business, God blessed them greatly and they were enabled to give large sums of money to God’s work. Against all pressure they refused to work or open on Sundays. All his days he gave up and shunned immediately anything he felt did not glorify God or that hinted of worldliness.

In the winter of 1906 over into 1907 he visited Canada to explore the possibility of business investment. While there he began to hear about a spiritual revival of New Testament Christianity which was coming to the church across the world. When he returned to Britain he travelled to Sunderland in England in October 1908. It was there in the home of A. A. Boddy that Mrs. Boddy laid hands on him and prayed, the Spirit of God filled him and “torrents of tongues poured from his lips.” In 1909 Stanley began his publishing ministry by writing a Pentecostal paper called Victory. The second issue was distributed at the Sunderland Whitsuntide convention and so spread across the land. He joined the first Pentecostal church in Bournemouth called the Apostolic Faith; it was run by a very strong charactered leader, who made a big emphasis on prophecy, as well as the restoration of the ministry of apostle and prophet. This leader accused him of something of which he was totally innocent; this threw him into a time of great heartache and distress of soul, but he cried unto the Lord. This led him to leave this church seeing that they had moved into error. Soon others left and Stanley became their pastor even though he had no such formal training. The first time he saw someone healed was when he was called to pray for a man who was crippled with rheumatism, he anointed him with oil and prayed, the pain left and the man was healed. This was the first of many such healings. He was married to Alice Rowlands, the service was conducted by Smith Wigglesworth. In 1912 he attended the Sunderland convention again, two of the speakers were Wigglesworth and Barratt; it was here that he also met the Carter brothers for the first time. Stepping out into a life of living by faith, they moved to America.

Their views on money were strong, they trusted God alone, did not make known their needs and lived a very simple life which allowed them to give much to God’s work. While pastoring a church there they took a break, when they returned they found that false stories had been circulated about them and the people turned on them. So they felt it best in the will of God to resign. At that very time J. W. Welch wrote to him thanking him for writing articles for the Pentecostal Evangel (the Assemblies of God magazine). At that time Welch was the magazine editor but felt out of place with it. He told Frodsham, “We are praying for God’s man; are you the man?” He invited him to attend the 1916 General Council of the AoG. Here he was immediately elected as General Secretary and appointed as a member of the committee to prepare the Statement of Fundamental Truths. At the same time he was assistant editor of the Evangel. As the missionary treasurer he greatly raised missions giving through his written articles. They met in a church building with wooden benches and sawdust floor. Later this would become a central church where the Word would sound out of. In 1920 he became the editor of the Pentecostal Evangel. He would rise every morning at 4:30am to pray and study the Word before going to his writings. He knew that he could only give out to believers as he received from God. In ’22 a Bible School was started in the basement of the church. In ’26 he compiled his first book on the Pentecostal Revival which is still a classic called With Signs Following. He would eventually write 15 books which would soon be published into Russian, Spanish, Chinese and eventually Indian and other languages. Two other classics he wrote and compiled was Wigglesworth’s testimony called Apostle of Faith and his sermons. Also in ’26 A. W. Ward came as pastor to the local church, and became great friends with Frodsham, who regularly published his sermons in the magazine.

In ’49 he heard of a new and fresh outpouring of the Holy Ghost which initially brought a great unity amongst Pentecostals. [Probably Gordon Lindsay’s Voice of Healing revivals]. From the beginning Frodsham accepted this as a move of God and recognized its similarity to that at the beginning of the century. Over the next years it would sweep the nation. Again the gifts were operating and not just a theological concept amongst Pentecostals. But there was soon opposition from some groups because of extremes. Stanley always stood for testing all things by Scripture and always dealt with what was not so. But he had a real reviving in the midst of this outpouring. Some in the General Council made a strong stand against what they saw as the extremes in this move, and there were undoubtedly extremes and fanatics within it. After much prayer he sadly resigned as editor of the Evangel, then from the council, and finally handed in his ministerial credentials. This cost him his reputation but he kept his conscience intact. It was a very sore time, but he wanted to be free to minister amongst all believers and Pentecostal churches. He left on good terms in a spirit of love with his friends on the council feeling it was too small an issue for him to take such drastic actions; they disagreed with him, but at the same time respected him. His stance was, “Our differences are temporal, our unity is eternal.”

As he moved into a new wide phase of ministry amongst independent Pentecostals, his ministry was totally Christ-centered and he was bold in dealing with error when he came across it. When he came across groups that were ‘way out’ if they did not hearken to the clarity of Scripture, then he departed and avoided them. He gave himself afresh in a new way to the Word of God and prayer. Out of a deep hunger for God he was moved more than ever to give his early mornings and all nights to God in prayer. He said, “We should be on our faces before Him from dawn to dusk, and then long into the night. I’m sure God has much for us who will get desperate and spend much time waiting on Him.” For the next 13 years he travelled constantly with his wife having no permanent home or base. It was a life lived out of a suitcase. So many invitations came that it was hard to follow them all up. In ’64 the Spirit of God started to continually bring solemn prophetic warnings to him of coming delusion and error that would come to the churches (one such prophesy that was given to Frodsham is recorded under Warning on this site; for audio click here). He warned of a spirit of deception coming to those who did not hold fast to the Truth of the Bible and walk in holiness and righteousness. He could see afar off what was going to come in amongst Pentecostals and Charismatics. Looking back over forty years it is easy to see that he was truly hearing and warning from God. One fellow labourer and friend noted his characteristics, “His gentleness, his forgiving spirit to all who offended him, his abounding and unfailing generosity, the precious gift of prophecy, and his indomitable faith.” In ’69 in the middle of the night he finished his pilgrimage and so God’s Penman went to be with his Lord. On the grave marker was engraved an open book with AMEN HALLELUJAH GLORY on it. The last letter written to his only daughter finished with these apt lines, “Make much of the Word of God, make much of the Blood, and make much of the shortness of time.”