The Episcopal Church

Rev. Jacob Smith, St. George’s Episcopal Church:

As a devout Episcopalian, Morgan held a deep reverence for the Bible. It was an anchor for his steadfast belief in people’s character as their defining quality. He was an active parishioner of St. George’s Episcopal Church, funding projects for the Church and using his status to shape major decisions.

Pierpont Morgan’s grandfather and namesake, the Reverend John Pierpont, embraced Unitarianism and became a prominent advocate for the growing antislavery movement; he invoked the Bible to champion the cause of freedom. Reverend John Pierpont had become a fixture in the religious milieu of the Northeast during the mid-nineteenth century. Influential figures from the Concord Transcendentalist movement wove Christian principles into their impassioned speeches during solemn John Brown memorial gatherings. In a town hall meeting on December 2, 1859, they recited passages from Acts and Matthew complete with harmonious melodies, heartfelt prayers, and the poignant last words of John Brown. One of the deeply resonant hymns that resonated during the John Brown Memorial Service was James Montgomery’s soul-stirring Methodist hymn, “Go the Grave in Thy Glorious Prime,” evoking a profound sense of reverence and commemoration. It reads:

Go to the grave in all thy glorious prime,
In full activity of zeal and power;
A Christian cannot die before his time;
The Lord's appointment is the servant's hour.
Go to the grave: at noon from labour cease;
Rest on thy sheaves, thy harvest task is done;
Come from the heat of battle, and in peace,
Soldier! go home; with thee the fight is won.
Go to the grave, for there thy Saviour lay
In death's embraces, ere He rose on high;
And all the ransomed, by that narrow way,
Pass to eternal life beyond the sky.
Go to the grave? No, take thy seat above!
Be thy pure spirit present with the Lord,
Where thou for faith and hope hast perfect love,
And open vision for the written word.