Greetings,
My name is Steven Lee, and I’m the founder of SermonAudio. What most people may not know is that I spent my childhood years growing up in Toronto, Canada, before heading off to Bob Jones University in the 1990s. And it is there, to this day, that we operate The Vault on its campus.
Some time ago, the door opened for us to establish another Vault site back in my homeland of Canada. This arctic-grade Canada Vault presently serves as our only off-site full replica of the millions of sermons found on SermonAudio. For this provision — and for the Lord’s kind providence in allowing it — I am extremely thankful.
This past week, my childhood church, Toronto Free Presbyterian Church, celebrated the wonderful milestone of its 50th anniversary. I had the privilege of spending some time in the home of Dr. Frank McClelland, my former pastor, and his dear wife. It was under the preaching ministry of this man that I came to know Christ as a twelve-year-old boy, and for that I will forever be indebted.
It is not often that we get to see the beauty of God’s providence this side of heaven, but I believe I can see something of it now. Our lives are interwoven together like so many links in a chain. The way one life affects another life, which in turn affects another still, is nothing short of wonderful.
Dr. McClelland's eldest daughter, Jill Saunders, wrote a very touching article about God’s amazing providence that perfectly captures the essence of this truth. I wish to share it with you here today as a tribute to the life and ministry of Dr. Frank McClelland.
To God be the glory.
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Seattle, Washington: On January 9, 1969, Pastor David Brown (34) of the Bible Presbyterian Church of Kirkland, Washington was murdered in our home in cold blood. Just minutes before he died, he read Philippians 1:1-11 and prayed for the meeting, which he and my father, Dr. Frank McClelland, were about to have with a congregant. Unknown to them, Rodney Mahaffey (40) had secretly brought with him a loaded Deringer pistol with two bullets to end both of their lives. I was one month from my ninth birthday and what occurred that night will always be etched in my mind, particularly as I stood alone over the dying body of our beloved pastor.
Through this tragedy, the Lord called Frank McClelland (33) from aircraft design engineering at Boeing into the Gospel ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church. Even though the accused held the gun to Dad’s chest and shouted, “You’re next!”, David Brown saved his life by not collapsing after sustaining the first bullet.
In the painful weeks following, the Lord made His will clear that Dad must return to N. Ireland to begin studies. Frank McClelland would take the baton from David Brown, so to speak, and begin to live out Philippians 1:12, the verse succeeding the pastor’s reading on that fateful night.
“But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel.”
I never fully understood how Dad’s ministry could further the Gospel more than Pastor Brown’s ministry, except perhaps that Dad would minister in two countries—the UK and Canada, throughout 50 plus years of ministry. That is until last night when I tuned into the Magherafelt Sunday evening service of May 11, 2025 and listened to the testimony of Mr. Steven Lee, founder and CEO of SermonAudio. Steven shared Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Steven said that this scripture is the reason for SermonAudio’s existence to make a way for the gospel to be shared electronically throughout all nations. Today over 3 million sermons are contributing to the furtherance of the Gospel through SermonAudio’s outreach.
From a human perspective, if Pastor Brown had not died, Frank McClelland would not have been called into the ministry and become the minister in Toronto where, under his preaching, Steven Lee (by his own testimony) came to know Christ. And by extension, Steven Lee would not have gone to BJU or Faith FPC and eventually founded SermonAudio with its global witness.
Now I understand the scope of what the Lord meant in Dad’s calling in Philippians 1:12 “unto the furtherance of the gospel” and the relevance and connection to Matthew 24:14 and SermonAudio. Now I understand why Pastor Brown had to die and how the sovereignty of God is at work as Philippians 1:12 is being fulfilled—not by one man’s ministry alone—but by the sovereignly-appointed outreach of so many through SermonAudio.
