Foreign Mission and the Second Division

• Two Types of Missions:

  • Organized Mission – Missionaries are sent to the mission field under the direction of an organization (i.e., a Missionary Society).

    • In the early years of the Restoration Movement, all missionaries were sent to the mission field through a Missionary Society.

    • Missionary funding was sent to the Missionary Society and the society

determined how the money would be dispersed to the missionaries.

• Independent Missions (Direct Support Missions) – Missionaries are sent to the mission field through the support of a church, several churches, and/or individual supporters.

  • One of the early Direct Support Missionaries was W. D. Cunningham, a very

successful missionary in Japan.

- Cunningham wanted to go to the field through a society, but came down with

polio and was judged unfit for missionary service – So, he raised support and went to Japan without the backing of a society.

• Missionary Societies and Theological Liberalism.

  • American Christian Missionary Society (1849) – The first Missionary Society in the Restoration Movement.

    • First Missionary: James T. Barclay (1807-1874) – Served two terms in Jerusalem with little success.

    • Second Missionary: Alexander Cross (c.1811-1854) – A former slave who went to Liberia and died soon after his arrival.

    • The ACMS was plagued with financial difficulties and had little success.

• Christian Woman’s Board of Missions (1874) – Formed at the insistence of Caroline Neaville Pearre.

  • First Missionary: W. H. Williams – Served in Jamaica with limited success.

  • The CWBM formed a School of Missions in Indianapolis that later became a part of Yale University.

  • The CWBM was fairly successful in sending missionaries throughout the world.

• Foreign Christian Missionary Society (1875) – An incredibly successful Missionary Society that sent many missionaries around the world.

  • In the first year of the FCMS, they sent missionaries to Denmark, England, and France.

  • Archibald McLean (1849-1920), the “Father of Restoration Foreign Missions,” served as the very successful leader of this society (1882-1920).

• United Christian Missionary Society (UCMS)

  • 1920 – The three earlier societies and six other agencies were consolidated into one large organization: The United Christian Missionary Society.

    • Supporters of the Consolidation said it created structural and financial efficiency.

    • Opponents of the Consolidation said it threatened the autonomy of the churches and wasted money on overhead expenses.

  • Major Problems arose as the UCMS began to accept and advocate liberal

practices among missionaries:

  - Social Gospel

  - Open Membership

  - Comity Agreements – Dividing a nation into denomination regions.

• Wolfe Affair – In 1925, the UCMS entered a comity agreement in the Philippines and threatened to drop Leslie Wolfe’s support if he did not move from his highly successful work in Manilla.

  • Wolfe remained in Manilla and became a Direct Support Missionary.

  • 1926 – Wolfe was brought to the Disciples General Assembly to tell his story, but was made to look foolish by the liberal leadership.

  • P. H. Welshimer (1873-1957), minister of the Restoration Movement’s largest church, led a group out of the convention in protest.

  • Welshimer’s group formed the North American Christian Convention, which first

met in Indianapolis the following year (1927).

• The creation of the North American Christian Convention eventually led to formation of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.

• Additional Resources:

  • Filbeck, David – The First Fifty Years: A Brief History of the Direct-Support Missionary Movement

  • Hayden, Edwin V. – *North American Gold: The Story of Fifty North American

Christian Conventions*

• Helsabeck, W. Dennis, Jr., Gary Holloway, and Douglas A. Foster – Renewal for Mission: A Concise History of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ

• Murch, James DeForest – Adventuring for Christ in Changing Times

• Warren, William Robinson – The Life and Labors of Archibald McLean