Ernest Alexander Payne (19 February 1902 – 14 January 1980) was a British Baptist administrator and scholar. He served the British Baptist Union as a pastor, teacher and writer before becoming its general secretary and president. A dedicated

ecumenist Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

, he held high office in the

Free Churches A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...

, the British Council of Churches and the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

, where he was elected president. In recognition of his ecumenical work, he was created a Companion of Honour.

Biography

M. S. West, To be a pilgrim: a memoir of Ernest A. Payne, Lutterworth Press, 1983

Selected works

*A 20th century minister: John Oliver Barrett, 1901–78. (1979) *The Anabaptists of the 16th century and their influence in the modern world. (1949) *The Baptist Union: a short history. (1982) *Baptists and church relations. (1964) *The Baptists of the world and their overseas missions. (1955) *The excellent Mr. Burls: first London member of the committee and third treasurer of the Baptist Missionary Society; first treasurer of the Baptist Irish Society. (1943) *The fellowship of believers: Baptist thought and practice yesterday and today. (1952) *The first generation. Early leaders of the Baptist Missionary Society in England and India. (1937) *The Free Church tradition in the life of England. (1951) *The Great succession: leaders of the Baptist Missionary Society during the nineteenth century. (1946) *The growth of the world church: the story of the modern missionary movement (1955) *Harry Wyatt of Shansi, 1895–1938. (1939) *James Henry Rushbrooke, 1870–1947: a Baptist greatheart. (1954) *Marianne Lewis and Elizabeth Sale: pioneers of missionary work among women. (1937) *Out of great tribulation: Baptists in the U.S.S.R. (1974) *

Philip Doddridge Philip Doddridge D.D. (26 June 1702 – 26 October 1751) was an English Nonconformist (specifically, Congregationalist) minister, educator, and hymnwriter. Early life Philip Doddridge was born in London the last of the twenty children of ...

, 1702–51: his contribution to English religion. (1951) *The story of the Baptists. (1978) *Thirty years of the British Council of Churches, 1942–1972. (1972) *

Thomas Helwys Thomas Helwys (c. 1575 – c. 1616), an English minister, was one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the General Baptist denomination. In the early seventeenth century, Helwys was principal formulator of demand that the church and t ...

and the first Baptist Church in England. (1966) *Veteran warrior: a memoir of B. Grey Griffith. (1962)

Sources

Russell, David S. "Payne, Ernest Alexander (1902–1980)". ''Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, Ernest Alexander 1902 births 1980 deaths English Baptists Christian writers Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour 20th-century Baptists