George Carleton Lacy ( Chinese: ;

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

: ''Lì Xuāndé'';

Foochow Romanized Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Mindong linguistic and cultural region. Fuzhou's population was 8 ...

: ''Lĭk Sŏng-dáik''; December 28, 1888 – December 11, 1951) was an American

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

missionary and the last Methodist bishop in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

Life

Early years and education

George Carleton Lacy was born on December 28, 1888, in

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

(Foochow), China. His father was William Henry Lacy, who arrived in Fuzhou in 1887 from

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, and directed the Foochow Mission Press and after 1903 the Methodist Publishing House in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. His mother Emma Nind Lacy, daughter of Mary Clarke Nind, was also an American Methodist Episcopal missionary stationed in Fuzhou.Shavit, David (1990): ''The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary'' p.289 His three brothers, Walter Nind, Henry Veere, and William Irving Lacy, and one sister, Alice Maie Lacy (1893–1921), had also served as missionaries to China. Lacy attended mission schools in Fuzhou and Shanghai before he went to America, where he attended

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (abbrevriated OWU) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1842 by Methodist leaders and Ohio Valley, Centra ...

( B.A. degree received in 1911), Garrett Biblical Institute ( B.D. degree received in 1913),

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

( M.A. degree received in 1914). He was made a

doctor of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

in Garrett in 1928.''China Bishop Of Methodists To Talk Here: Lacey Is Speaker In Florida Chain Of Mission Groups'',

The Evening Independent The ''Evening Independent'' was St. Petersburg, Florida's first daily newspaper. The sister evening newspaper of the '' St. Petersburg Times'', it was launched as a weekly newspaper in March 1906 under the ownership of Willis B. Powell. In Nove ...

, February 23, 1945

Missionary life

Carleton Lacy had several pastorates in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

and

before he was appointed as a Methodist missionary to China in 1914.''Methodist Bishop Succumbs in China'',

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

, December 20, 1951, p.31 He arrived in Shanghai in September 1914. After attending the Language School in

Nanking Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yan ...

, Lacy served as district superintendent in

Jiangxi Province ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

in 1916–1917 and 1919–1920, and president of William Nast College, Jiujiang (). In 1921 Lacy was loaned by the Methodist Board of Missions to the

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engag ...

where he served as Secretary of its China Agency and in 1933 of the China Bible House formed with the

British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The ...

. During that time he also served as China correspondent for '' Zion's Herald'' and '' The Christian Century''. Lacy was named in 1921 agency secretary of the

in China and in 1933 secretary of the China Bible House and from 1921 to 1941 he had direction of translation and distribution of the Scriptures in many Chinese dialects from the society's office in

. In 1928 and 1929 he studied at Union Theological Seminary and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

while on furlough. In 1935 he was appointed member of the Joint Commission on the Unity of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

and

Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

in China. In 1941 Lacy was elected bishop of the China Central Conference and was assigned to Fuzhou.Historical Record of Bishops

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

When his episcopal area was occupied by Japanese troops he traveled extensively in inland China.

Death

Carleton Lacy's tenure as bishop was set to end in 1949 but the advent of the

Communist government A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

made it impossible to hold a general conference or elections. He officially resigned and turned his authority over to Bishop Chen Wenyuan (). In 1950 when all foreign missionaries were forced to withdraw from China. Lacy was the only Westerner in Fuzhou area denied an exit permit, detained under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

by the newly established regime.Caldwell, John C. (1953):
China Coast Family
' During the closing months of his life he had been ill and only his faithful cook was allowed to see him. Within weeks after his request was finally granted, he died of a heart ailment at Union Hospital, Foochow () on December 11, 1951. Matthews, Alden E. (2007): ''My Three Worlds'' ''Bishop Lacy, Here in 1919, Dies in Foochow, China'', The Portsmouth Times, December 27, 1951 Lacy was buried in the Foochow Mission Cemetery with an unmarked tombstone, and his cook was the only one permitted to attend his funeral.Lacy, George Carleton & Lacy, Walter Nind (1951): ''The Story of the Foochow Foreign Cemeteries'' In 1956 his remains were exhumed and paraded through the streets by Communist zealots.

Family

George Carleton met Harriet Lang Boutelle, who had come to Canton as a

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

secretary. They married on June 26, 1918, in Chelsea, Massachusetts.Report of Birth of Children Born to American Parents, ''American Consular Service''; 1919, 1928 Carleton Lacy's son, Creighton Boutelle "Corky" Lacy, was a long-time professor of World Christianity at the Duke Divinity School. Born in Guling on May 31, 1919, Creighton Lacy grew up in Shanghai and attended

Shanghai American School Shanghai American School (SAS; ) is a non-profit, independent international school located in Shanghai, China. Founded in 1912, SAS has two campuses serving a diverse student body of over 2,900 students from more than 40 nationalities, ranging f ...

. He later went to the U.S. for college, where he received his A.B. from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

in 1941 and B.D. from

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

in 1944. In 1947 he returned to China with his wife Frances M. Thompson, a native from Mount Holly, North Carolina, whom he married in 1944. Creighton Lacy subsequently taught

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

at Nanking University,

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

at Anglo-Chinese College, Foochow,

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at Union Theological School, Foochow, and finally, along with other missionaries, was expelled from China in December 1950, returning to Yale University where he finished his Ph.D. in Christian Social Ethics in 1953. After graduation they moved to

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, where Creighton Lacy was a professor in the Duke Divinity School until 1991. On October 8, 2010, Creighton Lacy died in

, at age 91. Daughter Eleanor Maie Lacy was born in Shanghai on Dec. 8, 1927.

Selected works

*
A Hundred Years of the American Bible Society in China
', April 20, 1934 *
A Sixty Years' Cycle of Bible Society Work in China
', May 1936 * ''Jesus for Chinese Youth'', 1938 *
Self-support in the Chinese Church
', 1939 * ''The Great Migration and the Church in West China'', Shanghai, 1941 * ''The Story of the Foochow Foreign Cemeteries'', Fuzhou, 1951

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacy, George Carleton 1888 births 1951 deaths American Methodist bishops Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church Methodist missionaries in China American Methodist missionaries Christian missionaries in Fujian Prisoners who died in Chinese detention 20th-century Protestant martyrs Ohio Wesleyan University alumni Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary alumni Union Theological Seminary alumni Northwestern University alumni American people who died in prison custody American people imprisoned in China