Journal: Central Bible Quarterly
Volume: CENQ 12:1 (Spring 1969)
Article: The Life Of John Mason Peck
Author: Roger L. Peterson

CenQ 12:1 (Spring 1969) p. 2

The Life Of John Mason Peck

First Of A Series:

Roger L. Peterson

Calling Pastor, Fourth Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota

In the annals of Baptist missionary history the contributions of John Mason Peck should undoubtedly rank a place as high as that of William Carey and Adoniram Judson. But, since Carey and Judson were foreign missionaries, whereas Peck was a home missionary, he will never be given that honor, because the glamour and excitement that capture the imagination are not inherent in home missionary work. Nevertheless, the work of winning the lost is the same, and the establishment of churches is the same. And if the home field be weak, how shall the supplies of men and money continue to be sent? Therefore, the home missionary who does his work well should be worthy of honor to the same degree as those who labored on fields foreign to their birth.

John Mason Peck lived and labored during the same period of time as William Carey and Adoniram Judson, though he was the youngest of the three. His work was among the pioneers in Missouri and Illinois when these two states were a vast wilderness without much gospel witness. It was his God-given responsibility to lay the foundations for the future gospel ministry among Baptists in these two states, but his ministry splashed over the boundaries of Missouri and Illinois and helped water the whole western wilderness with showers of blessings, especially through his efforts in starting the American Baptist Home Mission Society.

Pastors and laymen as well as missionaries can benefit from acquaintance with the life and missionary principles of John Mason Peck. It is as important for pastors and laymen to know what kind of missionaries they should support as it is for missionaries to be the right kind of ambassadors which are worthy of support. The same principles that are to be used for foreign missionary work are also necessary for the work on the home field.

CenQ 12:1 (Spring 1969) p. 3

His Birth, Conversion, And Call (1789-1812)

Rural America has supplied many choice servants for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of these choice servants was John Mason Peck, Baptist home missionary among the early pioneers of the West from 1817 to 1858. Peck was born on a small farm in Litchfield, Connecticut, on October 21, 1789. He was the only son of Asa Peck, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. He was given an education in a common school, but it was quite inferior. This showed up in his writing, spelling and grammar. However, he had a clear mind with good common sense, a strong personality and lofty ambitions, and with these assets he began to teach at the age of eighteen.

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