Peter M. Morgan/Biographical Sketch

(For the Great Communion Service, 2009)

Three persons of significant influence in the life and ministry of Peter Morgan are a Disciple, a Christian Church preacher, and a recognized leader among the Churches of Christ.  Ray Manley, his great uncle, was a Disciples missionary; the Christian Church preacher was his great grandfather, E. E. Manley; Leroy Garrett, his college philosophy professor, is recognized for persistence in calling the Churches of Christ to their roots as a people of Christian unity.  In appreciation of those diverse influences Dr. Morgan has served the last ten years on the Stone-Campbell Dialogue seeking healing, understanding and reconciliation among those separated streams of his own religious heritage.

He is well steeped in that heritage.  He was educated at Bethany College, founded by Alexander Campbell.  He is a graduate of Lexington Theological Seminary, the Stone-Campbell Movement’s oldest theological school.  Throughout his ministry he has made his own educational contributions.  He is author of seven books, including the widely used Disciples Eldership: A Quest for Identity and Ministry.  Among the named lectureships where he has spoken are the Forrest H. Kirkpatrick Lectures on Stone Campbell History where he was the inaugural lecturer, and the Peter Ainslie Lectures on Christian Unity.

Dr. Morgan served as pastor of Marion, Iowa Christian Church for ten years, Director of Worship and Spiritual Formation for twenty years for the Disciples general unit which resources congregations, and president of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society for nine years.  In retirement he serves as Historian in Residence of National City Christian Church, Washington, D.C. In 2006, he was named president emeritus of the Disciples of Christ Historical Society.