Charles Haddon Spurgeon could not escape his catholic reputation. After his death, biographers observed that, though Spurgeon was a Baptist, he was a servant of the universal church. With the recent completion of the publication of Spurgeon’s lost sermons, scholars have also discovered inklings of ecumenism present in the earliest years of Spurgeon’s ministry. These early commitments grew into more fully developed desires for denominational unity as Spurgeon’s ministry grew, especially toward the end of his life. Spurgeon’s catholicity, however, was not an aspect of his ministry left to be uncovered by biographers or discovered by scholars who assessed his life and ministry after he died. Contemporaries of Spurgeon also recognized and celebrated his broad-heartedness and fellowship with individuals who were members of the universal church. But what was it about Spurgeon that his contemporaries were recognizing? What led to Spurgeon’s unshakeable catholic reputation? This paper examines Spurgeon’s theology, ecclesiology, ministry partnerships, and institutions to answer these questions. In providing these answers, this paper argues that Spurgeon’s enduring catholic reputation was not incidental but flowed out of his theological commitments, ecclesiology, ministry partnerships, and institutional efforts, consistently emphasizing the unity of all true believers across denominational lines. By examining these aspects of his life and work, this study demonstrates that Spurgeon’s broad-heartedness was an intentional and integral part of his ministry rather than a retrospective interpretation by later scholars.