Johann Gerhard Oncken

Johann Gerhard Oncken (26 January 1800 - 2 January 1884) was a pioneer German Baptist preacher, variously referred to as the "Father of Continental Baptists", the "Father of German Baptists" and the "Apostle of European Baptists". Oncken, Gottfried Wilhelm Lehmann (1799–1882), and Julius Wilhelm Köbner (1806–1884) were known as the Baptist cloverleaf (kleeblatt). J. G. Oncken helped direct and guide the growth of Baptists throughout Germany and across much of Europe for half a century.

Johann Gerhard Oncken was born in Varel, a town in the Duchy of Oldenburg. His father was exiled for political reasons, his mother died, and his grandmother raised him. As a child, Oncken was baptized a Lutheran, and confirmed in 1814.

About that time, Oncken was apprenticed to a Scottish merchant. Oncken moved to Scotland and worked in the merchant's business, later working as a tutor in Leith (now part of Edinburgh) and subsequently moving to London.

In Scotland Oncken first attended the Kirk (Church of Scotland), whilst also reading the writings of Anglican James Hervey. When he moved to London he attended worship in an Independent church (Congregationalist). He was converted at Great Queen Street Methodist Chapel in London in 1820.

By 1823 Oncken had returned to Germany as an agent of the British Continental society for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge over the Continent of Europe. At the time, he was a member of the English Reformed Church under the care of T. W. Matthews. The first Sunday School in Germany was formed in 1825, through the work of Oncken and a Reverend Rautenberg. In 1828, Oncken received an appointment from the Edinburgh Bible Society. He spent over half a century distributing tracts and Bibles, and in 1879 he estimated he given out over two million Bibles.

Oncken married Sarah Mann of London on 19 May 1828. He and Sarah had seven children. She died in 1845, leaving five surviving children. In 1847, Oncken married a widow from Yorkshire named Ann Dogshun. Both Oncken's children and the Hamburg congregation fully accepted her. Ann died in 1873. She and Oncken had no children. In 1875, Oncken married Jane Clark. Jane was a member of Spurgeon's Tabernacle in London.

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