Adoniram Judson Gordon
Adoniram Judson Gordon, born in New Hampton, New Hampshire, on April 19, 1836, began life with the name a famous missionary — Adoniram Judson — and as the son of John Calvin Gordon, named after the Reformation theologian. Entering Baptists’ Brown University at the age of twenty, the abolitionist movement soon impressed him, although he did not become an abolitionist. After Brown, Gordon enrolled in Newton Theological Seminary while preaching in small country churches.
Recently graduated from seminary, today Gordon, age 27, is called as pastor of the Jamaica Plain Baptist Church of Massachusetts. Here, far distant from the battlefields of war that consume the nation, Gordon’s prominent ministerial career is launched.
Located on the outskirts of Boston, Jamaica Plains is an affluent community. The congregation houses their new pastor in a picturesque home overlooking a pond, he is soon married, and for six years has a successful and fruitful tenure at the church. Afterwards, he assumes the pastorate at the Clarendon Street Baptist Church of Boston.
Dr. Gordon remained pastor of Clarendon Street Church for more than a quarter of a century. His many books include In Christ, The Two-Fold Life, The Ministry of the Spirit, and How Christ Came to Church. The church became one of the most active churches in America, with an outstanding effort in missions.
A. J. Gordon traveled, preached, wrote, and served with the passion of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide. In 1889 he founded the Boston Missionary Training Institute, later to become Gordon College. He continued as minister of the Clarendon Street Church until his death, due to influenza and bronchitis, on the morning of February 2, 1895. “Victory” was his last clearly audible word.
Gordon was also a close friend of the evangelist D. L. Moody and wrote hymns, including the well-known hymn, “My Jesus I Love Thee.”
Source: “The Ongoing Legacy of Adoniram Judson Gordon” (link); Adoniram Judson Gordon (link) and (link) and (link); Ernest B. Gordon, Adoniram Judson Gordon: A Biography with Letters and Illustrative Extracts Drawn from Unpublished Or Uncollected Sermons and Addresses, American Baptist Publication Society, 1896 (link)
