The “Other Spurgeon”

Thomas Spurgeon (1856-1917) grew up in the shadow of his famous father, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, pastor of the London Metropolitan Tabernacle and one of the best known and most highly regarded ministers in the history of the Church.

Thomas attended local schools and also had a private tutor. Early in life, his gift for drawing was discovered. His father sometimes hinted that he would rejoice if one of his sons (Thomas had a twin brother, Charles) succeeded him at the Tabernacle. Both boys preached when opportunities came and helped found the Northcote Road Baptist Church, but Charles entered a mercantile career and Thomas was apprenticed to a wood engraver, and neither immediately devoted himself to full-time Christian ministry. However, both “served the Lord zealously” in their lives and business dealings.

Because of Tom’s poor health, he went on a voyage to Australia, during which he preached often to passengers and the crew. His father had given him a cautious letter of introduction: “He can preach a bit.” Thomas intended to begin an engraving business in Melbourne, but the name Spurgeon opened doors of ministry that he could not ignore. Wherever he preached, he drew large crowds, though some only came to criticize and compare. Nevertheless, many were convicted; Thomas was not his father, but he was becoming “God’s servant and a capable preacher.”

His mother’s illness brought Thomas home to England, but by the time he arrived, she had mostly recovered, and it was his father who was ailing. On Nov. 10, 1878, Thomas first preached in the Tabernacle, standing in for his father during his illness.

Thomas then enrolled in the Pastor’s College begun by his father, but he missed many classes because of his own poor health and decided to return to Australia. He eventually settled in New Zealand, where he filled the pulpit of the Hanover Street Church in Dunedin. While there, he met and married Lila Rutherford. After Dunedin, he became the pastor of the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle, which prospered greatly under his leadership.

In 1884, he returned to Britain to raise funds for his work in New Zealand. When he left again after a few months, his father said that he felt he “could not bear the pain of another parting.”

In 1892, the elder Spurgeon was called home, and American pastor Arthur T. Pierson (who had often preached in his stead during his extended illness) agreed to stay on as interim minister at the Tabernacle. The officers of the church called Thomas to come for a year’s ministry serving under and assisting Pierson, and he accepted, beginning his work there in the summer of 1893. Shortly thereafter, Pierson returned to America, and Thomas was called to become pastor, a position in which he served until 1908.

In 1899 the great Tabernacle building burned to the ground, leaving Thomas with a large congregation with no facility to call home. During his time in New Zealand, he had overseen the building of a large facility for the Auckland Tabernacle, and he would now see to the reconstruction of one in London. People responded greatly to the need, and the new Tabernacle (which was itself destroyed by German bombardment during World War II) hosted its first services on Sept. 19, 1900. The great church musician Ira D. Sankey sang at the dedication service and F.B. Meyer and John Henry Jowett assisted in the preaching.

Thomas reluctantly resigned from the pastorate in 1908. For the remaining years of his life, he preached often in various churches, assisted in raising funds for the orphanage his father had founded, and worked hard at maintaining his health. He went to be with the Lord in 1917 and was buried next to his father in Norwood Cemetery.

Thomas never tried to become his father, but certainly learned much from his example. Many people probably came to hear him preach once simply because of his name, but they came back because of his faithful ministry of the Word. “In uniting a great congregation, maintaining a wide and varied ministry, and rebuilding a great and historic structure,” Thomas Spurgeon, under God, carried out a fruitful and faithful ministry.

            Bernard R. DeRemer chronicled the lives of dozens of heroes of the faith in more than a decade of writing for Pulpit Helps Magazine. He continues to serve in this capacity as a volunteer contributor to Disciple. He lives in West Liberty, Ohio.