G. Campbell Morgan
1863-1945
“What an interesting person he was!” This was my first thought when I began pondering the life and times of George Campbell Morgan. He was born in 1863, on a farm in Tetbury, England, certainly an inauspicious beginning for what awaited him in later life. He would live during a time of great change, and would meet and minister with Dwight L. Moody and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He would hold the pastorate at Westminster Chapel twice, once during World War I and then again during World War II (at this time with D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones as his assistant). Morgan was also to travel across the Atlantic over 50 times in his life, to minister in the United States and Canada. He would pastor churches in Britain and America, sit on the faculties of three schools, and was even to be the president of Cheshunt College in Cambridge for three years.
Morgan did not have the privilege of studying in either a seminary or a Bible college, and yet he has written books that are used in both. No doubt the secret of his “success” was the diligent study of the Word and plain old hard work; which seems to be a common thread in the biographies of great Bible expositors. G. Campbell Morgan put it this way, “Let me state in the briefest manner possible what I want to impress upon the mind of those who are contemplating Bible teaching, by declaring that the Bible never yields itself to indolence. Of all literature none demands more diligent application than that of the Divine Library.” Well said. Morgan would read a book of the Bible forty or fifty times before he even attempted to preach on it or write about it!
During his lifetime, Morgan felt the Lord used him to build the church at large. He sensed that God had prepared him for ministry to the churches, not to one church in particular. Indeed his career reflected this. He started preaching as a young man, and by 1886 was well known as a Bible teacher. He conducted follow-up missions for Gipsy Smith, an evangelist who worked with the Salvation Army both in Britain and America. Morgan began an itinerant ministry and then settled into a short pastorate in Straffordshire, England. He moved on shortly to Rugeley, where the winters were long and very cold and Morgan found himself with much time to study. It was in 1896 & 1897 that he went to Chicago and ministered with D. L. Moody in America. Then he was back in Britain, serving as pastor for the first time at Westminster Chapel in London from 1904-1917. Next Morgan became the interim pastor of Highbury Quadrant Church in London. After one year of service, he again travelled to the United States for almost seven years. In 1933, he became pastor of Westminster Chapel again. He remained the pastor through 1943 and was joined in 1938 by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones who became the senior pastor after Morgan resigned. Two years later, G. Campbell Morgan died.
G. Campbell Morgan was married to Annie, better known as Nancy and had seven children: four boys and three girls. Percy-b. 1889, Gwendolyn-b. 1891, Kingsley John-b. 1895, Frank Crossley-b. 1898, Howard Moody-b. 1901, Kathleen Annie-b. 1904, Ruth-b. 1907.
Morgan is known as a devotional preacher, while D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is known as a doctrinal preacher. Morgan mostly taught from the four gospels while Lloyd-Jones’ focus was the doctrinal epistles. I think it is interesting to note, that Morgan came first to lay the foundational groundwork of study at Westminster Chapel, while Lloyd-Jones took the congregation deeper into the Word with the doctrinal details. It should be said that both types of teaching are necessary; one cannot grasp the deeper things of God until the foundation of the elementary principles have been laid. Blessed were those who lived to hear the preaching of such fine men!
Next bio: D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
