The China Mission Board, one of the predecessor boards of the Board of Foreign Missions, adopted revised rules for a Patron and Protégé Department in September, 1922. Patrons were persons or organizations that paid at least part of the support of a protégé, who was either a native worker or student. This department was initially part of the portfolio of the Rev. Fred Wyman, field secretary of the China Mission Board, and was continued under his direction for the new Board of Foreign Missions which was organized in 1923. A similar program had been used by the Home Missions Board to fund missions in the United States.
The Secretary of Patron and Protégé was to do all assigning of protégés to patrons and these patrons were given the names of their protégés upon request. If patrons did not fulfill their pledges, protégés were re-assigned. Protégés in India were assigned by the Board of Foreign Missions of the United Lutheran Church in America. There are no records indicating whether any part of the program was continued after 1947. Ms. Ellen Wyman, the daughter of the Rev. Fred Wyman, who had been the Administrator of the program, resigned in April, 1947.
From the description of Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America. : Board of Foreign Missions. Patron and Protégé Department 1922-1947. (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Library). WorldCat record id: 48112915
