Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 37:4 (Autumn 2023)
Article: Georgina Gollock (1861–1940) And World Christianity
Author: Ian Randall

PP 37:4 (Autumn 2023) p. 3

Georgina Gollock (1861–1940) And World Christianity

Ian Randall

Ian Randall is a Baptist minister who has had local church pastorates, was a hospital chaplain, and for twenty years was a lecturer in church history and spirituality at Spurgeon’s College, London, and in Prague. He has written extensively in these areas. He is a Senior Research Associate of the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide.

Georgina Gollock was a key figure in the development of what came to be termed “World Christianity,” a description that has come to denote the global impact of mission endeavours. Although Georgina had vital roles in leading mission bodies, her contribution has been neglected compared to that of male colleagues such as John Mott, the international student, missionary, and ecumenical leader. Dana Robert writes: “Georgina Gollock was one of the most influential women in the formative period of twentieth-century World Christianity . . . As the British and Irish missionary movement coalesced and expanded in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, Georgina Gollock was the first and often only woman in the room.”1 This essay explores her particular work in the Anglican Church Missionary Society, where she became Lady Secretary; her contribution from 1912 as a writer and speaker and as an editor of the International Review of Missions; and her further international leadership in the International Missionary Council.

Georgina lived until her mid-twenties in southern Ireland as part of a land-owning Protestant family, becoming a committed member of the Church of Ireland and later, in London, of the Church of England. In a book Georgina wrote in 1930, Heroes of Health, she described her early life in the countryside near Cork, and then her move into the environs of the city of Cork, where she found “a new world of books.”2 Her favourite library room was “Natural Science.” She was intrigued as she read about plants and creatures that were invisible to the human eye but could be seen through a microscope, so she obtained a microscope. She was especially impressed by scientists who dedicated their lives to discovering ways disease spreads and how that can be prevented. All of this helped to develop Georgina’s faith. The scientific commitment to health inspired her, and she was led to the message of the NT about how Jesus brought health. Following Jesus was to be central to her life and work.

A Voice And A Vocation

Georgina’s mother, Mary, was deeply involved in developing an awareness in her daughters, Georgina and Minna, of the needs of others and opportunities to serve.You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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