In marked contrast to his contemporary H. P. Liddon, Joseph Parker ceased his formal education at age sixteen, but his outstanding gifts resulted in his ordination by the Congregational church at the age of twenty-three. Parker was called in 1869 to the Poultry Street Chapel in London, which in 1874 was replaced by the famous City Temple. He was a man of impressive appearance, commanding voice and impeccable diction. For over twenty-five years he preached three times a week, one of London’s great pulpit masters alongside Liddon and Spurgeon. The People’s Bible in twenty-five volumes was based on his seven-year preaching cycle through the entire Bible.