J. C. Metcalfe

John Christian Metcalfe was born in the village of Newbottle near Banbury, Northamptonshire. Brought up in the Church of England, he planned to enter the Anglican ministry, but because of World War I he instead became an officer, earning the Military Cross in the Battle of the Somme. Injured and sent home, one night he gave his heart and life to the Lord Jesus at a gospel hall. Metcalfe became a newspaper journalist, but soon left newspaper work to enter evangelical ministry. He pastored several small churches and ran a small but successful Bible school in outer London. During this time he met Jessie Penn-Lewis and wrote articles for the Overcomer magazine, a publication of the Overcomer Trust. (The trust was started in 1909 by Penn-Lewis to provide missionaries and Christian workers with material on the centrality of the cross; its magazine is still sent worldwide three times yearly.) During World War II, Metcalfe rejoined the army and served in England; after the war, he returned to the Overcomer Trust, this time as leader and editor. He served in this way for 40 years, traveling extensively in England and abroad and writing many books. He died shortly before his 101st birthday.