Benjamin Fay Mills (June 4, 1857 – May 1, 1916) was an American

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

preacher,

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

activist and writer.

Biography

Mills was born at

Rahway, New Jersey Rahway () is a city in southern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A bedroom community of New York City, it is centrally located in the Rahway Valley region, in the New York metropolitan area. The city is southwest of Manhattan ...

in 1857.Hannan, Caryn. (2008). ''New Jersey Biographical Dictionary, Volume 1''. State History Publications. pp. 466-467. His father, Thornton A. Mills was a Presbyterian minister and son of Benjamin Mills from Kentucky. He obtained his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Lake Forest University Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...

in 1879 and

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1881. He married Mary Russell in 1879 and the following year became an ordained pastor of the

Congregational church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont * Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...

.Marden, Orison Swett. (1905)
''Little Visits With Great Americans''
New York: The Success Company. p. 715 From 1879 to 1881 he was a missionary in the Black Hills of Dakota.Derby, George; White, James Terry. (1910)
''The National Cyclopædia of American Biography, Volume 14''
New York: James T. White & Company. p. 178 He was pastor of the Reformed Church of Greenwich, New York from 1881 to 1883. He was an evangelist preacher from 1886 to 1897 and conducted meetings throughout the United States. Mills is alleged to have converted 500,000 people to Christianity in ten years. He withdrew from the Congregational church in 1897. He became minister of the

First Unitarian Church of Oakland The First Unitarian Church of Oakland is located in western Downtown Oakland, California. It is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. History The building site was purchased in November 1888 from Jane K. Sather, a patron of the U ...

in 1889. He held that position until 1903. In the 1890s he was influenced by

George D. Herron George D. Herron (January 21, 1862 – November 9, 1925) was an American clergyman, lecturer, writer and Christian socialist activist. Herron is best remembered as a leading exponent of the so-called Social Gospel movement and for his highly publ ...

and developed a social interpretation of the gospel. In 1893, the

Iowa College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

offered Mills the

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

but he declined it. Mills moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and lectured on liberal religion. He was the founder and minister of the Los Angeles Fellowship (1904–1911) and the Chicago Fellowship (1911–1914). Mills was inspired by

Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...

and stated that "this man altered my life".Stavig, Gopal. (2010). ''Western Admirers of Ramakrishna and His Disciples''. Advaita Ashrama. pp. 331-334. Mills was responsible for inviting Vivekananda to Oakland. For example, Mills paid for Vivekananda's travel fare and set up big crowds for him to preach to. Mills and his wife took interest in reading Vivekananda's works. In 1900, Vivekananda gave seven lectures at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland. Mills described Vivekananda as "a man of gigantic intellect, indeed, one to whom our greatest university professors were as mere children." Mill's religious interests went through many different phases. In 1907, he presented a series of five discourses on the ''

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

'' in Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and Portland. In 1915, he went through a reconversion to the Christian faith and was received into the Chicago Presbytery. Mills had six children. Mills was an ethical vegetarian who supported

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

and

Christian socialism Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

.Helstosky, Carol. (2014)
''The Routledge History of Food''
Routledge. . He died at

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

in 1916.

Selected publications

*''Power From On High'' (1890) *''A Message to Mothers'' (1892)
''Victory Through Surrender''
(1892) *''God's World and Other Sermons'' (1893)
''The Ministry of the Nations to One Another''
(1895)
''Address of Rev. Benjamin Fay Mills''
(1897) *''Twentieth Century Religion'' (1898)
''Why I Am a Vegetarian''
(1903)
''A Strong Argument''
(1904)
''The Divine Adventure''
(1905) *''Why I Changed My Religious Opinions'' (1908)
''An Evangelist's Views on Health Building''
(1914) *''Why I Return to the Church'' (1915)

Biography

Selected publications

References

Further reading