Person

Moore, Barry (1925- )

• E. Barry (Edwin Barry) Moore

10 November 1925-

Dr. Edwin Barry Moore, generally known as Barry Moore or E. Barry Moore, was born in London, Ontario on 10 November 1925. He attended primary and secondary school in London. Before being drafted into the military, he briefly considered playing professional baseball. When he was given the choice between post-secondary education and military service, he spent a year at London Normal School. In 1945 he began teaching primary school in London, and the following year began a B.A. at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). In 1947 he began volunteering with Youth for Christ (YFC). A year later he married Audrey Snelgrove, whom he met at Wortley Church in London. Over the next decade they had three children, Kerry Jane, Barry Mark (Mark), and Timothy Lee (Tim).
In 1950 Moore took over full-time leadership of the London YFC. In 1951 he graduated from UWO with a degree in education, after six years of extension and extra-annual study. During the 1950s he investigated the possibility of serving in France with Greater Europe Mission, having traveled to France in 1950, 1952, and 1953. With this in mind, he left YFC in 1956 to pursue studies at Columbia Bible School, Columbia, SC (now Columbia International University) from which he graduated in 1958 with an M.A. in Biblical Education and Missions. The Moore family moved from London to Columbia for these two years, returning to London after Barry’s graduation. The Greater Europe Mission board officially accepted Barry and Audrey as missionaries in 1957.
In 1959 or 1960 Moore discovered that the opportunity to serve in France in his desired capacity no longer existed. He therefore began Crusade Evangelism of Canada, the first inter-denominational Canadian-based evangelistic association. He travelled throughout Canada and the United States conducting “crusades”—multiple-day and sometimes week-long events involving music and preaching. In 1967, the organization became Crusade Evangelism International (C. E. I.), reflecting the widening geographical scope of its efforts. That same year, C. E.I. produced an award-winning gospel film featuring Barry, Man of Steel, in association with Ken Anderson Films. In 1971 C. E. I. hired an associate evangelist, Alf Rees, who also conducted crusades. The organization’s first major overseas thrust was a three-month mission to India and Sri Lanka in 1973. In 1976 C. E. I. opened an office in the United States, led by Howard Brenneman.
In 1977 Moore received an honourary Doctor of Divinity from Winnipeg Theological Seminary for his work in evangelism. In 1979 the first Barry Moore School of Evangelism, an occasional week-long seminar, took place. On 16 October 1981Crusade Evangelism International became Barry Moore Ministries Inc. When Alf Rees returned to the pastorate in 1982, Walter DeSousa assumed the position of associate evangelist, which he occupied until 1990. In 1989 Moore was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Columbia International University. He continued hholding crusades both overseas and at home until his retirement in 2011.
Upon his retirement, Barry Moore Ministries endowed a Chair of Preaching and Evangelism at Ambrose University in Calgary, AB, for the purpose of “promoting and resourcing the vital function of biblically-based preaching and evangelism in the 21st century.” Moore’s youngest son, Tim Moore, serves at Ambrose as Associate Professor of Youth Ministry and Director of Field Education.
Notable members of Barry’s crusade ministry have included J. D. Blackwood, Lyall Conlin, Harvey Schroeder, Herb Bock, Don Jost, Don Kroening, Ken Baer, Ken Carter, Steve Boalt, Bernard Camper, Art Perri, John Laari, and Barry’s son Mark Moore.
Altogether, Barry Moore has conducted over 700 evangelistic crusades in more than 50 countries, and his publications have been translated into several foreign languages. Hence his nickname, “the Canadian Billy Graham.”