John Barker (Presbyterian minister)

John Barker (1682–1762) was an English presbyterian minister.

Barker was born in 1682, but neither the locality of his birth nor the condition of his parents has been ascertained. It is probable that he was related to the Rev. Matthew Barker, who was ejected from St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, London, in 1662, and died on 25 March 1698. After school training he was educated for the presbyterian ministry by Timothy Jollie, at Attercliffe Academy, Yorkshire. Having been 'certified' by Jollie, Barker proceeded to London, and was licensed by the Presbyterians as a preacher of the gospel. In 1709 he was chosen assistant preacher to one of the foremost presbyterian congregations in London, at Crosby Square. The senior pastor was Dr. Benjamin Grosvenor, with whom Barker was on good terms.

On the death of Matthew Henry the commentator in June 1714, his congregation in Mare Street, Hackney, London, invited Barker to succeed him. There was division of opinion as to the new minister, and a secession followed, which culminated in the Gravel Pit congregation. But the majority adhered to Barker, and soon the congregation was as large as it had ever been.

Shortly after his settlement at Hackney, Barker took part in the historic controversies on the Trinity, which divided Protestant dissenters into two hostile camps, respectively known as subscribers and non-subscribers. Barker belonged to the former, and delivered a series of discourses on the supreme and absolute divinity of Jesus Christ. In 1718 he was assailed by a member of his congregation, the Rev. Martin Tomkins, on the use of doxologies in prayer and praise. Prefixed to what Tomkins called 'A Calm Inquiry whether we have any Warrant from Scripture for addressing ourselves in a Way of Prayer or Praise to the Holy Spirit,' is 'A Letter to the Rev. Mr. Barker.' Barker did not allow himself to be drawn into controversy here, but the attack led to correspondence with Dr. Isaac Watts.

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