William Taylor Dixon Explained

William Taylor Dixon (1879-1959) was an independent faith missionary to China and minister in the United States.

Early life

He was born in Snow Camp, North Carolina, to Quaker parents Milo and Rosa Dixon on June 23, 1879. He married educator Bertha Teresa Pinkham, daughter of Evangelical Friends leader William Penn Pinkham and Emma Cecilia Curry on June 23, 1904.^[1] Bertha was principal of the Training School for Christian Workers in Los Angeles, California, which later became Azusa Pacific University located in Azusa, California.^[2]

Missionary work in China

Influenced by early 20th century missionary movements, the Dixons left for China in 1909 with their two young children, Wendell and Gertrude. They were assisted in part by China Inland Mission's Cecil Pohill, one of the Cambridge Seven missionaries to China^[3]

Bertha Pinkham Dixon later published her memoirs, A Romance of Faith, which included their experiences in China.^[4] Her narrative recorded their arrivals in Shanghai and Hong Kong where they were associated with early Pentecostal missionaries ^[5] Alfred and Lillian Garr,^[6] Robert and Aimee Semple (later evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson),^[7] and Chinese pastor Mok Lai Chi,^[8] who later pioneered an indigenous Christian movement.^[9] In 1910 the Dixons transferred to Guangzho (Canton). Guanzhou was the center of rising Chinese revolution at that time and civil unrest prevailed. Disease outbreaks occurred of which the two Dixon children died in 1911. They were buried in homemade coffins outside the city in a Chinese Christian burial ground.

Missionary work in the United States

The Dixons returned to San Francisco in 1912 following a ministry in Zhaoqing (Shiu Hing), serving with the Edmund J. Clinton family whose son Clifford Clinton later founded the Clifton's Cafeterias and Meals for Millions.^[10] Although the Dixon's time in China was shortened, they and their co-workers left behind a continuing work in China ^[11] During their remaining years, the Dixons served churches in Snow Camp, North Carolina, and San Jose, Santa Ana, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Santa Rosa, Redlands, and Los Angeles, California. Among these pastorates was the Pisgah Home^[12] after the death of founder Finis Yoakum.^[13]

Death

Bertha Dixon died in 1947,^[14] followed by William Dixon in 1959. They were survived by five children and eight grandchildren. ˜˜˜˜

Notes and References

1. Sinnett, Charles Nelson (1908). Richard Pinkham of Old Dover New Hampshire and His Descendants East and West, Rumford Printing Company,Concord, NH. p. 154.
2. Web site: About APU: Our History.
3. Pollock, John (1969). The Cambridge Seven, Intervarsity Press, London. p.109
4. Dixon, Bertha (1941). A Romance of Faith, Bedrock Press, Los Angeles
5. Robeck, Cecil M.(2006) The Azusa Street Mission and Revival: The Birth of the Global Pentecostal Movement, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville. p.258
6. Orr, J. Edwin (1975) Evangelical Awakening in Eastern Asia, Bethany Fellowship, Inc., Minneapolis
7. McPherson, Aimee Semple (1921). This is That: Personal Experiences, Sermons, and Writings, Bridal Call Publishing, Los Angeles. p.68
8. Bertha P. Dixon (1910). "From Hong Kong," in Bridal Messenger (March 15, 1910) 5
9. Bays, Daniel H. (1995)"Indigenous Protestant Churches in China, 1900-1937: A Pentecostal Case Study" in Indigenous Responses to Western Christianity. Steven Kaplan, ed. New York University Press, New York. p. 129
10. Web site: Home . Mealsformillions.org.
11. Nichol, John Thomas (1966). Pentecostalism, Harper and Row, New York. pp.48,49.
12. Robeck, Jr., C. M.(2002)."Pisgah Home Movement," in The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Revised and expanded edition). Stanley M. Burgess and Edward M. Van Der Maas, ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,2002. Pp. 990-991.
13. Dictionary of American Biography (1936) 20:611-612
14. Murray, Tamsen and Otto, Ken (2007). Sixty Years Later: Taking Stock of APU' Leadership Heritage http://www.apu.edu/articles/1504