Missionary Movements

C

New Fields

European missionaries greatly expanded their endeavors in the 19th century. As colonialism brought increased knowledge of Africa and Asia, European and British churches directed their attention to these areas. One of the best known of the 19th-century missionaries was the British physician David Livingstone.

In the U.S. the churches established in the colonial period adapted themselves to new independence. The evangelistic impetus of the revival period carried circuit riders to the frontiers. The China trade and the slave trade had introduced Americans to East Asia and Africa, and the churches sent workers to start schools and hospitals as well as to preach in these areas. Prominent in this work were such organizations as the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (founded 1810), the American Presbyterian boards (North, 1837; South, 1862), the Baptist Burmese Mission (1813), and the Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Society (1819). Denominational boards, the Salvation Army, other agencies, some of them related to the World Council of Churches, and individuals belonging to such mission-oriented groups as Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons continue the work started in this period.

D

Modern Mission Work

The social, political, and economic upheavals of the 20th century have affected all aspects of life. With the Russian Revolution and Soviet expansion, the Eastern Orthodox churches lost some of their influence. Despite official hostility to religion in the Soviet sphere, however, notable work was accomplished there by the Society of Friends, one of the few religious groups permitted to work. Through the American Friends Service Committee, Quakers have carried out social service programs in many other parts of the world as well. The development of communism in China ended missionary work in that country, and in many African countries the growth of nationalism has been accompanied by a tendency to identify Christianity with colonialism.

These events have brought a change in direction to the missions field. A new emphasis is being placed on Christian unity, rather than denominationalism, in mission activity. Nationals in the traditional missionary target areas, the developing countries, are being given responsible positions in their church organizations. Conversion is seen to be increasingly the task of national autonomous churches. A new evangelical movement, the Pentecostal movement, has become a force in world Protestantism.

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A trend away from evangelism in the 1960s was the result of other problems. Missionary movements around the world responded with service activities: in the inner cities, refugee camps, settlements, and children's villages. The work carried out by Americans in the U.S. was directed more and more toward health, welfare, and vocational and recreational services for migratory farm workers, Native Americans, Spanish-speaking minorities, and others. In the 1970s, however, emphasis on evangelism again increased.

III

Eastern Religions

Two of the major Eastern religions have active missionary programs. One, Buddhism, has long been a missionary religion; the other, Hinduism, has adopted a missionary approach only within the last 100 years.

A

Buddhism

In terms of numbers of adherents, Buddhism has been the most successful of the great missionary religions. In the 3rd century bc, it spread throughout the Indian subcontinent, largely through the encouragement of the Indian King Ashoka. He sent missions as far west as the Mediterranean, but they had little impact. Later missionaries had great success in Sri Lanka and, in the 1st century ad, in central Asia and China. Buddhism also spread through translations of its sacred writings. In the 4th century ad, monks carried their religion to many Southeast Asian countries, where it is today a principal religion, and to Korea. By the 6th century, it had spread from Korea into Japan, where it became the state religion and was a unifying influence in the country. Today Buddhism is a substantial, and in many areas predominating, influence through much of eastern Asia. Like Christianity, however, it has not survived as a significant religion in its country of origin. Buddhism maintains small missions in Europe and the United States and in other parts of the Western world.

B

Hinduism

An ancient Indian faith, Hinduism has within the past 100 years adopted a missionary outlook, and small missions are supported in numerous countries, including the U.S. These missions stress both mysticism and social action. Such groups as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and the Divine Light Mission became familiar in the U.S. in the mid-1970s. The first of these, the so-called Hare Krishnas, had established more than 60 centers in urban areas of North America by the early 1980s.

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