At the age of 17, Rippon attended
Bristol Baptist College in Bristol, England. After the death of
John Gill, he assumed Gill's pastorate, the Baptist meeting-house in Carter Lane,
Tooley Street,
Southwark, from 1773 at the age of 20 until his death, a period of 63 years. During these times, the church experienced great growth and became one of the largest congregations in the country. The congregation moved to New Park Street from Carter Lane in 1833. The
New Park Street Chapel could seat 1,200 people. Rippon's church was later pastored by
Charles Haddon Spurgeon before moving to the
Metropolitan Tabernacle at
Elephant and Castle. Rippon edited the
Baptist Annual Register for 12 years. He was considered the foremost authority on the hymns of
Isaac Watts. Rippon's Selection of hymns were used by the congregation until 1866 when Spurgeon produced an update called "Our Own Hymn Book". Spurgeon’s book borrowed much from Rippon and Watts, as well as writers such as Ralph Erskine, Horatius Bonar and William Cowper. Like
John Gill, he looked for a large scale conversion of the Jews at the end of the age. , London At the time of his death, he was working on a book commemorating those buried in London's
Dissenter cemetery,
Bunhill Fields, where he himself was buried. His younger brother,
Thomas Rippon, served as the
Chief Cashier of the Bank of England from 1829 to 1835. ==References==