John Raleigh Mott (May 25, 1865 â€" January 31, 1955) was a long-serving leader of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) and the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF). He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for his work in establishing and strengthening international Protestant Christian student organizations that worked to promote peace. He shared the prize with Emily Balch. From 1895 until 1920 Mott was the General Secretary of the WSCF. Intimately involved in the formation of the World Council of Churches in 1948, that body elected him as a lifelong honorary President. His best-known book, The Evangelization of the World in this Generation, became a missionary slogan in the early 20th century.
Biography
Mott was born in Livingston Manor, New York, Sullivan County, New York on May 25, 1865, and his family moved to Postville, Iowa in September of the same year. He attended Upper Iowa University, where he studied history and was an award-winning student debater. He transferred to Cornell University, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1888. He was influenced by Arthur Tappan Pierson one of the forces behind the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, which was founded in 1886. Mott married Leila Ada White (1866-1952) in 1891 and had two sons and two daughters.
In 1910, Mott, an American Methodist layperson, presided at the 1910 World Missionary Conference, which was an important milestone in the modern Protestant missions movement and some say the modern ecumenical movement. From 1920 until 1928 he was the Chairperson of the WSCF. For his labors in both missions and ecumenism, as well as for peace, some historians consider him to be "the most widely traveled and universally trusted Christian leader of his time".
Mott and a colleague were offered free passage on the Titanic in 1912 by a White Star Line official who was interested in their work, but they declined and took the more humble liner the SS Lapland. According to a biography by C. Howard Hopkins, upon hearing of the news in New York, the two men looked at each other and remarked that, "The Good Lord must have more work for us to do."
Legacy
The papers of John R. Mott are held at the Yale Divinity School Library.
Veneration
Mott is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on October 3.
Writings
- The Decisive Hour of Christian Missions (1910)
- World Student Christian Federation (1920)
- Cooperation and the World Mission (1935)
- Methodists United for Action (1939)
- The Larger Evangelism (1945)
See also
- 1910 World Missionary Conference
- Christian ecumenism
References
Bibliography
- Cracknell, Kenneth and Susan J. White. An Introduction to World Methodism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-521-81849-4.
Further reading
- Fisher, Galen Merriam. John R. Mott: Architect of Cooperation and Unity. New York: Association Press, 1953.
- Hopkins, Charles Howard. John R. Mott, 1865â€"1955. Eerdmans, 1979. ISBN 0-8028-3525-2.
- Mackie, Robert C. Layman Extraordinary: John R. Mott, 1865â€"1955. London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1965.
- Matthews, Basil Joseph. John R. Mott: World Citizen. New York, Harper, 1934.
- Mott, John Raleigh. The Evangelization of the World in This Generation. Arno, 1972. ISBN 0-405-04078-4.
- КозловÑький С. Ð'Ñ–Ð»Ñ Ð²Ð¸Ñ‚Ð¾ÐºÑ–Ð² екуменізму: "апоÑтол ÑтудентÑтва" Ð"жон Мотт / Сергій КозловÑький // Ð"уховніÑÑ‚ÑŒ. ПоÑтаті. â€" [Електронний реÑурÑ] â€" Режим доÑтупу до публікації: http://www.dukhovnist.in.ua/uk/postaty/69-mott.html
External links
- Nobel Committee information on 1946 Peace laureates
- Biography at Nobelprize.org
- World Student Christian Federation