Ferguson soon realised his desire to enter the ministry, and subsequently, the congregation of Knox Church at Dunedin, gave him a bursary to complete the full course at New College, Edinburgh.
[1] Labor politician William Morris (Billy) Hughes (who was to become Prime Minister in 1915),[2] said: The new moderator preaches a gospel all sufficient, all powerful.
[1] Ferguson's ecumenical interests led him to seek an audience with the Pope on a visit to Rome in 1914, an action that evoked much criticism in Sydney.
[3] On 22 May 1913, following the resignation of Andrew Harper, Ferguson was appointed Senior Chaplain and chairman of the exclusive Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney Council, retiring in 1923 due to ill health.
An attractive preacher, with a genial and informal friendliness, he seldom forgot a face or a name and few entered St Stephen's without a warm personal greeting.
He was survived by his wife, three sons, including Sir John, judge of the New South Wales Industrial Commission and author of the Australian National Bibliography; Eustace, a notable pathologist and entomologist, and by two daughters.