Richard Heber Newton (October 31, 1840 – December 19, 1914) was a prominent American Episcopalian priest and writer.

He was a leader in the Social Gospel movement, a supporter of Higher Criticism of the Bible, and sought to unify Christian churches in the United States.

[3] Scholars have seen his 1874-1875 lectures, The Morals of Trade, as an important early statement of some of the concerns which were prominent in the Social Gospel movement.

[4] In 1883 he was accused of heresy[5] for a series of sermons later published in a book, The Right and Wrong Uses of the Bible.

He was again accused in 1884 and 1891 but the bishop, Henry Codman Potter, refused to go forward.