American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions

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Proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World Ministries.

The founding of the ABCFM is associated with the Second Great Awakening. Congregationalist in origin, the American Board supported missions by Presbyterian (1812-1870), Dutch-Reformed (1826-1857) and other denominational members.

Jeremiah Evarts served as its treasurer from 1812-1820 and as its Corresponding Secretary from 1821 until his death in 1831. Under his leadership, the board in 1821 sent the first unmarried female missionaries to the Indians, Ellen Stetson, and the first unmarried female overseas missionary, Betsey Stockton.^[1]

It sent its first group of five missionaries in 1812. It became the leading missionary society in the United States.

By the 1830s, it prohibited unmarried people from entering the mission field. They required couples to be engaged at least two months prior to setting sail. To help the missionaries find wives, they maintained a list of women that were "missionary-minded", "young, pious, educated, fit and reasonably good-looking."^[2]

Many of the historical records of the ABCFM are held at Harvard University.

Contents 1 ABCFM Sponsored Missionaries 2 See also 3 External links 4 References

[edit] ABCFM Sponsored Missionaries

• Hiram Bingham I (1789 - 1869)
• Rev. Dr. Sidney Lewis Gulick (April 10, 1860-December 20, 1945)
• Adoniram Judson (August 9, 1788–April 12, 1850)
• Betsey Stockton (About 1798–October 24, 1865)
• Marcus Whitman (September 4, 1802–November 29, 1847)

[edit] See also

• History of Christian missions

[edit] External links

• Yale Library note
• Ricci Institute page on the ABCFM in China
• Bilkent University ABCFM project

[edit] References

1. ^ Maxfield, Charles A. (1995). The Formation and Early History of the American Board of Commissioners For Foreign Missions. The 'Reflex Influence' of Missions: The Domestic Operations of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 1810-1850.. Retrieved on 2006-06-20.
2. ^ Rebecca Golossanov (Spring 2006). "Did You Know?". Christian History & Biography 90: 3.

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