Disciples Historical Society

Explore the history of the Stone-Campbell Movement

Date of birth: 1895
Date of death: June 3, 1990 (95 years old)
Education: Toronto Normal School
College of Missions

Jessie M. Trout was a Disciples leader who served as a missionary in Japan before World War II. She helped establish the Christian Women’s Fellowship and served as the first woman executive of the United Christian Missionary Society (UCMS). Jessie Trout was born in 1895 in Owen Sound, Ontario, to Catherine and Archibald Edward (A. E.) Trout, a lay leader in the Canadian Churches of Christ. Jessie Trout’s formal education included a year at the Toronto Normal School (1913–1914) and later studies at the College of Missions from 1920 to 1921.

Missionary Service in Japan

Following her 1921 missionary ordination, Trout relocated to Japan. She spent nine years as a women’s evangelist in Akita before moving to Tokyo in 1931. There, she held a teaching position at the Margaret K. Long Girls’ School (Joshi Sei Gakuin).

In 1935, the UCMS funded her transition to serve as the translator and assistant for Toyohiko Kagawa. Kagawa was a Japanese Christian known for his advocacy regarding labor reforms, the poor, and universal suffrage. During this period, Trout translated several of his works into English, such as:

  • Christian Brotherhood and Economic Reconstruction (1936)
  • Two Kingdoms (1941)
  • Kagawa, Japanese Prophet: His Witness in Life and Words (1960)

Career Transitions and UCMS Leadership

Trout’s tenure in Japan ended following a 1941 furlough when travel became restricted. During World War II, she worked with the Emergency Million Movement and served in Japanese-American relocation centers and internment camps. She also held the role of national secretary for World Call for two years.

In 1946, Trout joined the national staff of the UCMS. Her subsequent roles included:

  • Vice President of the UCMS: Appointed in 1949.
  • Executive of the Department of Missionary Organizations: Served from 1949 to 1961.
  • Founding of the World Christian Women’s Fellowship: Assisted in the organization’s establishment in Toronto and the 1957 Quadrennial Assembly.

In 1961, Trout requested to spend her final two years of service with the UCMS in the mission field. She died on June 3, 1990.