Ernest T. Campbell

Early years and education

Campbell was born in New York City, the son of working class Irish immigrants William and Carolyn Campbell, and lived in the Morningside Heights neighborhood. While in his teens, Campbell was confirmed at nearby Broadway Presbyterian Church. He attended public schools in New York as a boy and enjoyed playing baseball and basketball at Riverside Park. Interested at first in a banking career, Campbell graduated from the old High School of Commerce and then studied finance in night school at New York University while working at Guaranty Trust bank. After graduation from the conservative school with a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree, Campbell then studied at Princeton Theological Seminary, beginning in 1945.

As a Presbyterian minister Pennsylvania churches Following his ordination by the Presbyterian Church in 1949, Campbell was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, between 1949 and 1954, where his weekly sermons were broadcast on a local radio station, WVPO. While in the "White Rose City", as York is called, Campbell had a weekly radio program, Treasury of Christian Devotion, on a local York station, WSBA (AM). He also spoke at mission churches in Alaska and Cuba. He was also preacher of the year in 1965 at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, the 1964 All-American football player said his "whole life was really off the track".

Riverside Church, New York City

Campbell was called to be the first Presbyterian preaching minister at the interdenominational Riverside Church of 3,500 members in New York City in 1968. In a reorganization implemented in 1974, Campbell was named senior minister and given significantly increased administrative responsibilities. This change resulted in Campbell feeling that he had less time to devote to study and sermon preparation. Consequently, Campbell surprised the church board by announcing his resignation in June 1976, saying the administrative demands of his position had deprived him of "sufficient joy and satisfaction". His final sermon preached from the Riverside Church pulpit took place on July 4, 1976, the nation's Bicentennial Day. Campbell authored three books: The Christian Manifesto, Where Cross the Crowded Ways, and Locked in a Room with Open Doors.

In the 1980s–1990s, Campbell continued to speak frequently as a guest preacher at various churches and Bible conferences nationwide. He often gave a sermon series at the summer gatherings of the Mount Gretna Campmeeting in Pennsylvania.

Campbell died at his New York City home on July 9, 2010, at age 86. He was survived by his wife, Joan Campbell, two sons, and two stepsons. He is remembered for some of his quips and sayings, such as: "Some people have the idea that if you raise hell, you're prophetic. I have the idea that if you lower heaven, you're prophetic".