John Harper (29 May 1872 – 15 April 1912) was a Scottish

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

who died in the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' in the

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. Harper was born in the village of

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Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

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, in 1872. He personally embraced his parents'

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at age 14 and began

preaching A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. El ...

at 18. He supported himself in early adulthood by doing

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in a

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until Baptist pastor E.A. Carter of Baptist Pioneer Mission in

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heard of his preaching and placed him in

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work in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

, Scotland. In 1897, he became the first pastor of Paisley Road Baptist Church in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland. Under his care, the church quickly grew from 25 members to over 500 and soon moved to a new location on Plantation Street. In 1923, it moved into its present building on Craigiehall Street and was renamed Harper Memorial Baptist Church in his honor. At the time of the ''Titanic'' disaster, Harper was 39, a widower with a six-year-old daughter, Annie Jessie (Nana), and pastor of Walworth Road Baptist Church in London. He was traveling with his daughter and niece Jessie W. Leitch to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to preach for several weeks at the

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, where he had been guest minister the previous fall, when the ship hit an

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on the night of 14 April 1912, and was lost. His daughter and niece were put on a

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and survived, but Harper stayed behind and jumped into the water as the ship began to sink. Some who survived told that Harper preached the

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to the end (especially Acts 16:31), first aboard the sinking ship and then afterward to those in the freezing water before dying in it himself. The story of John Harper aboard the ''Titanic'' is told in the book, ''The Titanic's Last Hero'', published by Moody Adams. A children's version of John Harper's last days on board the ''Titanic'' was published by

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in March 2011 titled 'Titanic – Ship of Dreams – John Harper' written by Robert Plant.

External links

Harper Memorial Baptist Church

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, John 1872 births 1912 deaths Scottish Baptist ministers Scottish evangelicals Deaths on the RMS Titanic

See also

External links

References