John Clifford (minister)

John Clifford ( born October 16, 1836 in Sawley, England; † November 20, 1923 in London) was a British Baptist pastor and from 1905 to 1911 the first President of the Baptist Weltbundes.Neben his ecclesiastical activity Clifford involved politically and was one of the prominent representatives of the liberal movement in Britain.

Life

John Clifford was born into an English working-class family and was the eldest child of seven siblings. His father Samuel Clifford worked as a machinist in a factory tip; his mother Mary was a factory worker. Parents warern deeply rooted in the Christian faith and belonged to the Baptist church at Sawleyer. 1840 twisted his family moved to Beeston, where Clifford was enrolled in the Methodist Primary School. More local exchange followed. The age of ten he left school and went to work in the factory where his father earned a living. In addition to his 12-hour shift work, he tried to form on autodidactic way further, giving him early reputation earned as a "seeker of knowledge and truth ." As a fourteen- year-old he was baptized because of a personal decision of faith. Even as an adolescent he preached his first sermon in the Baptist chapel Berestoner and was then in addition to his professional activities for two years as a lay preacher. There was a theology studies at the Midland Baptist Academy in Leicester, after its completion, he was appointed in 1858 minister of the Praed Street Baptist Church in Paddington. Soon after Clifford's office increased the number of visitors to Sunday services, so that an extension of the church building was necessary. A few years later built the Praed Street Baptist Church, a new much larger church at Westbourne Park.

In 1859, John Clifford enrolled in addition to his pastoral ministry at London University and received here in 1861 Bachelor of Arts, 1862 Bachelor of Science, 1864 Master of Arts and Bachelor of Laws 1866. In 1883 he received an honorary doctorate from the theological Bates College (USA ).

In addition to his church activities engaged John Clifford, among others in the fight against the Boer War. He belonged to the South Africa Conciliation Committee and vehemently against the unjust treatment of the black population of South Africa. Clifford was also known because of its opposition to the so-called Education Act of 1902.

In 1879 he was elected president of the London Baptist Association and in 1888 he was elected president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. 1898 appointed him to the National Council of Evangelical Churches as its Chairman.

1904 called the American John Newton Prestridge, editor of The Baptist Argus, for a worldwide association of Baptist churches. His British counterpart John Howard Shakespeare ( The Baptist Times) supported this project. That same year, the Baptist Union of Great Britain hosted a World Congress of Baptists to London. This congress was held in July 1905 and chose John Clifford its first president.

Tributes

1883, the title of a theological honorary doctorate was awarded to John Clifford from Bates College. In 1921 he was donated by King George V Medal Companions of Honour.

Works in selection

• Is Life Worth Living?, London 1880
• God's Greater Britain, London 1899

An extensive bibliography ( 108 items) is located at the British Library.