author
Thomas Champness
1832–1905
A bricklayer-turned-preacher, he became one of the best-known Methodist evangelists of his day and wrote widely to encourage ordinary readers in Christian faith and service.
1 Audiobook
Broken Bread, from an Evangelist's Wallet
by Thomas Champness
About the author
Born in Stratford, East London, on July 19, 1832, and brought up in Manchester, Thomas Champness began working life as a bricklayer before his conversion in Stockport. He was called to preach in 1856 and entered the Wesleyan Methodist ministry in 1857.
Champness became known as a minister, evangelist, editor, and prolific religious writer. Contemporary and later Methodist sources describe him as a widely recognized preacher, and his work with Joyful News helped spread his influence well beyond his own circuits.
He died in 1905. His life story, written soon afterward by Eliza M. Champness, helped preserve the picture of a practical, energetic Christian leader whose writing and preaching reached a broad popular audience.