Ralph Washington Sockman (October 1, 1889 – August 29, 1970) was the senior pastor of Christ Church (

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

) in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. He gained considerable prominence in the U.S. as the featured speaker on the weekly

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

radio program, ''National Radio Pulpit'', which aired from 1928 to 1962, and as a writer of several best-selling books on the Christian life. ''Time Magazine'' reported in 1946 that Sockman's ''National Radio Pulpit'' program received 4,000 letters weekly, making him "the number one Protestant radio pastor of the U.S. ...rated by volume of fan mail". Fifteen years later in 1961, ''Time'' said that Sockman was "generally acknowledged as the best Protestant preacher in the U.S.". Sockman became the director of the

Hall of Fame for Great Americans The Hall of Fame for Great Americans is an outdoor sculpture gallery located on the grounds of Bronx Community College (BCC) in the Bronx, New York City. It is the first such hall of fame in the United States. Built in 1901 as part of the U ...

in 1949. In 1950, he was also appointed associate professor of practical theology at

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary may refer to: * Albright College, formerly known as Union Seminary, a college in Reading, Pennsylvania * Union Presbyterian Seminary or Union Theological Seminary in Virginia and Presbyterian School of Christian Education ...

in New York. ''Time Magazine'' said of him at the time:

"Sunday morning at 10 E.S.T., from October through May, 60-year-old Dr. Sockman preaches on NBC's National Radio Pulpit to one of the biggest religious radio audiences in the U.S. Then, at his Byzantine-style church on Manhattan's Park Avenue, he holds a regular Sunday morning service (with enough ceremony and liturgy to jolt many a low-church Methodist). So many people come to hear him that at 5 in the afternoon he repeats his morning service".

He toured extensively for speaking engagements nationwide and often preached at the 6,000-seat Ocean Grove Auditorium on

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

's seashore, which was packed on "Sockman Sundays", as those occasions were popularly called. Some of his sermons from those appearances were subsequently published in 1939 as ''Ways of the Christian Life – Sermons by the Sea''.

Early years

Raised on a farm in

Mount Vernon, Ohio Mount Vernon is a city in Knox County, Ohio, United States. It is located northeast of Columbus. The population was 16,990 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. History The community was platted in 1805, and named after Mo ...

, Ralph W. Sockman graduated from

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

, where he earned a

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

key. He studied for the ministry at

in New York City. In 1916, he married Zellah Endly, the daughter of a Methodist minister, and became pastor of what was then called the Madison Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, the forerunner of Christ Church in New York City.

Writings

Sockman was a prolific writer, with some of his books still available and one, ''Now to Live!'', reprinted in July 2007. Other books include: * ''The Paradoxes of Jesus'' (1936) * ''Live for Tomorrow'' (1943) * ''Date With Destiny; A Preamble To Christian Culture'' (1944) * ''The Lord's Prayer'' (1947) * ''How to Believe, Answering the Questions that Challenge Man's Faith (1953)

Quotations

Ralph W. Sockman was especially noted for his memorable quips and sermon lines, such as: * "The test of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority." * "The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder." * "Nothing is so strong as gentleness and nothing is so gentle as real strength" in which he was quoting St. Francis de Sales. * "Our growth depends not on how many experiences we devour, but on how many we digest."

References

External links

Christ Church, New York – official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sockman, Ralph Washington 1889 births 1970 deaths American radio personalities People from Mount Vernon, Ohio Methodist writers American United Methodist clergy Methodists from New York (state) Methodists from Ohio