Lacy Irvine Moffett
Lacy Irvine Moffett (February 10, 1878 – October 2, 1957) was a Presbyterian missionary minister to China beginning in 1904 and he and his family served until 1940.
Lacy Irvine Moffett was born February 10, 1878, in Churchville, Virginia and destined from birth to become a missionary minister.
Moffett was joined in his Forward Movement work by John Leighton Stuart, his college roommate, who had also recently graduated from Union Theological Seminary.
[2] John Leighton Stuart would later become the first president of Yenching University in Beijing and serve as the United States Ambassador to China.
[3] During their Forward Movement travels, Moffett and Stuart met two sisters, Kate and Aileen Rodd, residents of New Orleans.
[4] A few days after their wedding in New Orleans, Kate and Lacy Moffett boarded a ship and proceeded to their first missionary assignment in Suzhou, China.
His work included “preaching and teaching the Chinese Christians and Inquirers and visiting in the homes of the people as well as making friends with the merchants, farmers and all wherever he went.”[6] Travel to the country missions required ingenuity and stamina.
A primary goal of Moffett's missionary work was to train the native Chinese evangelical workers, most of whom had had very little formal instruction, to become effective ministers.
They needed help and encouragement and a chance to study the Bible together, to have fellowship with one another, and to go out in teams to preach in the village.”[8] Moffett also participated in regional meetings of western missionaries.
He does not speak often in mission deliberations, but when he does, he usually strikes twelve.”[9] With the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, several competitive forces battled to gain control of China.
In all that time, I never once saw him lose his poise or seem to be confused.”[10] In January, 1932, the Japanese launched an assault on China which would eventually develop into the Sino-Japanese War.
Foreign missionary stations like those in Jiangyin enjoyed extraterritorial rights and in theory, were considered safe from invasion or bombardment.
Initially, the family found a small apartment in Shanghai, but in March 1939, Lacy and his son Alex returned to the Jiangyin Mission and lived in two rooms of a bombed out house.
On November 3, 1940, Lacy, Kate and two of their children boarded a ship for the United States marking the end of thirty-six years of service in China.
In the tribute, it was recognized that “there are few missionaries who we hold in so high a place of honor and esteem in the heart of the Church.”[16] Lacy was now 70 years old, but he continued to preach as a visiting minister until 1954.
His canal travels to outlying mission stations, walks in the nearby countryside, and hunting trips would all have provided opportunities to observe birds in the native habitat.
[19] Because of his scientific background and position as a university professor, Gee was likely the initiator and organizer of the effort, but he recognized Lacy's extensive knowledge and asked him to be coauthor.
Beginning in 1913, Gee and Lacy coauthored three publications that provided increasingly more complete and scientific descriptions of the birds of China.
