- Joseph Kemp
Joseph William Kemp (
16 December 1872 -4 September 1933 ) was aBaptist minister and preacher, arevivalist , and a leader of theChristian fundamentalist movement inNew Zealand . He was born in Kingston-on-Hull, England, and died in Auckland, New Zealand.Biography
UK and USA
Influenced by the Keswick movement, Kemp worked as a bible class teacher in his early years, and studied at the Glasgow Bible Training Institute from 1893-1895. He pastored churches in
Kelso (1897-1898),Hawick (1898-1902), and Charlotte Chape,Edinburgh (1902-1915), and then pastoredCalvary Baptist Church inNew York (1915-1917) andMetropolitan Tabernacle ,London , from (1917-1919).New Zealand
In August 1920 Kemp was appointed to the
Auckland Baptist Tabernacle . He was known as the prime spokesperson for American fundamentalism in New Zealand. He founded the "New Zealand Bible Training Institute" in 1922. This college went on to become the leading educational institutional forevangelicals in New Zealand, a position it holds to this day as theBible College of New Zealand . He founded the "Reaper" in March 1923, a monthly journal devoted to fundamentalist and revivalist theology, and in 1924 helped to found theNgaruawahia convention.After seeing the detrimental effect of fundamentalism on interdenominational work during a visit to the United States in 1926, Kemp softened his stance somewhat, partly due to the influence of Baptist College of New Zealand principal
J. J. North . He was a leading influence on a number of leading New Zealand evangelicals, includingWilliam H. Pettit and E. M. Blaiklock. His grandson Ian served as a lecturer, vice principal and acting Principal at the Auckland campus of Bible College of New Zealand, and his great-grandson Hugh has served as lecturer and Dean at the Manawatu Regional center ofBible College of New Zealand in Palmerston North.Kemp was a member of the Baptist College committee (1923-1933), president of the
Baptist Union of New Zealand (1929), and vice president of the "Crusader Union of New Zealand" (1931-1933).References
*Dictionary of New Zealand Biography: [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=4K8 Joseph William Kemp]
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