Baptist Mission Research Articles

Reclaiming Voices: We Sent Women First

“We sent women first” could well describe Australian Baptist mission history. Australian Baptist State associations were formed in the crucible of 19th-century history, shaped by divisive issues of their British Baptist heritage and the colonial influences as each pursued an independent identity. Mission work in Bengal, India, inspired by William Carey, the BMS and BZA traditions, was the common factor, and in the six independent Australian Baptist Missionary Societies, women were sent first, starting with two from South Australia in 1882. The first man (also from South Australia) joined eleven of these women for their first ‘Convention’ in 1888.

Baptist Mission in Nineteenth-Century Burma

With determination, zeal, and commitment, American Baptist missionaries arrived in Burma in 1813 and proselytized the ethnic Burman and the ethnic Karen. Whereas their mission efforts among the Burman ended in failure, they converted many Karen to Christianity. This article has explored why they failed among the Burman, but relatively succeeded among the Karen. The thesis of this essay is that American missionaries failed among the Burman, mostly because Buddhism already permeated Burman society for centuries, and that they Christianized many Karen, largely because they still practiced a cosmic religion.

History of Assamese Modern Song: from Birth Cry to Jyotiprasad

The journey of the Assamese modern song starts after the advent of the Baptist missionaries. The prime intention of it was to propagate Christianity among the people of Assam. Music as a medium of propagation was common in the past. The creations of Vaishnava saints of Assam were examples of it. Though the songs could not influence much, they became the root of Assamese modern songs. Rabindra Sangeet influenced the Assamese nobility, and the Assamese language was thought of as not suitable for modern songs. Taking it as a challenge, some Assamese writers like Benudhar Rajkhowa, Satyanath Bora, Lakshiram Baruah, and Kirtinath Bardoloi started writing songs, and the first book of the Assamese song "Geetawali" was published in the year 1888. Assamese modern songs at that time could not detach themselves from Assamese plays. Later, the Assamese modern song, in its infant age, was nurtured by Ambikagiri Raychudhury, Umesh Chandra Chaudhury, Kamalananda Bhattacharya, etc. Later, Jyotiprasad Agarwala shaped Assamese modern songs based on Assamese folk music, Hindustani Classical Music, and Western music. This paper attempts to trace the journey of the Assamese modern song from its origin to the creation of Jyotiprasad Agarwala.

Contested customs in the Naga hills: Baptist reformers, colonial ethnography and the construction of a modern Naga identity

ABSTRACT This paper directs attention to the Naga Hills, an outlying hill district in British India’s Northeast frontier, that became a site of conflict between the early Baptist converts and the non-converts over the nature and authority of customs which were recorded in the colonial archive as ‘Christians vs Ancients’. These conflicts produced two opposing discourses on ‘tribal’ customs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: the reformism of the American Baptist missionaries and the romanticism of the colonial anthropologists. However, the path of self-determination that the Nagas chose defied these established paradigms even as they fashioned a modern Naga political identity that appropriated strands of both colonial ethnography and Baptist Christianity. This article contends that the Christian-Ancients conflicts are significant not only for understanding the ideological underpinnings of Naga ethnonationalism but also for providing a historical intervention into contemporary debates on Naga customary law.

G.Kanato Chophy: Christianity and Politics in Tribal India: Baptist Missionaries and Naga Nationalism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2021; pp. xviii + 460.

G.Kanato Chophy: Christianity and Politics in Tribal India: Baptist Missionaries and Naga Nationalism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2021; pp. xviii + 460.

"It is an experience which never lacks interest": John Paton Davies' Letters from Postwar Moscow

John Paton Davies Jr. was born in China in 1908 into a family of American Baptist missionaries. Throughout his life he had the warmest relationship with his parents. Davies received his education in the United States and China, graduated from Columbia University in 1931 and immediately entered the diplomatic careers. In 1933, after a short-time service as a Vice-Consul in Windsor, Ontario, he was sent to China and remained there until 1940. In August 1942, John Davies married Patricia Louise Grady (1920–2000), daughter of American diplomat Henry F. Grady (1882–1957), for love. Patricia played a significant part in Davies’ work and was known as a well-educated, keenly observant, and broad-minded person.

General Baptist Women in Orissa, India: Initiatives in Female Education, 1860s–1880s

This article looks at the General Baptist mission in Orissa, India, from the 1860s to the 1880s, with particular reference to the way women who served within the mission fulfilled a role in teaching and encouraging girls and women, especially by setting up schooling. The challenges of a time of desperate famine, with many orphans being cared for, are examined. The General Baptist mission worked with other bodies, notably and crucially with the interdenominational Female Education Society. A major aim was that, through the work of the female teachers, local teachers would be equipped. The argument here is that there was integrity in what was performed, and thus, this article offers an alternative to interpretations that dismiss the validity of the mission endeavours. The Orissa mission continued on beyond the 1880s, with wider fellowship eventually happening through the Church of North India. This study does not go beyond the 1880s as that would introduce a new phase with the amalgamation in 1891 of the General and Particular Baptists and their overseas missionary societies.

Selecting ‘History’: Baptist Mission in Nineteenth Century Naga Hills

The article traces the efforts made by the American Baptist missionaries in the nineteenth century to connect with the local communities of the Naga Hills. The success of the mission has been credited to the mission’s successful use of terminologies drawn from local oral traditions in translating the Bible. While the article builds upon this argument, it also shows that while missionaries turned to such traditions to find context and cultural relevance for their evangelism work or acquire legitimacy for their choices, for example, in the form of selecting the print language for the ‘tribes’, in other instances oral tradition was branded rather as ‘doubtful stories’ and ‘strange legends’. Within this context, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw the systematic attack and dismantling of local social and cultural practices sustained by the locals’ oral tradition.

Comparison of Discipleship Attitudes and Practices among Members of the Baptist Missionary Association of America between 2010 and 2023

This article reports the findings and analysis of data collected in a 2010 research study by comparing them with data collected in a replicated study conducted in 2023. Both surveys produced descriptive data from a membership sampling of churches affiliated with the Baptist Missionary Association of America (BMAA) regarding members’ attitudes and practices of discipleship. Leadership of the BMAA responded to findings of the 2010 study by introducing a formal discipleship strategy (DiscipleWay) in hopes that it would increase members’ practice of discipleship. The replicated study in 2023 was conducted to determine if members’ attitudes and practices changed between 2010 and 2023. Analysis of the 2023 data revealed two negative conclusions of the 2010 survey was less true based on the 2023 responses. Two other conclusions of the 2010 survey were not challenged. Implications for practitioners and educators are discussed in the article.

Implication of Religious Syncretism on Baptist Mission Work in Ojo Island, Lagos State Nigeria

Baptist is one of the denominations and mission agencies that have been doing mission work in Ojo Island for several decades now. However, the mission work in Ojo Island is not without challenges such as poverty, cultural affiliation and idolatry, but this study focuses on religious syncretism. Therefore, the study investigated factors responsible for religious syncretism in Ojo Island, Lagos State, Nigeria with a view to identify ways of strengthening the Baptist mission work. The framework for the study was premised on theology of mission, which underscores that mission found its basis in God’s love and redemptive plan through Jesus. Descriptive survey design was adopted while questionnaires were administered to two hundred and twenty-three (223) members of the selected Baptist churches using the purposive random sampling method. The data generated was analysed through frequency count, bar chart and pie chart. Factors responsible for religious syncretism on the Baptist mission in Ojo Island include: assumption that all religious traditions are relative and complimentary, community background and economic life, seeking for rescue in a time of crisis and insecurity, family ties and brotherhood relationship. All these constitute a serious challenge and setback for the Baptist mission efforts in Ojo Island. The study recommends contextual biblical preaching, discipleship, power evangelism, and social actions such as regular medical mission and vocational training as means of strengthen the Baptist mission work in Ojo Island.

Portrayal of the Matuas in the Christian Missionary Writings

The paper exposes the socio-economic condition of the early 20th-century Matua community of Bangladesh. It unfolds how the Matuas strived for elevation to the mainstream of national life. They desired for upliftment by securing their rightful and logical position in the broader arena dismantling untouchability and social exclusion imposed on them. They took education as the most suitable medium to make them worthy for every sphere of life. It tells the Australian Baptist missionaries’ outlook on the Matuas and their remarks on the Matuas’ uplifting activities as well as the Matuas’ gradually changing views on life and society. It reflects why the missionaries came to Orakandi. Every single issue of the community has been presented on the basis of the experiences of four missionaries who worked among the Matuas and/or collected a vast knowledge on this once despised backward class of people. Among the four missionaries, three are from the 20th century, and the rest one is from the 21st century and their four relevant books have been selected for this study. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Hum.), Vol. 68(2), 2023, pp. 241-261

“To Seek a Nobler Inheritance”: The Namasudra-Baptist Exchange of Early Twentieth-Century Bengal

Abstract This article presents a study of the dynamics that evolved between Dalits and Baptist missionaries in eastern India during the early years of the twentieth century. Drawing on hitherto unexamined Baptist publications, it attempts to discern what was at stake in their engagements through a close analysis of the exchanges that ensued between the two parties that, despite their extended unfolding, nonetheless resulted in few conversions. Proceeding from a consideration of nineteenth-century precedents, the article focuses on the period of their interactions that coincided with the Swadeshi movement in Bengal. It seeks to illustrate not only the considerable density of the collaborations they pursued but also to argue that their relationships contributed to the formation of a distinctive strand of liberalism. In so doing, the article invites reconsideration of the idea that subaltern consciousness was resistant to Western, and specifically missionary, influence.

Ikogosi Warm Spring: History, Regional Development, and Community Engagement in Natural Heritage Conservation

The research studied community engagement in conservation and the consequent regional development of the Ikogosi Warm Spring in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The research adopted an interpretivist philosophy. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistical parameters and a descriptive survey method. Findings from the research show that the exact date of the discovery of the spring is not known, although quite a large number attribute the discovery of the spring to the Baptist Mission around 1952. Findings also show that there was more community engagement in harnessing and conserving the spring when the Baptist Mission was in charge of it. The research also shows that the Ikogosi community has experienced development because of the presence of the spring. Recommendations were made to allocate a quota for the employment of people from the community in the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort; document the history of the Spring in order to preserve the knowledge for generations; and conduct a sensitization campaign to enlighten the community on the importance of conserving the spring.

Book review: G. Kanato Chophy. 2021. Christianity and Politics in Tribal India: Baptist Missionaries and Naga Nationalism

Book review: G. Kanato Chophy. 2021. Christianity and Politics in Tribal India: Baptist Missionaries and Naga Nationalism

Seeger Lecture, Society for Ethnomusicology Virtual Meeting 2021

Seeger Lecture, Society for Ethnomusicology Virtual Meeting 2021

On the Origins of the Récades of the Kings of Dahomey

On the Origins of the <i>Récades</i> of the Kings of Dahomey

When God Calls: Temporality in Southern Baptist Calls to Missions

Researchers studying religious experience have identified callings as a particularly salient context in which believers describe God’s presence. They have noted standard elements that make up call narratives, along with variation in how recipients articulate both the vertical call, God’s intervention in the believer’s life, and the horizontal call, the community’s response. However, how these standard elements are combined to produce culturally resonant narratives remains underexplored. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Southern Baptist missionaries, the paper describes how arbiters evaluate calls. In (de)legitimating prospective missionaries’ vocational claims, local pastors and administrative staff prospectively anticipate missionaries’ success and tether the call to missionaries’ prior experience. Turning to how missionaries construct call narratives, I identify two distinct modes of narrating one’s calling. I further argue that call narratives’ temporal organization offers a lens through which to explain variation in how missionaries characterize both the horizontal and vertical call. Missionaries marshal their experiences of God’s intervention and of social influence either to accentuate the connectedness of their call to previous experience or to articulate a disjuncture. The findings extend previous research on religious experience by suggesting that temporal claims-making is a key strategy for actors to legitimate private or otherwise unverifiable experience.

“Ghosts of Missionaries”

Abstract From the late 1980s, foreign—primarily American—missionaries started to travel to Ukraine in large numbers. This article is concerned with the impact of American Baptist missionaries and how their influence was perceived locally in 2016, the time of my fieldwork. When I set out to conduct my fieldwork research among Baptist believers in Lviv, I was surprised that local believers denied the impact of foreign missionaries on their communities and worship style. Moreover, many local Baptist churchgoers I met claimed they had never encountered an American missionary and insisted that foreign missionaries had not played any significant role in the development and transformation of Ukrainian Baptism. In this article, I present the data from the fieldwork and analyze the Ukrainian Baptists’ reasons for minimizing the influence through the perspective of religioscapes, and glocalization as the dialectic process between homogeneity and heterogeneity.

Making Sense of the Missionary Life of Adele Fielde, Woman of Religious Belief, Science, and Activism

This paper proposes a new narrative of the life of nineteenth-century American Baptist missionary, activist, and scientist Adele Fielde. In the common historical narrative, her separation from the American Baptist Missionary Union (ABMU) after over twenty years of mission service in Siam and China marks her shift towards careers devoid of religious beliefs, in suffrage, activism, and science. Rather than perpetuating this deconversion narrative, I propose that she demonstrated continuity in her beliefs and interests, exercised through diverse careers and starting as a missionary. By looking to biographical accounts by her friends, colleagues, and later historians alongside her writing and life, I highlight her unorthodox Christian beliefs that motivated not only her missionary life but her later careers in science and activism in the US. Reframing Fielde’s life in this way offers a more realistic model of the intertwined beliefs and motivations of female missionaries, activists, and scientists in the nineteenth century.

Between End and Means

Timothy Richard spent over forty years in China as a member of the English Baptist Missionary Society. His career has yet to be critically examined as a whole. This article focuses on an interregnum in its long span that Richard called “years of trial and suspense” (1886–1891), during which he clashed with his colleagues in Shanxi province over mission goals and methods. He insisted, for instance, that China’s “complete salvation” must consist of both soul and body. Despite the dual emphasis, however, in practice, he shifted more and more attention to matters of the body, that is, the needs of this life on earth. Herein lay the tensions of his approach. Ever mindful of the evangelical imperative, he distanced himself nonetheless from basic missionary activities like street-chapel preaching and sought to cultivate ties with the “upper classes” and utilize education and literature (translated and original) as tools for China’s “uplifting.” His message, audience, and method intersected a growing Chinese demand for change and rendered him relevant to the late Qing discourse of reform. As a pointer for future research, it is suggested that more Chinese sources are needed to illuminate and corroborate Richard’s account of his China experiences. Also, his cultural role will be better understood in a comparative context alongside the work of other Protestant figures.