Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) was born in London, the son of a Congregational minister. He joined the Baptist church in 1850 after his conversion and began preaching immediately. Demonstrating powerful skills as an orator he filled the small chapels he spoke into capacity. In the 1850s, while a vast new church was being built for him, he preached to audiences approaching 10,000 people at the Surrey Music Hall. When the Metropolitan Tabernacle was completed in 1861 it held over 6,000 and could be used for numerous church-related and mission outreach functions, a new concept in that day. Among his many accomplishments was the creation of a monthly magazine, The Sword and Trowel; the publication of over 2,000 sermons and numerous books, including Commenting and Commentaries; the establishment of the Stockwell Orphanage, which housed 500 children; the creation of the Colportage Society to distribute books, tracts, and Bibles; and the establishment of a pastor’s college. He was the most influential British preacher and evangelist of the 19th century.
evangelist
Moody, Dwight Lyman
Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899) was one of the great 19th century American evangelists. He was born in East Northfield, Massachusetts to a family of modest means. His father died when Moody was four and financial circumstances and his own unruly nature kept him from receiving more than a superficial education. In 1854 he became a shoe clerk in Boston. A year later his life changed forever when his Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball, led him to Christ. In 1856 he went to Chicago and started a successful business selling shoes. He joined the Plymouth Congregational Church and was charged with starting a Sunday school program. He embraced this task with great vigor and before long the church was offering classes to over 1,500 students. In 1860 he gave up his business and devoted himself full-time to city missionary work. He was prominent in raising money for various Christian ministries and in 1865 he was made president of the Chicago Young Men’s Christian Association. Although not formally trained, Moody was a gifted speaker and evangelist and by 1871 he had erected a large church on LaSalle Street, near the site of the current Moody Memorial Church. Ira David Sankey joined him in Chicago and helped him further his evangelistic efforts with hymn singing. In a series of notable revival meetings in England and America, they became a famous evangelistic team, establishing a model for future evangelists like Billy Sunday and Billy Graham. An advocate of education, perhaps because of his own childhood, Moody opened the Northfield seminary for young women in 1879 in Northfield, Massachusetts and, in 1881, the adjacent Mount Hermon School for boys. In 1889 he established in Chicago the first Bible school of its kind in the country, the Chicago Evangelization Society. Renamed later the Moody Bible Institute, it trained Christian workers in Bible study and in practical methods of social reform. He founded the Colportage Association in 1895 to produce Christian literature at a modest price for mass distribution. He died during a crusade in Kansas City. He led millions to Christ through his various and far-flung evangelistic activities and his educational and publishing institutions continue to impact the lives of people around the world.