London Missionary Society

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The London Missionary Society (LMS) was a Christian non-denominational missionary society in Great Britain. Today she is part of the worldwide Council for World Mission (CWM), a worldwide association of Christian churches for the purpose of mission .

history

The London Missionary Society was founded in London on September 21, 1795, initially under the name "The Missionary Society" with the intention of uniting Christians of all denominations for service in missions. The inaugural meeting was held at the Castle and Falcon Hotel on Aldersgate Street with the participation of a large number of clergy and lay people. The leadership was in the hands of John Love and William Shrubsole, both of whom were authorized by the assembly to lead the secretariat.

Although inspired by an idea of William Carey , the founder of the "Baptist Missionary Society", the LMS was from the beginning not a mission society determined purely by a specific belief. Both Presbyterians , Anglicans and Congregationalists were from the beginning to the circle of supporters and missionaries. The non-denominational character of the LMS was characterized by the "Fundamental Principle" written in 1796. This expresses the fact that the mission should not serve to spread “ Presbyterianism , independentism , episcopalism or any other form of ecclesiastical organization”, but only to spread the “glorious gospel of the blessed God” (English: “the glorious Gospel of the Blessed God ”). The agreement can be seen as the first sign of the emerging ecumenical movement in Europe and America at the end of the 18th century. However, both the Church of England and the Presbyterian Church soon created their own missionary structures, so that the LMS received little support from these churches from then on.

The first LMS missionaries left for the South Pacific in 1797 . A total of 13 men, five women and two children set up mission stations in Tahiti , Tonga and Marquesas .

In 1799 the first LMS missionaries began their work at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, later in what is now Botswana and Zimbabwe . The LMS missionaries in Africa included John Philip and David Livingstone , who tried to defend indigenous interests against the claims of the settlers. Among the participants in the Livingstone expedition, inspired by his ideas, were a. the young missionaries James Stewart and Elizabeth Waterston .

The European settlement of the territory of Namibia developed from stations of the LMS, which had been established along the Orange River . Its first activities north of the river have been documented since 1807; the first stations were in Warmbad and Blydeverwacht .

In Guyana and the Caribbean , LMS missionaries were involved in the fight against slavery . In China , the LMS became one of the largest missions. The work of the LMS in China was reflected in fiction in Stephan Thome's novel God of the Barbarians (Berlin 2018). In the 19th century, at the time of its greatest engagement, the LMS employed around 250 missionaries.

In 1966 the LMS became part of the Congregational Council for World Mission , which in turn became the Council for World Mission (CWM) in 1977 .

literature

  • Tom Hiney: On the Missionary Trail - a Journey through Polynesia, Asia, and Africa with the London Missionary Society . Atlantic Monthly Press, Boston, 2000, ISBN 0-87113-823-9 .

Web links

Commons : London Missionary Society  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Brian Stanley: London Missionary Society . In: Hans Dieter Betz u. a. (Ed.): Religion in the past and present . Concise dictionary for theology and religious studies. 4th edition. tape 8 , no. 5 . UTB, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8252-8401-5 , p. 513 , col. 1 .
  2. ^ Robert HW Shepherd: Lovedale. South Africa. The Story of a Century 1841-1941 . The Lovedale Press, Lovedale 1940, p. 2
  3. ↑ a b c J. Gordon Melton: London Missionary Society . In: Encyclopedia of World Religions . Encyclopedia of Protestantism, No. 6 . Facts of File, New York 2005, ISBN 0-8160-5456-8 , pp. 349 (English).
  4. ^ André du Pisani : SWA / Namibia: The Politics of Continuity and Change . Johannesburg, 1986, p. 14