Church Missionary Society.

The Church Missionary Society was founded in 1799 by a small group of laymen and clergy of the Church of England. It was originally named the Society for Missions to Africa and the East. Its purpose was to enable the Church to send missionaries to Africa and other heathen areas. Henry M. Stanley, following his discovery of the missionary explorer, David Livingstone, was instrumental in opening the Uganda Mission. His famous letter, published in the Daily Telegraph in 1875, prompted a contribution of £5,000 and a group of eight men to sail for missionary service the following year.

From the description of Records of the Church Missionary Society Uganda Mission, 1910-1934 (inclusive) [microform]. (Yale University). WorldCat record id: 122555595

Church Missionary Society: the CMS for Africa and the East wsa founded in London in 1799 by a group of Anglican evangelicals. The New Zealand mission began in 1814 and the Australian mission in 1825, due to the efforts of the Rev. Samuel Marsden. The New Zealand mission was known as the Australasian Mission until 1841, when the parent English Society's work in Australia ceased. Australian Joint Copying Project: state libraries in Europe, Australia, New South Wales, New Zealand, the Pacific, South East Asia and Antarctica joined in an effort to microfilm material relating to Australia.

From the description of Church Missionary Society Archives: Australian Joint Copying Project, 1808-1880 (inclusive) [microform]. (Yale University). WorldCat record id: 81161039

The Church Missionary Society was formed at a public meeting at the Castle and Falcon Inn, Aldersgate, London on April 12, 1799, in response to the revival in the Church of England, the desire to spread the gospel and the infamy of slavery. It was called the Society for Missions to Africa and the East, renamed in 1812 the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East. However, since the Archbishop of Canterbury and other leaders in the Church of England saw no need for another missionary society, formal approval for the Society was not given until 1815. The first missionaries, German Lutherans, sailed for Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1804; however, no English missionaries sailed until 1815, a schoolmaster to Sierra Leone and three clergymen to North India and South India and Malta. As the number of men needing training for missionary service increased, the Society opened its own training college, the Church Missionary Institution, at Islington in 1825. There was no training for women until the 1890s, either at The Willows or the Highbury Training Home, where 388 women had been trained for service by the turn of the century. The first women missionaries were sent to East Africa and Palestine. Despite some interruption and moving during the world wars, the CMS remained committed to providing training for their missionaries, eventually amalgamating the men's and women's colleges in 1969 at Crowther Hall, Selly Oak. Prayer and financial support was solicited locally at first, then through preaching tours and public meetings. Potential missionaries were recruited by this means as well. The CMS has grown into one of the largest and most influential missionary societies in the world.

From the description of Church Missionary Society Archive [microform]. (Yale University). WorldCat record id: 145040548

From the guide to the Church Missionary Society Archive [microform]., (Yale University Divinity School Library)

In the late 18th century, the Church of England did not have a body to organise and effect its missionary activity and there became a growing realisation that there was scope for a society to evangelise the indigenous people. In 1799, a group of Evangelical clergymen and laymen (all members of the Eclectic Society, an Anglican discussion society) met at the Castle and Falcon Inn in Aldersgate in the City of London and the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East was formed. At that meeting, John Venn, rector of Clapham (and a member of the Clapham sect) laid down the guidelines which the CMS continues to follow. The basis was that the society should be loyal to the leadership of bishops and to the Anglican pattern of liturgy but that it was not to be dominated by clergy. It emphasised the role of laymen and laywomen and was and is primarily a membership society comprising its missionaries, its supporters and its staff at headquarters.

The Church Missionary Society (now renamed as the Church Mission Society) is administered by its committees and each Secretary to a main committee is in charge of a department at headquarters. The General Committee (now the General Council) is the most important and is responsible for overall policy and all CMS members are represented on the General Committee. The main departments at headquarters included the General Secretary's Department, the Finance Department (both in existence from the foundation of the Society), the Medical Department (set up in 1891), the Candidates Department (set up in 1897) and the Home Department (set up in 1871). Initially the Society had no designated offices but in 1813 it rented premises in Salisbury Square which had expanded by the end of the 19th century to house a large headquarters with a complex administration and numerous staff working under eleven Secretaries. The Society moved from the City of London in 1966 to its current premises in Waterloo Road.

The overseas mission work of the CMS began in Sierra Leone in 1804 but spread rapidly to India, Canada, New Zealand and the area around the Mediterranean. Its main areas of work in Africa have been in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Sudan; in Asia, the CMS's involvement has principally been in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China and Japan; and in the Middle East, it has worked in Palestine, Jordan, Iran and Egypt. It has also worked extensively in New Zealand (1809-1914) and Canada (1822-1930), with smaller missions in Abyssinia (1830-1842), Asia Minor (Smyrna) (1830-1877), Greece (1830-1875), Madagascar (1863-1874), Malta (1815-1843), Mauritius (1856-1929), Seychelles (1871-1894), South Africa (1840-1843), Turkey (1819-1821), Turkish Arabia (Baghdad, 1883-1919 and Mosul, 1900-1919), and the West Indies (1819-1861). All overseas mission work was administered by the Committee of Correspondence up to 1880. In 1880, the system of mission administration was revised and the mission field was divided into three geographical areas under three Group Sub-Committees and from 1935 the missions were administered by the Africa and Asia Committees.

Reference: Rosemary Keen, 'The Church Missionary Society Archives: or thirty years work in the basement' Catholic Archives (Volume 1). ; Church Missionary Society Archive. General Guide and Introduction to the Archive. A Guide to the Microfilm Collection (Adam Matthew Publications, 1998). ; Henry S. Cobb, 'The archives of the Church Missionary Society' Archives (Volume II, No. 14, 1955).

From the guide to the Church Missionary Society Unofficial Papers, 1619-1977 (predominantly 1800-1950), (University of Birmingham Information Services, Special Collections Department)

In the late 18th century, the Church of England did not have a body to organise and effect its missionary activity and there became a growing realisation that there was scope for a society to evangelise the indigenous people. In 1799, a group of Evangelical clergymen and laymen (all members of the Eclectic Society, an Anglican discussion society) met at the Castle and Falcon Inn in Aldersgate in the City of London and the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East was formed. At that meeting, John Venn, rector of Clapham (and a member of the Clapham sect) laid down the guidelines which the CMS continues to follow. The basis was that the society should be loyal to the leadership of bishops and to the Anglican pattern of liturgy but that it was not to be dominated by clergy. It emphasised the role of laymen and laywomen and was and is primarily a membership society comprising its missionaries, its supporters and its staff at headquarters.

The Church Missionary Society (now renamed as the Church Mission Society) is administered by its committees and each Secretary to a main committee is in charge of a department at headquarters. The General Committee (now the General Council) is the most important and is responsible for overall policy and all CMS members are represented on the General Committee. The main departments at headquarters included the General Secretary's Department, the Finance Department (both in existence from the foundation of the Society), the Medical Department (set up in 1891), the Candidates Department (set up in 1897) and the Home Department (set up in 1871). Initially the Society had no designated offices but in 1813 it rented premises in Salisbury Square which had expanded by the end of the 19th century to house a large headquarters with a complex administration and numerous staff working under eleven Secretaries. The Society moved from the City of London in 1966 to its current premises in Waterloo Road.

The overseas mission work of the CMS began in Sierra Leone in 1804 but spread rapidly to India, Canada, New Zealand and the area around the Mediterranean. Its main areas of work in Africa have been in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Sudan; in Asia, the CMS's involvement has principally been in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China and Japan; and in the Middle East, it has worked in Palestine, Jordan, Iran and Egypt. It has also worked extensively in New Zealand (1809-1914) and Canada (1822-1930), with smaller missions in Abyssinia (1830-1842), Asia Minor (Smyrna) (1830-1877), Greece (1830-1875), Madagascar (1863-1874), Malta (1815-1843), Mauritius (1856-1929), Seychelles (1871-1894), South Africa (1840-1843), Turkey (1819-1821), Turkish Arabia (Baghdad, 1883-1919 and Mosul, 1900-1919), and the West Indies (1819-1861). All overseas mission work was administered by the Committee of Correspondence up to 1880. In 1880, the system of mission administration was revised and the mission field was divided into three geographical areas under three Group Sub-Committees and from 1935 the missions were administered by the Africa and Asia Committees.

Reference: Rosemary Keen, 'The Church Missionary Society Archives: or thirty years work in the basement' Catholic Archives (Volume 1). ; Church Missionary Society Archive. General Guide and Introduction to the Archive. A Guide to the Microfilm Collection (Adam Matthew Publications, 1998). ; Henry S. Cobb, 'The archives of the Church Missionary Society' Archives (Volume II, No. 14, 1955).

From the guide to the Church Missionary Society Archive, 1799-1959, (University of Birmingham Information Services, Special Collections Department)