Bicentenary of first sermon by one of the greatest preachers in modern times: St John Henry Newman

Two hundred years ago, on Wednesday 23 June 1824, John Henry Newman preached his first sermon.

Not in Oxford but seventeen miles north in the village of Over Worton. For the text, he chose the words of Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

Four days later, on Sunday 27 June, Newman took up duties as curate in the parish of St Clement’s, Oxford and preached his second sermon at a service presided over by the elderly rector. Based on Psalm 104:23, "Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening", it was in fact the first sermon he composed, though the second to be preached.