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Sarah Ellen Dickson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1880-08-31)August 31, 1880 |
| Died | November 21, 1965(1965-11-21) (aged 85) |
| Occupation | Presbyterian church elder |
| Years active | 1904-1965 |
Sarah Ellen Dickson (August 31, 1880 – November 21, 1965) was the first woman elder in the Presbyterian Church in 1930.[1][2] She was a "pioneer in the daily vacation bible school movement,"[3] She was active in church work for over 60 years and was known as "the chief".[3]
She was born in 1880 in Elwood, Illinois, a small suburb of Chicago.[4] She was the daughter of John Richard Dickson and Grace Ellwood Dickson, her father was a merchant.[4] Her parents both died while she was a child, and she was taken in by her grandparents at age fifteen.[4] She was educated in the Chicago Public Schools.[4]
She became active in church work. She was appointed secretary of Second Presbyterian Church in 1904,[4] and organized and was first president of the Young Women's Presbyterian Union.[4]
In 1906 she became secretary, treasurer and editor of the Federated Religious Press.[4] In 1911 and 1912, as executive secretary of the Layman's Evangelistic Council she directed evangelistic campaigns across the country including for Billy Sunday, John Wilbur Chapman, and others.[4]
In the early 1920s, Dickson took under her wing a "motherless boy" named Richard E. Evans, and effectively (but not legally) became his foster mother. She guided his religious education and encouraged him to become a minister.[5]
In 1924 she moved to Edgewater Presbyterian Church and in 1925 was appointed one of the first deaconesses in Chicago, at that time the highest position a woman could hold in the church.[4]
1927年の秋、神学校の学生だったエヴァンスは、ウィスコンシン州ワウワトサに新しく設立された長老派教会で説教を行い、強い印象を与えた。数週間説教した後、会衆はエヴァンスに牧師になるよう依頼した。[ 6 ]ディクソンもワウワトサに移り住み、同教会の宗教教育部長になった。[ 4 ]
長老派教会は、1920 年[ 6 ]と 1929 年[ 2 ] に女性を長老として認めることを検討したが、否決した。1930年 5 月 31 日、シンシナティで開催された総会で、この案は 158 対 118 の投票で承認された[ 2 ] [ 6 ]リチャード・エヴァンス牧師はオブザーバーとして出席し、帰宅後、教会員の集会を設定するために自宅に電話をかけた[ 7 ] 1930 年 6 月 2 日のその集会で[ 2 ] 、ディクソンはワウワトサ教会の長老に満場一致で選出された[ 4 ] [ 7 ]ある会員は、これは「彼女がそれに値するから」だと述べた[ 7 ]
エヴァンスは1933年にワウワトサを離れ、ディクソンも彼と共に別の教会に移った。[ 7 ]二人は1937年にフロリダに移り、出版社で働き始めた。[ 7 ]
ディクソンは、そのキャリアにおいて異宗教間の活動を促進することに積極的に取り組んでいた。[ 3 ] 1950年代には、彼女は車椅子で4回聖地を訪れた。 [ 3 ]
ディクソンは1960年にニューヨーク市に移り住み、14番街のクロスローズ教会の長老を務めた。[ 3 ]彼女は1965年11月21日にセント・バーナバス病院で亡くなった。[ 3 ]
ウィスコンシン州メノモニーフォールズにある長老派教会の老人ホームは、サラ・ディクソンにちなんでディクソン・ホローと名付けられている。[ 8 ]