Three Centuries of Mission: The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 1701-2000

Description

A new and expansive official history of the USPG commissioned to mark the tercentenary in 2001. The first half tells a compelling global story from the mission to the Americas in the 18th century, through the North China Mission in the late 19th century to todayis Social Development Programme in Bangladesh. There is a particular focus on the post-1945 period of decolonisation, development and dialogue with other religions. The second half is a collection of essays that give a wide range of themes and perspectives from a history of missionary wives by Deborah Kirkwood to a discussion of the evolving role of the church in Zambia by Musonda Mwamba.

The Reverend Dr. Daniel O'Connor is Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He is now retired after a career in the Church and in teaching. He is a former lecturer at St Stephen's, Delhi University, India.

"Britain's oldest missionary society, the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel celebrates its three-hundredth birthday this year. This beautifully illustrated history is a worthy birthday present."--Theology, Sept/Oct 2001 Reviewed in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research Highlights: "Not to be pigeonholed as an institutional history, this volume is a multi-layered essay on the relationships of mission, Western empires, and American, African, and Asian Christianity....[a] masterly account...a thought-provoking study...Anyone seriously interested in the missionary movement from the West should explore it." "'Buy one, get one free' applies to this exciting book of mission history as well as to supermarket offers. Daniel O'Connor's amazing two-year project of reshaping and updating the 300-year history of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (part 1) is complemented by 14 perceptive essays by international scholars from various geographical and topical perspectives (part 2). The shape of the book thus combines the 'modern' advantages of one creative mind...with the 'postmodern' diversity of various authors".--Yes (Church Mission Society Magazine) April-June 2001 "This exceedingly well-planned and well-written book provides fascinating accounts of how the first specifically mission organization of the Church of England responsed to the dual task of serving white colonialists in the British Empire as well as forming missions among the indigenous peoples of America, Australia, Africa, South Asia, and beyond." --James A. Bergquist, Missiology: An International Review, April 2002