Murdoch Campbell (1900–1974) was a Scottish minister and devotional author. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland in 1956.[1]

He has been called "the greatest Scottish devotional writer of the 20th century".[2]

Life

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Resolis Church

He was born at Swainbost in Ness on the Isle of Lewis in 1900[3] the son of a crofting missionary of the Free Church of Scotland. He was educated locally until the age of 12 then apprenticed as a shipwright in Greenock. In 1918 he was conscripted into the army during the First World War. After the war he returned to Greenock as a shipwright.[2]

In 1922 he studied to be a civil servant at Skerry's College in Edinburgh, then began studies in Divinity at Edinburgh University before training as a minister at the Free church of Scotland College in Edinburgh. His first ministry was at Fort Augustus.[4]

He served as the Free church minister at Culnacarn on the Glenmoriston estate from 1930 to 1934 and gained a reputation as a fire and brimstone style preacher, focussed on the evils of sin. In 1934 he was translated to the Highland (Gaelic) Church in Partick, Glasgow.[4]

In the Second World War he served as a Naval Chaplain at Portsmouth and Plymouth. In 1951 he became minister of Resolis on the Black Isle.[3]

He retired due to ill-health in 1968. He died on 10 January 1974. He is buried in Fodderty graveyard.[5]

Family

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He was married to Mary Fraser of Fodderty (b.1899). One child died in infancy. Their son David Campbell was involved in the publication of some of his works.

Publications

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  • "God's Unsettled Controversy" (1941)
  • "The Loveliest Story Ever Told" (1963)
  • "Gleanings of Highland Harvest" (1964)
  • "In All Their Affliction" (1966)
  • "Memories of a Wayfaring Man" (1974-posthumous)[6]
  • "Wells of Joy" (Gaelic poems)
  • "From Grace to Glory"
  • "Everlasting Love: Devotional Sermons"
  • "The Suburbs of Heaven"

References

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  1. ^ Annals of the Free Church of Scotland 1956
  2. ^ a b Zach Dotson (29 April 2016). "Murdoch Campbell – Purely Presbyterian". Purelypresbyterian.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  3. ^ a b "The Suburbs of Heaven – Diary of Murdoch Campbell | Evangelical Times". 31 March 2015. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Murdoch Campbell". Glenmoriston.org.uk. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Ross & Cromarty Roots | Murdoch Campbell". Gravestones.rosscromartyroots.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Memories Of a Wayfaring Man by Campbell, Murdoch". Biblio.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.