09/11/2026
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Heroes of the Faith — John Henry Jowett possibly ‘greatest preacher in the English-speaking world’
John Henry Jowett (1864–1923) may have been the “greatest preacher in the English-speaking world,” according to author and pastor Warren Wiersbe.
This year is the 100th anniversary of Jowett’s death.
Jowett was born Aug. 25, 1864, to Josiah and Hannah Jowett in Halifax, England. Brought up in a Christian home, he attended a Congregational Church.
He was interested in being a lawyer, but his Sunday School teacher challenged him to consider the ministry. At the age of 17, Jowett felt a strong calling to be a preacher. He studied theology at the University of Edinburgh and Mansfield College, Oxford. In 1889 he was ordained into the Congregational Church.
Jowett’s first pastorate was at a large church in Newcastle, England. Saint James Congregational Church could accommodate a thousand people. He served successfully for almost six years. There he married Lizzie Winpenny.
‘Strong vision’
His next ministry was at Carr’s Lane Church in Birmingham, England. He had a strong vision for bringing people to Christ. After serving 15 years, the city’s mayor said the church had changed the town, with “crime and drunkenness having decreased.” During his time there, he was elected chairman of the Congregational Union and president of the National Council of Evangelical Free Churches.
Jowett spent many hours preparing his weekly sermons, selecting just the right words to convey his thoughts. He wrote his sermons and read them from the pulpit. A gifted speaker, he was called the “stylist of the English pulpit.”
In 1909 he was invited to speak in Massachusetts at the Northfield Conference, founded by Dwight L. Moody. While there, Jowett preached twice at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York. Church leaders immediately asked him to become the pastor. He refused after receiving a petition signed by 1,400 members of his English church asking him to return. When Fifth Avenue Presbyterian called him a third time, he felt that God was leading him to accept. In 1911 his family moved to New York.
Jowett returned to England in 1918 when Prime Minister David Lloyd George asked him to become pastor of Westminster Chapel. George conferred upon Jowett the Order of the Companions of Honour in 1922 for his outstanding contributions to England. King George V awarded the designation to Jowett, and at the same time, to Winston Churchill.
He was pastor of Westminster Chapel until his death in 1923. Jowett’s life can be summed up in one of his famous quotes: “Preaching that costs nothing accomplishes nothing.”
John Henry Jowett (1864–1923) may have been the “greatest preacher in the English-speaking world,” according to author and pastor Warren Wiersbe.
