Home's Influence on Ministers
Story★★★★Mr. John R. Mott tells us that in examining the biographies of 128 ministers, covering a period of 500 years, he found that all but nine of them came from homes favourable to the work.
A hundred of these men were among the leaders. Does that signify anything? The old Scotch proverb has it that “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.” “Every day of my life,” said the mother of Hugh Price Hughes, “I have prayed that he might do a good and great work, and be aided in the doing of it.”
When he had decided to be a Methodist preacher, and had written his father that he believed it was the will of God for him, the reply was : “I would rather you were a Methodist preacher than Lord Chancellor of England.” R. O. Armstrong **
The point
John Mott's study of 128 ministers over 500 years found almost all came from homes favorable to their calling, illustrating the profound influence of family environment on spiritual leadership.