American and Foreign Christian Union

American and Foreign Christian Union (AFCU) was organized in 1849 and strove "by Missions, Colportage, the Press, and other appropriate agencies, to diffuse and promote the principles of Religious Liberty, and a pure and Evangelical Christianity, both at home and abroad, wherever a corrupted Christianity exists." A chief target of these intentions was the Roman Catholic population of Europe, especially Italy, and South America. The Home Department oversaw the work within the United States, among the Spanish-Americans in Texas and the western European immigrant populations of New Orleans, Philadelphia, and New York state. The Foreign Department began work in Hungary, Russia and Canada, in addition to western Europe and South America.

The American and Foreign Christian Union (AFCU) was founded in 1849 as an interdenominational organization with the purpose of converting Roman Catholics to evangelical Protestantism. Headquartered in New York City, the AFCU was founded by the union of the American Protestant Society (1844-1849), the Christian Alliance (1842-1849), and the Foreign Evangelical Society (1839-1849). The AFCU employed domestic missionaries; supported individual missionary efforts and kindred societies in Europe, Canada, and South America; published a monthly journal, The Christian World (1850-1884). In 1884 the AFCU discontinued its active missionary work but continues to support the American Church in Paris.