Occasionally he would deliver an unplanned sentence with unrestrained vigor. Tides of eloquent verbal inspiration often swept over him during delivery, leading to a climax of unforgettable application.

Home, and Early Ministries

Talmage lived 70 years and when born, in 1832, found himself to be the youngest child from a family of Dutch Reformed Church background. His father, although a hard-working farmer, always found time to gather his twelve children around the supper table every evening for a time of worship. In that family he learned the values of disciplined industry and personal faith.

Talmage initially trained for the law, believing that his natural ability for language and drama could best be applied within that profession. After obtaining his legal degree he entered New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1853, responding to a sense of divine call to the ministry following similar decisions made by three of his brothers.

From his earliest years the young preacher-to-be was fascinated by the religious literature in his father's library. Accordingly he browsed in commentaries and theological volumes far above his capacity to understand but gleaned some basic understandings of the biblical record. The birth of DeWitt's personal faith came in the family home through the personal work of a visiting preacher. The evangelist simply shared the story of the lost sheep from Luke 15 with such tenderness that the young lad recognized the Savior's love for him personally and responded to that love with a deep commitment to Christ and His church.

He pastored three Reformed churches (in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania), for 25 years then became a household name in his Brooklyn pastorate before entering a world wide ministry, then settled at the First Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C., from 1895 to 1899.

Ministry in Brooklyn

After his initial successes, three of America's most prominent congregations invited him to pastor them in 1869 -- Calvary Church of Chicago, Union Church of Boston, and the First Presbyterian Church of San Francisco. Never one to build on another's foundation, he responded instead to an approach from the Central Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York, which offered an empty church while only enlisting seventeen communicant members!

There he found himself in constant challenge with the degenerating New York society in which he ministered as the alcohol manufacturers controlled city policies. Despite his indictments the state's best-known gambler candidated for the Senate with the full support of high government officials. He saw the completion of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, erection of the Statue of Liberty, and supported movements for the equal education of women and their unlimited acceptance in society.

Within fifteen months his seventeen members quickly grew to a church crowded out under his whirlwind preaching, whereupon he abolished pew rents and resigned his endowed salary, trusting the free-will offerings of the people. He led them to erect a Tabernacle seating 3,500 in 1870 which was immediately enlarged in 1871. There his work was supported by intensive intercessory prayer and his unashamed evangelical theology and evangelistic program. When this church burned he moved temporarily to the Academy of Music, erecting a second Tabernacle in 1874 which housed 5,000 worshipers.