John Crossley Morgan graduated from Albright College, and earned an MA in philosophy from Oberlin College, an MDiv from Andover Newton Theological School in Boston, and a DMin from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. Before entering the ministry, he directed both inner-city and rural programs for older adults and also was a working journalist. He has served congregations in Maine, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as well as a national denomination and two of its districts. He is "retired," but writes a regular newspaper column while also working with community groups. He has published eight books, the most popular being the first daily devotional book for Unitarian Universalists since 1898. He is contributing editor of The Universalist Herald, the oldest, continuously published magazine for religious liberals. He is married and has a son and two daughters, and two grandchildren.
John C. Morgan is a writer who happens to teach or a teacher who happens to write, and sometimes both at the same time. He loves teaching because the audience sits in front of him or in a circle, which is more common in his college philosophy classes. He has been writing since the fourth grade when a teacher took pity on him because he had troubles adapting when he moved from an experimental school in the city to a more traditional suburban school. She convinced him his stories were great and funny and should be shared with the rest of the class. Perhaps this explains why to this day he is not sure if he is a writer or teacher. He has been a journalist, teacher, community organizer, and minister over his seventy-six plus years of life. And he has written and published eight books, many articles, and not a few newspaper columns. His most recent book, Resisting Tyranny (Resource, 2018), is about his ancestor, Matthew Lyon, thrown into jail in 1798 for criticizing then President John Adams. He holds three graduate degrees in philosophy, ethics, and religious history. He lives now with his wife and three cats in a small town an hour from Philadelphia. He has three grown children and two grandchildren (also grown).