Greatest Preachers of the Twentieth Century

The following is part of an article that appeared in Preaching.com back in 2000, naming Morgan as one of the ten greatest preachers of the 20th century. The full list included:

1. James Stewart
2. Billy Graham
3. George Buttrick
4. Martin Luther King Jr.
5. Harry Emerson Fosdick
6. G. Campbell Morgan
7. William Edwin Sangster
8. John R.W. Stott
9. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
10. Clarence McCartney

Below is the section on Morgan:

#6 – G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945)

Called by many “the prince of expositors,” G. Campbell Morgan helped influence the shape of evangelical preaching on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in England, raised in Wales, Morgan lacked formal education but his absolute confidence in scripture made him an avid student and interpreter of the Word.

This skilled expository preacher served several English congregations before an itinerant ministry in the U.S. (1901-1904). From 1904 to 1917 he served as pastor of London’s Westminster Chapel, a church which experienced unparalleled growth under his leadership. Following more years in America, Morgan returned to Westminister Chapel in 1933 (at age 69) and served for a decade during one of the most dangerous periods of Britain’s history.

Morgan’s love of the Bible shone through his sermons, which were carefully prepared and then presented with an anointed intensity. His successor as pastor of Westminster Chapel, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, said of Morgan that “preaching was the supreme passion of his life.”

“The first and best advice I ever received on the subject of preparing a sermon recalled the fundamental design of G. Campbell Morgan’s expository method: “Read the text. Read it again and again. Read it 25 to 50 times. The whole book. In context. Only then will you understand the text and be ready to preach it.” Though I didn’t know it then, that recommendation expressed the expositional approach to preaching the Bible that Morgan practiced, a model that has influenced thousands of theologically conservative Bible teachers and preachers.

Campbell died four years before I was born. I never heard him preach. Yet because the influence of his popular preaching, extensive itinerant teaching, and prolific writing still lives, I feel as if I have heard him time and again in the sermons of others. They have studied the text in context, analyzed, synthesized, and expounded the truth of Scripture with clear and compelling arguments. That’s the model of preaching I grew up on and have tried to master.

Two stories about Morgan have especially influenced me. The first was how he was rejected for formal ministry because his preaching showed so little potential. In the dark days that followed his father reminded him, “rejected on earth … accepted in heaven.” God will be the final judge of our gift. What a relief. What a challenge. Second, when his studies in theology and science led to doubts about the truth of the Scriptures, Campbell put away all his books except The Book. His primary text and tool became the Bible. The Bible, first and foremost, gives authority to what we proclaim. God’s ideas, not mine. What a relief. What a challenge.

While changing times demand changing styles of preaching, the first and best advice to any preacher remains, “read the text.” (Timothy S. Warren, Professor of Pastoral Ministries, Dallas Theological Seminary)

You can see the full article here.