John Harris (college Head) - Life As A Pastor and Author

Life As A Pastor and Author

After just two years he was invited to become pastor to a congregational church at Epsom. Some ten years later, in 1835, he began to write, and his first publication The Great Teacher was printed. Discovering a talent for writing, he entered an essay on the ‘sinfulness of covetness’ into a publishing competition, and won. He gained 100 guineas for the winning entry and it was published, selling more than 100,000 copies. Though now established as a popular writer, his words developed his own independent ideas which offended some theologians; two of whom (Rev. James Ellaby and the Rev. Algernon Sydney Thelwall) were sufficiently upset to publish a condemnatory reply. Nonetheless, his literary style continued to have popular appeal, especially in the USA. His publication in 1837 of a book supporting the claims of seamen to the regard of the Christian world, won a prize from the British and Foreign Sailor’s Society. Similarly, his essay on Christian missionary work, published in 1842, won a prize; indeed it was very substantial amount – some two hundred guineas. Frequently called upon to write, he contributed to several congregational and evangelical magazines, and became one of the editors of the Biblical Review.