Arthur Gostick Shorrock

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Arthur Gostick Shorrock (1861-1945)

Arthur Gostick Shorrock ( Chinese  邵涤源 , Pinyin Shào Díyuán ; * 1861 in Blackburn , England , † June 13, 1945 in Windsor , England) was an English Baptist missionary in China , where he worked for 40 years.

Family and education

Shorrock was born in Blackburn, Lancashire in 1861 . Little is known about his youth. He trained at Spurgeon's College in London and was already preaching at the Baptist Chapel in Wraysbury , where he also met his future wife, Maud Doulton. She was a relative of the porcelain manufacturer Henry Doulton and the auctioneer William Thomas Buckland . Shorrock should return to this position in retirement.

Missionary work in China

In 1887 Shorrock became a member of the Baptist Missionary Society and was sent to the Chinese Empire soon after . His first position was in Shandong . In 1897 he toured British India with Timothy Richard . Richard hoped to find inspiration for missionary work in India and was pleased to have a "competent and serious" young missionary as a traveling companion. On this trip they visited Sri Lanka , Madras , Agra , Varanasi , Delhi , Mumbai and Calcutta , where Shorrock became critically ill with cholera .

Shaanxi Baptist Mission

In 1892 Shorrock founded the Sianfu Mission together with Moir Duncan in what is now Xi'an , Shaanxi . Shorrock took on responsibility for Baptist missionary work in Shaanxi and became director of the Shaanxi Bible College . When Moir Duncan and his wife went to England on home leave in 1898, the opportunity was seized and Maud Doulton, who was attending Royal Holloway College at the time, was allowed to leave with the Duncans in January 1900. Until then, she was only engaged to Shorrock. Soon after arriving in Shanghai , she married Arthur, and she and the Duncans returned to Xi'an on May 24, 1900. Only seven weeks after arriving on July 6th, they were forced to flee the city prior to the Taiyuan Massacre ( Boxer Rebellion ).

After two years they were able to return and Maud took on responsibility for women's work. In 1914 she became the head of the Church Girls' High School in Xi'an. 81 missionaries worked with Shorrock until his return to England. And together with Chinese employees, they founded a number of churches, schools and institutions:

Contributions of Baptist Missionaries in Shaanxi (1925)
institution Total
Churches 125
Members 2584
Further training 2 boys; 2 girls
Primary schools (with 6 or 4 grade levels) 49 boys; 10 girls
kindergarten 1 girl
Bible school 1 for men; 1 for women
Number of students 1550
Hospitals 2

Fight Against Opium Abuse

Shorrock was shocked by the result of the opium trade. In 1890 he was one of the founding members of the Permanent Committee for the Promotion of Anti-Opium Societies . Other founding members were John Glasgow Kerr MD, American Presbyterian Mission in Canton ; Boudinot Currie Atterbury MD (APM) in Beijing ; Archdeacon Arthur Evans Moule , Church Missionary Society in Shanghai ; Henry Whitney MD, American Board of Commissioners for foreign Missions in Fuzhou ; Samuel Clarke, China Inland Mission in Guiyang and Griffith John , London Missionary Society in Hankou ( Wuhan ). In a joint effort to stop opium smuggling, they urged Christians to take a public stand against the opium trade in China.

Xinhai Revolution

When the Xinhai Revolution reached Shaanxi, killing eight foreigners, an evacuation of all missionaries and foreigners was planned. The missionary JC Keyte planned this action together with the discoverer Arthur de Carle Sowerby and all but a few could be saved. Shorrock, however, stayed in Shaanxi with his wife and daughter Mary. He justified this as follows:

"It would be unchristian and, moreover, foolish for the doctors to leave during this stage of development. Their help has been taken seriously, and the appreciation shown by soldiers and leaders has been unmistakable. When we leave the people in their dire need then it is unlikely that you will pay much attention to us in the future. "

Anti-Christian Movement

Shorrock's work in China was rewarded with the Order of the Excellent Crop, Third Class , awarded by the President of the Republic of China in 1917 . However, the public in China in the 1920s was hostile to missionaries, foreign traders, Christian schools, churches, and hospitals. They were seen as " imperialist ".

Arthur Shorrock supported the Shensi Baptist Conference in 1925 by publishing a book in which he argued that missionaries were not imperialists. He wrote:

"When the anti-Christian movement was at its height, during Christmas week, our response was an increased effort to do 'good deeds': visiting prisoners in jail, orphans and widows, and each of them with a small gift of bread or clothing or to consider other useful gifts. This was repeated on the Chinese New Year and so we take advantage of the fact that Christianity is the testimony of life touched by brotherhood rather than a force that binds the marks of "imperialism" or other “isms.” It is encouraging to know that this year 21 were baptized - not as many as we had hoped, but given the year and all of its opposition and propaganda , that is a good result.

Many missionaries were forced to leave China in the years that followed. The Baptist Missionary Society drew the lesson that it became more sensitive to the political situation in various mission areas.

Evangelism methods

Shorrock also describes some evangelism methods:

"Our Lord Jesus Himself gave us an example of 'preaching, teaching, healing' to spread the knowledge of His Kingdom and many and varied methods were used to carry out these three principles of action ... To make this a reality, we find examples of the following methods in Him, at least to win people over:
  • Traveling through the villages,
  • Preaching in synagogues,
  • Preach to the crowds in the cities,
  • Speaking to individuals,
  • Visit houses,
  • Attend festivals,
  • Teaching through allegories and parables,
  • Teaching in seclusion,
  • continuous teaching in a group,
  • Healing through prayer alone,
  • Healing through prayer and remedies,
  • Spontaneous healing,
  • Gradual healing,
  • Sending out evangelists,

We have committed ourselves to all of these methods to this day, and we have also made propaganda through scriptures, in which we are sure that our Lord supports them, because how often did He not himself ask his listeners: "Have you never read?" "

Return to England

Baptist Chapel in Wraysbury

During a European siege in Xi'anfu, his wife Maude died of typhus on September 25, 1925. After his retirement he returned to Wraysbury and became a preacher at the Wraysbury Baptist Chapel . He died in Windsor on June 13, 1945 at the age of 83. He and his wife were buried in the cemetery there.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Gostick Shorrock: Journal Kept During a Voyage to China, from October 21, 1887 to December 26, 1887 1887, p. 134.
  2. ^ Who's who in the Far East . The China Mail, Hong Kong June 1906, p. 291.
  3. ↑ "able and earnest"
  4. ^ A b Timothy Richard : Forty-five Years in China: Reminiscences . Frederick A. Stokes, New York 1916, ISBN 0-524-08503-X .
  5. ^ Duncan Papers (Mundus Gateway to missionary collections in the United Kingdom) .
  6. ^ Ernest Whitby Burt: Fifty Years in China: The Story of the Baptist Mission in Shantung, Shansi, and Shensi, 1875-1925 . The Carey Press, London 1925.
  7. ^ A b Glover, Richard: Herbert Stanley Jenkins, medical missionary, Shensi, China: with some notices of the work of the Baptist Missionary Society in that country (1914) . Carey Press, London 1914, ISBN 0-524-07100-4 , p. 155.
  8. ^ Duncan, Moir Black: The missionary mail to faithful friends and candid critics (the substance of letters written from Shên Hsi) . Elliot Stock, London 1900.
  9. ↑ a b c d Arthur Gostick Shorrock: Shensi in Sunshine and Shade . Presbyterian Mission Press, Shanghai 1926.
  10. ^ Kathleen L. Lodwick: Crusaders Against Opium: Protestant Missionaries in China, 1874-1917 . University Press of Kentucky, Lexington 1996, ISBN 0-8131-1924-3 .
  11. ↑ It would be un-Christian, as well as most unwise, for the doctors to leave at this stage. Their help has been earnestly sought, and the appreciation shown by soldiers and leaders has been most unmistakable. If we desert the people here in their extremity, they are not likely to give us much consideration in the days to come ... Ernest F. Borst-Smith: Caught in the Chinese Revolution: A record of risks and rescue . T Fisher Unwin, London 1912.
  12. ^ Court and Social . In: The Times , March 7, 1917, p. 9. 
  13. ↑ Tatsuro Yamamoto , Sumiko Yamamoto: The Anti-Christian Movement in China, 1922–1927 . In: Association for Asian Studies (Ed.): The Far Eastern Quarterly . 12, No. 2, 1953, pp. 133-147. doi : 10.2307 / 2941975 .
  14. ↑ And so when the anti-Christian movement was at its height during the Christmas week, our reply to it was an effort in 'good deeds' visiting the prisoner in his prison, the orphan and the widow, and leaving with each a small gift in bread or cloth or some other useful gift. This is being repeated at the Chinese New Year, and so advantage is taken to show that Christianity is really the witness of a life touched with the feeling of brotherliness, rather than a force to bind the letters of Imperialism, or any other 'ism' It is encouraging to know that 21 have been baptized this year-not so many as we would have hoped, but considering the year, and all its opposition and propaganda, the result is good.
  15. ^ Brian Stanley: The History of the Baptist Missionary Society 1792-1992 . T&T Clark, Edinburgh 1992, ISBN 0-567-09614-9 , p. 564.
  16. ↑ Our Lord Jesus Himself, set us the example of preaching, teaching, and healing to spread the knowledge of His Kingdom, and many and varied were the methods He used to carry out these three principles of action. ... To accomplish this end we find Him adopting the following methods, at least, to win men.
    • Itinerating through the villages
    • Preaching in the synagogues
    • Preaching to city crowds
    • Talking to an individual
    • Visiting homes
    • Attending feasts
    • Teaching by allegories and parables
    • Teaching in retreats
    • Teaching continually a group
    • Healing by prayer alone
    • Healing by prayer and material means
    • Healing instantaneously
    • Healing by degrees
    • Sending out Evangelists
    In all these ways we are engaged to-day, with the additional method of literary propaganda, which we are assured our Lord sanctions, for how often did He ask His hearers 'Have your never read?'
  17. ↑ The Chinese Civil War: Besieged Missionaries released . In: The Times , October 14, 1926, p. 13.  
  18. ↑ Legal Notices . In: The Times , May 16, 1946, p. 1. 

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personal data
SURNAME Shorrock, Arthur Gostick
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 邵涤源 (Chinese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English Baptist missionary
DATE OF BIRTH 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Blackburn , England
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1945
Place of death Windsor , England