Taylor, George Benjamin (1896–1959)

George Benjamin Taylor was a pastor, educator, administrator, and missionary to Brazil.

Early Years

George Benjamin Taylor was born on August 20, 1896, in Oakland, California.¹ He was the son of Charles Lindsay Taylor (1867-1918) and Lucy Brown Taylor.

Taylor’s father served as president of the Sabbath School Association of the Atlantic Conference, Bible teacher at Mt. Vernon Academy, Walla Walla College and Pacific Union College, chaplain for ten years of the St. Helena Sanitarium in California and director of the department of Public Speaking at Emmanuel Missionary College. His mother, among other roles, served as dorm dean at the Southern Junior College.² His sister Martha Alice (Taylor) Lagreide (1892-1977) was a teacher for many years in Seventh-day Adventist elementary and secondary schools in Washington and California.³

Taylor spent his childhood near the various denominational institutions where his parents served. He graduated from the Pacific Union College in 1914, after which he moved with his parents to Georgia. Later he accompanied them to Minnesota and Michigan, where in 1919 he graduated with a degree in theology from Emmanuel Missionary College. While in college, he met Gladys King (1894-1992),⁴ who became his wife a few days after graduation. From their union were born Melvin and Charles Taylor, who served as director of the Theology department of Antilles Adventist College.⁵

Career

Taylor’s first contribution to the Seventh-day Adventist Church was at Bethel Academy in Wisconsin, where he taught for one year. In 1919 he accepted a call to be a missionary at the Brazilian Adventist Seminary (now named Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo, or UNASP-SP), in São Paulo, Brazil, where he arrived in 1920. On April 1, he began work as Dean of Men and science and Bible teacher, while his wife served as head nurse.⁶

Taylor made many evangelistic travels in Brazil to promote the value of Christian education, together with other workers, such as G. W. Schubert and C. C. Schneider. In 1925 he visited churches in the state of Paraná. In 1927 he spoke to German churches of Espírito Santo state in the territory of the East Brazil Union (today Southeast Brazil Union Conference).⁷

In 1926 a severe economic crisis forced the college to cancel the last trimester of studies.⁸ Taylor served as teacher and preceptor until 1927,⁹ when Thomas Wilson Steen resigned as director of the college.¹⁰ Taylor was elected as the new director, and was principal of the college from 1928 to 1931.¹¹

Taylor oversaw many improvements to the college, including enhanced electrification, electric irons for ironing, water pipes for the men’s dorm, electric water heating for the kitchen and cafeteria, and a covered area with clotheslines for laundry. In addition, a new library was set up in a brighter and better ventilated location.¹² He also oversaw renovations on Santo Amaro’s road, São Paulo (region of the Brazilian Adventist College), which significantly reduced the effort and transportation expenses between the school and Santo Amaro.¹³

During Taylor’s time as principal, the college students cooperated with the South American Division's project of preparing Adventist books on the mimeograph. They were destined to the Adventist schools of the field, which didn't have many books that shared Adventist beliefs for children and teachers.¹⁴

Even as the college director, Taylor did not abandon his missionary travels. In 1930, along with pastors Jerônimo Granero Garcia and Germano Guilherme Ritter, he visited churches in the countryside of São Paulo, such as Mogi Mirim and São João da Boa Vista. He always spoke of Christian education in his sermons.¹⁵

After 11 years of serving at Brazilian Adventist College, Taylor was called to be the director of the Chillan Training School, which was passing through its worst economic crisis. ¹⁶ Taylor made important curriculum changes in the three years of his administration, from 1931 to 1935.¹⁷

From March 1935 to 1936, Taylor visited his parents in Michigan, United States, and received his Master's Degree from Stanford University in California.¹⁸ From 1936 to 1939 he was director of the Educational and Youth departments of the Austral Union Conference in Argentina.¹⁹

In 1940 the Taylors returned to their home country, when George served as Bible teacher at the Mountain View Union Academy, in California.²⁰ He taught Spanish and was director of the Mexican Extension Courses at the Pacific Union College until 1959.²¹

Death and Legacy

George Benjamin Taylor died on March 26, 1959, at the age of 62, in Angwin, California.²² He left an important legacy to the educational area of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, having served for 18 years in South America and 19 years in the United States.

Sources

“Alice Taylor Lagreide.” ARH, July 7, 1977.

“Collegio Adventista,” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 01, January 1928.

“Corpo Docente CAB.” Revista Adventista, vol. 21, no. 12, December, 1926.

de Benedicto, Marcos. “Texto Final.” Revista Adventista, vol. 114, no. 1342, February 2019.

“Do Collegio Adventista,” Revista Adventista, vol. 20, no. 12, September 1925.

Dos Santos, Fábio. “Biografia do Pastor Rubens da Silva Lessa.” Monograph, Brazil College, 1997.

“Emmanuel Missionary College – College News Notes.” Lake Union Herald, March 12, 1935.

“George Benjamin Taylor.” Pacific Union Recorder, April 6, 1959.

Greenleaf, Floyd. Terra de Esperança: o crescimento da Igreja Adventista na América do Sul. 1st edition, Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2011.

Lamson, J. G. “Charles Lindsay Taylor.” Lake Union Herald, January 22, 2019.

“Learn Spanish in Mexico with P.U.C.” Pacific Union Recorder, vol. 48, no. 40, May 9, 1949.

Lessa, Rubens. “Passado e futuro.” Revista Adventista, vol. 105, no. 1229, October 2010.

Margarido, Manoel. “Rumo ao campo.” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 11, November 1928.

Moore, Ennis V. “Notas de viagem.” Revista Adventista, vol. 25, no. 10, October, 1930.

Moore, Ennis V. “The Field for Our Next Thirteenth Sabbath Offering.” Lake Union Herald, December 22, 1920.

Neilsen, N. “Os departamentos da obra.” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 01, February 1928.

Peterson, Alfredo W. “Departamento educativo.” Revista Adventista, vol. 25, no. 12, December 1930.

Pierce, R.L. “A Trip to South America.” Field Tidings, August 17, 1921.

S. F. W. “Algumas noticias.” Revista Adventista, vol. 24, no. 05, May 1929.

Schneider, C. C. “Abençoadas Reuniões no Espírito Santo.” Revista Adventista, vol. 22, no. 08, August, 1927.

Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Various years. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/.

Steen, T. W., “Notícias do Collegio Adventista.” Revista Adventista, vol. 22, no. 06, June, 1927.

Taylor, G. B. “Algumas Noticias.” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 10, October 1928.

Taylor, G. B. “Após Vinte e Cinco Anos.” Revista Adventista, vol. 52, no. 6, June 1957.

Taylor, G. B. “Collegio Adventista.” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 06, June 1928.

Taylor, G. B. “Noticias.” Revista Adventista, vol. 25, no. 03, March 1930.

Taylor, G. B. “Noticias.” Revista Adventista, vol. 26, no. 03, March 1931.

Taylor, G. B. “Aviso.” Revista Adventista, vol. 26, no. 10, October 1931.

“Taylor.” Revista Adventista, vol. 54, no. 09, September 1959.

“Taylor, Gladys K.” James White Library Obituary Index (Online).

“The Marked Bible, by Charles L. Taylor.” Adventist Book Center Network (Online).

“VOTED, That we ask the Lake Union Conference…” General Conference Committee, January 1, 1919, 308. Accessed November 21, 2019. http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Minutes/GCC/GCC1919.pdf.

Wilcox, E. H. “Algumas mudanças.” Revista Adventista, vol. 26, no. 10, October 1931.

Wilcox, E. H. “Notas da União Éste-Brasileira.” Revista Adventista, vol. 22, no. 8, August 1927.

Notes

1. “George Benjamin Taylor,” Pacific Union Recorder, April 6, 1959, 12; and R.L. Pierce, “A Trip to South America,” Field Tidings, August 17, 1921, 1.↩

2. J. G. Lamson, “Charles Lindsay Taylor,” Lake Union Herald, vol. 11, no. 04, January 22, 2019, 3; “The Marked Bible, by Charles L. Taylor,” Adventist Book Center Network, accessed on November 21, 2019, https://www.adventistbookcenter.com/the-marked-bible.html; and Pierce, R. L., “A Trip to South America,” Field Tidings, vol. 13, no. 27, August 17, 1921, 1.↩

3. “Alice Taylor Lagreide,” ARH, vol. 154, no. 27, July 7, 1977, 23.↩

4. “Taylor, Gladys K.,” James White Library Obituary Index, accessed November 22, 2019, https://jewel.andrews.edu/search~S3/?searchtype=t&searcharg=taylor+gladys&searchscope=3&sortdropdown=-&SORT=D&extended=0&SUBMIT=Search&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=tlagreide%2C+martha+alice↩

5. “George Benjamin Taylor,” Pacific Union Recorder, April 6, 1959, 12; and “Taylor,” Revista Adventista, year 54, no. 09, September 1959, 35.↩

6. “VOTED, That we ask the Lake Union Conference…” General Conference Committee, January 1, 1919, 308; and Ennis V. Moore, “The Field for Our Next Thirteenth Sabbath Offering,” Lake Union Herald, vol. 12, no. 51, December 22, 1920, 1.↩

7. “Corpo Docente CAB,” Revista Adventista, vol. 21, no. 12, December 1926, 02; and Lessa, Rubens, “Passado e futuro,” Revista Adventista, vol. 105, no. 1229, October 2010, 02; and “Taylor,” Revista Adventista, vol. 54, no. 09, September 1959, 35.↩

8. Luiz Henrique dos Santos, ed., UNASP: Muito Além do Ensino 100 anos de história (1915-2015) (São Paulo, SP: Multicomm, 2015), 54 and 63; and Floyd Greenleaf, Terra de Esperança (Tatuí, SP: Casa Publicadora Brasileira, 2011), 374 and 382.↩

9. “Do Collegio Adventista,” Revista Adventista, vol. 20, no. 12, December 1925, 11; T.W. Steen., “Notícias do Collegio Adventista,” Revista Adventista, vol. 22, no. 06, June 1927, 13; E. H. Wilcox., “Notas da União Éste-Brasileira,” Revista Adventista, vol. 22, no. 08, August, 1927, 10; and C. C. Schneider, “Abençoadas Reuniões no Espírito Santo,” Revista Adventista, vol. 22, no. 08, August 1927, 11.↩

10. N.P. Neilsen, “Os departamentos da obra,” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 1, February 1928, 11; and “Foreign School Principals,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1929), 14.↩

11. “George Benjamin Taylor,” Pacific Union Recorder, vol. 58, no. 36, April 6, 1959, 12; N.P. Neilsen, “Os departamentos da obra,” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 1, February 1928, 11; and “Foreign School Principals,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1931), 11.↩

12. G. B. Taylor, “Noticias,” Revista Adventista, vol. 26, no. 3, March 1931, 12; and Alfredo W. Peterson, “Departamento educativo,” Revista Adventista, vol. 25, no. 12, December 1930, 11.↩

13. G. B. Taylor, “Collegio Adventista,” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 6, June 1928, 11.↩

14. G. B. Taylor, “Algumas Noticias,” Revista Adventista, vol. 23, no. 10, October 1928, 15.↩

15. Ennis V. Moore, “Notas de viagem,” Revista Adventista, vol. 25, no. 10, October 1930, 7.↩

16. E. H. Wilcox, “Algumas mudanças,” Revista Adventista, vol. 26, no. 10, October 1931, 16; and “Aviso,” Revista Adventista, vol. 26, no. 10, October 1931, 15.↩

17. “George Benjamin Taylor,” Pacific Union Recorder, vol. 58, no. 36, April 6, 1959, 12; and “Após Vinte e Cinco Anos,” Revista Adventista, vol. 52, no. 06, June 1957, 12, 25.↩

18. “George Benjamin Taylor,” Pacific Union Recorder, vol. 58, no. 36, April 6, 1959, 12; and “Emmanuel Missionary College – College News Notes,” Lake Union Herald, March 12, 1935, 6.↩

19. “Austral Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1937), 173; and “Austral Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1940), 181.↩

20. G.B. Taylor, “Após vinte e cinco anos,” Revista Adventista, vol. 52, no. 6, June 1957, 25.↩

21. “Pacific Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1942), 226; “Pacific Union Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), 240; and “Learn Spanish in Mexico with P.U.C.,” Pacific Union Recorder, vol. 48, no. 40, May 9, 1949, 2.↩

22. “Taylor,” Revista Adventista, vol. 54, no. 09, September 1959, 35; and Taylor, G. B., “Após vinte e cinco anos,” Revista Adventista, vol. 52, no. 6, June 1957, 25.↩