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Florence Allshorn and the Story of St Julian's
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169 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
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August 7, 2019
Florence Allshorn lived from 1887 to 1950. By the age of 3, she was an orphan. She grew up in a home where she did not enjoy her childhood. When she was an adult, she became very much involved in church work in Sheffield. She started a club for factory girls and became superintendent of the girls’ Sunday School.
When Florence was 32 years old, she went to Uganda as a missionary. During her time in Uganda, she experienced many difficulties. Probably her greatest struggle was her relationship to her senior colleague who often had a bad temper and did not speak to her for long periods of time. But rather than being resentful, Florence had pity for this woman and wanted to show her love. Florence also recognised during that time how much her own faults became evident if she did not live out the love of Christ.
Upon her first return to England, Florence was asked to become a warden at a training college for women missionaries, which she accepted. She had been on the mission field and experienced the difficulties of trying to serve God while struggling with her relationship to fellow-missionaries. So she wanted future missionaries to be prepared and learn how to love one another in the love of Christ. J.H. Oldham writes, “She always looked on the two great commandments as the foundation of everything she was attempting to do, and thought much about their relation to one another.” (p. 51)
In 1934, Florence wrote the following in an article in the International Review of Missions:
"… it seems to me that, if we do not go down deeper into that second commandment of Jesus Christ, the spiritual life in us will peter out altogether. If the whole realm of missionary human relationships is to be left in the nebulous and frustrate state in which it now is, our preaching of any message of salvation will be almost in vain."
"… If Christ cannot save me from those things that jar on my fellow-missionary, then I have but a thin message of salvation; and if I cannot help any English sister to get through certain selfish attitudes which create unhappiness for myself or anyone else, how can I say that I have come to help my African or Indian sister to get through hers?" (pp. 56f.)
J.H. Oldham writes, “She saw … that the relations between people were the test of real love of Jesus Christ. … What she knew to be necessary for herself, she realized to be no less necessary for those whom she was training to be missionaries.” (p. 61)
Florence believed that this love had to be learned in practice while missionaries were still in training. Real-life difficulties in inter-personal relations in the training college were welcomed as opportunities to live out Christ’s love in practice. While doctrine was of central importance to the training, it had to be put to action. The test of inter-personal relations replaced written exams. According to Florence, “it is no good a woman having a first-class degree if she can’t live with her fellow-missionaries.” (p. 66)
After twelve years at the training college, Florence saw that missionaries returning from the field also needed a similar training. At the same time, returning missionaries needed a place where they could rest and have a place of quiet. This led to the founding of the St. Julian’s community. It became a place of rest and quiet for returning missionaries and yet also a place where people lived closely together and learned to live out the two great commandments given by the Lord Jesus Christ – to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself.
When Florence was 32 years old, she went to Uganda as a missionary. During her time in Uganda, she experienced many difficulties. Probably her greatest struggle was her relationship to her senior colleague who often had a bad temper and did not speak to her for long periods of time. But rather than being resentful, Florence had pity for this woman and wanted to show her love. Florence also recognised during that time how much her own faults became evident if she did not live out the love of Christ.
Upon her first return to England, Florence was asked to become a warden at a training college for women missionaries, which she accepted. She had been on the mission field and experienced the difficulties of trying to serve God while struggling with her relationship to fellow-missionaries. So she wanted future missionaries to be prepared and learn how to love one another in the love of Christ. J.H. Oldham writes, “She always looked on the two great commandments as the foundation of everything she was attempting to do, and thought much about their relation to one another.” (p. 51)
In 1934, Florence wrote the following in an article in the International Review of Missions:
"… it seems to me that, if we do not go down deeper into that second commandment of Jesus Christ, the spiritual life in us will peter out altogether. If the whole realm of missionary human relationships is to be left in the nebulous and frustrate state in which it now is, our preaching of any message of salvation will be almost in vain."
"… If Christ cannot save me from those things that jar on my fellow-missionary, then I have but a thin message of salvation; and if I cannot help any English sister to get through certain selfish attitudes which create unhappiness for myself or anyone else, how can I say that I have come to help my African or Indian sister to get through hers?" (pp. 56f.)
J.H. Oldham writes, “She saw … that the relations between people were the test of real love of Jesus Christ. … What she knew to be necessary for herself, she realized to be no less necessary for those whom she was training to be missionaries.” (p. 61)
Florence believed that this love had to be learned in practice while missionaries were still in training. Real-life difficulties in inter-personal relations in the training college were welcomed as opportunities to live out Christ’s love in practice. While doctrine was of central importance to the training, it had to be put to action. The test of inter-personal relations replaced written exams. According to Florence, “it is no good a woman having a first-class degree if she can’t live with her fellow-missionaries.” (p. 66)
After twelve years at the training college, Florence saw that missionaries returning from the field also needed a similar training. At the same time, returning missionaries needed a place where they could rest and have a place of quiet. This led to the founding of the St. Julian’s community. It became a place of rest and quiet for returning missionaries and yet also a place where people lived closely together and learned to live out the two great commandments given by the Lord Jesus Christ – to love God and to love your neighbour as yourself.
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