The
London Missionary Society was a non-denominational
missionary society formed in England
in 1795 by
evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with
missions in the islands of the South Pacific
and Africa. It now forms part of the
Council for World Mission
(CWM).
Origins
Proposals
for the Missionary Society began in 1794 after a Baptist minister, John Ryland, received word from
William Carey, the
pioneer British Baptist missionary who had recently moved to
Calcutta
, about the
need to spread Christianity.
Carey suggested that Ryland join forces with others along the
non-denominational lines of the Anti-
Slavery
Society to design a society that could prevail against the
difficulties that
evangelists often
faced when spreading the Word. This aimed to overcome the
difficulties that establishment of overseas missions had faced. It
had frequently proved hard to raise the finance because
evangelists belonged to many different
denominations and churches; all too often their missions would only
reach a small group of people and be hard to sustain.
The society aimed to be more successful by creating a forum where
evangelists could work together, giving overseas missions more
lines of financial support and better co-ordination, including firm
support against their fierce opponents who wanted unrestricted
commercial and military relations with native peoples throughout
the world. The aim was to enable longer-term, and more successful
missions to be established.
After Ryland showed Carey’s letter to H.O.
Wills, an active
anti-slavery campaigner in Bristol
, he quickly
gained support. Scottish
ministers in the London
area,
David Bogue and James Steven, as well as
other Evangelicals such as John Hey
joined forces to organize a new society. Bogue wrote an
appeal in the
Evangelical Magazine:
The Rev.
John Eyre of Hackney
, editor of
the Evangelical Magazine responded by inviting a leading
evangelical, the Cornishman, Rev. Thomas Haweis, to write a
response to Bogue's appeal. The Rev. Haweis, a man of great
influence, sided firmly with Bogue, and immediately identified two
donors, one of £500, and one of £100. From this start, a campaign
developed to raise money for the proposed society, and its first
meeting was organised at Baker’s Coffee House on Change Alley in
the City of London. Eighteen supporters showed up and helped agree
the aims of the proposed missionary society -
to spread the
knowledge of Christ among heathen and other unenlightened
nations. By
Christmas over thirty men
were committed to forming the society.
In the following year, 1795, Spa Fields Chapel was approached for
permission to preach a sermon to the various ministers and others
by now keenly associated with the plan to send missionaries abroad.
This was organised for Tuesday 22 September 1795, the host chapel
insisting that no collection for the proposed society must be made
during the founding event which would be more solemn, and formally
mark the origin of the
Missionary Society. Hundreds of
Evangelicals attended, and the newly
launched society quickly began receiving letters of financial
support, and interest from prospective missionaries.
Early days
Joseph Hardcastle of
Hatcham House, Deptford
became the
first Treasurer, and the Rev. John Eyre of Hackney
(editor of the Evangelical Magazine )
became the first Secretary to the Missionary Society -the latter
appointment providing it with an effective 'newspaper' to promote
its cause. The Missionary Society's board quickly began
interviewing prospective candidates, and soon afterwards, a
Captain Wilson offered to
sail the missionaries to their destination unpaid. The society was
able to afford a boat for the Captain to sail:
The Duff.
It could carry eighteen crew members and thirty missionaries.
Seven
months after the crew left port from the Woolwich
docks they
arrived in Tahiti
, where
seventeen missionaries departed. The missionaries were then
instructed to become friendly with the natives, build a mission
house for sleeping and worship, and learn the native language. The
missionaries faced unforeseen problems. The natives had firearms
and were anxious to gain possessions from the crew. The Tahitians
also had faced difficulties with diseases spread from the crews of
ships that had previously docked there. The natives saw this as
retribution from the gods, and they were very suspicious of the
crew.
Of
the seventeen missionaries that arrived in Tahiti, eight soon left
on the first British
ship to arrive in Tahiti.
When
The Duff returned to Britain it was immediately sent back
to Tahiti
with thirty
more missionaries. Unfortunately this journey was
disastrous. Captured by
French
privateers, the Duff was sold by its
captors. The expense of the journey cost
The Missionary
Society ten thousand
pounds,
which was initially devastating to the society.
Gradually it
recovered, however, and in 1807 was able to establish a mission in
China
under Robert Morrison.
The London Missionary Society
In 1818, the society was renamed
The London Missionary
Society.
In 1822,
John Philip was
appointed superintendent of the London Missionary Society stations
in South Africa where he fought for the rights of the indigenous
people.
1830
John Williams sighted the
coast of Savai'i
in Samoa
and landed
on August 24, 1830 at Sapapali'i in search of Malietoa Vai‘inupo, the paramount royal
chief. John Williams was greeted by his brother Taimalelagi.
Upon meeting Malietoa at a large gathering in Sapapali'i, the LMS
mission was accepted and grew rapidly throughout the Samoan
Islands. The kingdom of Manu'a also became a LMS island
kingdom.
1832 John
Williams landed at Leone Bay in what was later to become American
Samoa
. (Tala faasolopito o le Ekalesia Samoa) He
was informed that men of their village have accepted the 'lotu'
brought by a Ioane Viliamu in Savai'i; not knowing John Williams
now stood before them. A monument stands before the large beautiful
Siona Chapel - now CCCAS in Leone, American Samoa; in honor of John
Williams, the Apostle of the Pacific.
In 1839, John Williams missionary work whilst visiting the New
Hebrides came to an abrupt end, when he was killed and eaten by
cannibals on the island of Erromango whilst he was attempting to
convey to them the blessings he brought. He was traveling at the
time in the Missionary ship Camden commanded by
Captain Robert Clark
Morgan .
A memorial stone was erected on the island
of Rarotonga
in 1839 and is still there today.
His widow
is buried with their son, Samuel Tamatoa Williams, at the old Cedar
Circle in London's Abney Park Cemetery
, the name of her husband and the sad record of his
death described first on the modest stone. John Williams'
remains were sought by a group from Samoa and his bones were
brought back to Samoa, where throngs of the LMS mission attended a
funeral service attended by Samoan royalty, high ranking chiefs and
the LMS missionaries. His remains were interred at the native LMS
church in Apia. A monument stands in his memory across the from the
Congregational Christian Church of Apia chapel.
1844
London Missionary Society established Malua Theological College on
Upolu
to educate local men to become village clergy for
the rapidly growing mission with over 250 villages and 25,000
membership.
1844
London Missionary Society sent Samoan missionaries to surrounding
islands; Rotuma, Niue
, Tokelau,
Tuvalu, Ellis, Papua, Vanuatu. Over 300 served in Papua
alone.
Despite such difficulties, the society prevailed and would soon
send missionaries all over the world, notably to India, China,
Australia, Madagascar and Africa. Famous LMS missionaries included
Robert Morrison
(1782-1834) who went to China in 1807, the sinologist
James Legge (1815-1897), and
David Livingstone (1813–1873) who went to
South Africa in 1840.
The society eventually disbanded, but not until the late 1970s. The
LMS missionaries had a huge influence on the spread of their
largely non-denominational approach to Christianity, throughout the
world.
Merger
The London Missionary Society merged with the
Commonwealth Missionary
Society (formerly the
Colonial Missionary Society) in
1966 to form the
Congregational Council
for World Mission (CCWM). At the formation of the
United Reformed Church in 1972 it
underwent another name change, becoming the
Council
for World Mission . The CWM (Congregational and Reformed) was
again restructured in 1977 to create a more internationalist and
global body, the
Council for
World Mission.
The records of the London Missionary Society are held at the
library of the
School of Oriental and African Studies in
London.
See also
Examples of Publications Funded
- Rev. C.W Abel, 'Savage Life in New Guine'
- Rev. George Pratt, 'A Grammar and Dictionary of the Samoan
Language'
References
- Ellis, William (1844), 'History of the London Missionary
Society', London: John Snow
- Lovett, Richard (1899), 'History of the London Missionary
Society 1795-1895', London: Henry Frowde
- Goodall, Norman (1954), 'History of the London Missionary
Society 1895-1945', London: O.U.P.
- Hiney, Thomas (2000), 'On the Missionary Trail', New York:
Atlantic Monthly Press
- Chamberlain, David (1924), 'Smith of Demerara', London:
Simpkin, Marshall &co
- Northcott, Cecil (1945), 'Glorious Company; 150 Years Life and
Work of the London Missionary Society 1795-1945',
London:Livingstone Press
- The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle
- Spa Fields Chapel Minutes, British History Online:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=38774
External links