Active in the Student Christian Movement, Paton was the first general secretary of the National Christian Council of India and helped to establish the World Council of Churches.
Born in London to Scottish parents, Paton converted to Christianity in spring 1905 in his first year studying at Pembroke College, Oxford and joined the Presbyterian Church of England.
He quickly became involved in itinerant preaching in country churches around Oxford and the activities of the Student Christian Movement of Great Britain, and pursued theological studies at Westminster College, Cambridge.
He became part of the International Missionary Council, succeeding J. H. Oldham as general secretary, then helped to establish the World Council of Churches with Willem Visser 't Hooft.
She was the daughter of a minister of a Presbyterian Church in London where Paton had been invited to preach at.