Church Mission Society
Encyclopedia
The Church Mission Society, also known as the Church Missionary Society, is a group of evangelistic societies working with the Anglican Communion
and Protestant Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted upwards of nine thousand men and women to serve as mission partners during its 200-year history.
and co-mission partners (workers jointly sent by CMS and another agency) serving in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The 2009-10 Annual Review also lists "Other people in mission : 78"; "Cross-cultural programme participants: 126" and "Projects financially supported: 114". This does not take into account work in Latin America, which came with the integration of CMS and the South American Mission Society on 1 February 2010. In 2009-10, CMS had a budget of £8 million, drawn primarily from donations by individuals and parish
es, supplemented by historic investments.
In June 2007, CMS in Britain moved the administrative office out of London for the first time. It is now based with the new Crowther Centre for Mission Education in east Oxford.
In 2008, CMS was acknowledged as a mission community by the Advisory Council on the Relations of Bishops and Religious Communities of the Church of England. It currently has approximately 2,500 members who commit to seven promises, aspiring to live a lifestyle shaped by mission.
The Church Mission Society Archive is housed at the University of Birmingham
Special Collections.
, supported by members of the Clapham Sect
, a group of activist evangelical Christians. Their number included Henry Thornton, Thomas Babington
and William Wilberforce
. Wilberforce was asked to be the first president of the Society, but he declined to take on this role, and became a vice president. The founding Secretary was the Rev. Thomas Scott
, the biblical commentator. He made way in 1803 for Josiah Pratt
who was Secretary for 21 years and an early driving force. The first missionaries - who came from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Württemberg
, and had trained at the Berlin Seminary - went out in 1804. In 1812 the Society was renamed The Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, and the first English clergy to work as the Society's missionaries went out in 1815.
From 1825 onward, the Society concentrated its Mediterranean resources on the Coptic Church and its daughter Ethiopian Church, which included the creation of a translation of the Bible in Amharic
at the instigation of William Jowett
, as well as the posting of two missionaries to Ethiopia
, Samuel Gobat
(later the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem) and Christian Kugler, who arrived in that country in 1827.
From 1813 to 1855 the Society published the Missionary Register; "containing an abstract of the principal missionary and bible societies throughout the world". From 1816, "containing the principal transactions of the various institutions for propagating the gospel with the proceedings at large of the Church Missionary Society".
direction under the leadership of Eugene Stock. There was considerable debate over the possible introduction of a doctrinal test for missionaries, which advocates claimed would restore the Society's original evangelical theology. In 1922, the Society split, with the liberal evangelicals remaining in control of CMS headquarters, whilst conservative evangelicals established the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society (BCMS, now Crosslinks
).
Significant General Secretaries of the Society later in the 20th century were Max Warren, and John Vernon Taylor
. The first woman president of the CMS, Diana Reader Harris
, was instrumental in persuading the CMS to back the 1980 Brandt Report
on bridging the North-South divide
. In the 1990s CMS appointed its first non-British General Secretary Michael Nazir-Ali
, who later became bishop of Rochester in the Church of England
, and its first women General Secretary Diana Witts. In 1991 CMS was instrumental in bringing together a number of Anglican, and later other Protestant mission agencies to form the international network of mission agencies Faith2Share.
At the end of the 20th century, there was a significant swing back to the Evangelical position, probably in part due to a review in 1999 at the anniversary and also due to the re-integration of Mid Africa Ministry (formerly the Ruanda Mission). The position of CMS is now that of an Ecumenical Evangelical Society
, heavily influenced by the Charismatic movement
.
The contribution made by the society in creating and maintaining educational institutions in Kerala
, the most literate state in India, is significant. Many colleges and schools in Kerala and Tamil Nadu still have CMS in their names. The CMS College in Kottayam
may be one of the pioneers in popularising higher education in India. (Former Indian President K. R. Narayanan
is an alumnus).
The British-based Church Missionary Society began operations in Sydney in 1825, with the intention of bringing the gospel to the aboriginal population. In 1830 the first missionaries arrived from England to establish a mission venture in Wellington Valley
. Three Aboriginal people were baptised before CMS discontinued the work in 1842. CMS Associations were set up around Australia, and the first CMS-sponsored Australian missionary, Helen Philips, sailed for Ceylon in 1888.
The organisation now known as CMS-Australia effectively dates from 1916, when the individual CMS associations in the Australian states were amalgamated into a national organisation. CMS had sent missionaries to many countries by this time, including China, India, Palestine and Iran, but by 1927 they had particular interest in North Australia and Tanganyika (now "Tanzania").
Today CMS-Australia is Australia's largest evangelical mission organisation with 160 missionaries serving in 33 countries worldwide.
The Church Missionary Society sent the first missionaries to settle in New Zealand
. Its agent the Rev. Samuel Marsden
performed the first full Christian service in that country on Christmas Day in 1814, at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands
. The CMS founded its first mission at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands in 1814, and over the next decade established farms and schools in the area. Thomas Kendall
, and William Hall were directed, in 1814, to proceed to the Bay of Islands, in the Active, a vessel purchased by Marsden for the service of the Mission, there to re-open communication with Ruatara
; the earlier attempt to establish a mission in the Bay of Islands had been delayed as a consequence of the Boyd massacre
in Whangaroa harbour in 1809. Kendall and Hall set out on 14 March 1814 on the Active on an exploratory journey to the Bay of Islands
. They met Rangatira
(chiefs) of the Ngapuhi
including Ruatara
and the rising war leader Hongi Hika
, Hongi Hika and Ruatara travelled with Kendall when he returned to Australia on 22 August 1814. Kendall, Hall and John King, arrived on the Active on 22 December 1814 to establish the mission.
In 1819, Marsden made his his second visit to New Zealand, bringing with him the Rev. John Butler; Francis Hall and James Kemp, as lay settlers. William Puckey came to assist in putting up the buildings Kerikeri
. Butler and Kemp were in charge of the Kerikeri
mission, however they were unable to develop an harmoneous working relationship. In 1820, Mr. Marsden paid his third visit, on H.M.S. Dromedary, bringing James Shepherd. In 1823, Mr. Marsden paid his fourth visit, bringing with him the Rev. Henry Williams
and his wife Marianne
and William Fairburn. In 1826 Henry's brother William
and his wife Jane
joined the CMS mission in New Zealand.
Members of the mission in the early years included:
The CMS Mission House
in Kerikeri
, completed in 1822, is New Zealand's oldest surviving building.
In the early days it funded its activities largely through trade; Thomas Kendall
, like many secular settlers, sold weapons to Māori, fuelling the Musket Wars
. Kendall also brought Māori war chief Hongi Hika
to London in 1820, creating a small sensation. When Henry Williams
became the leader of the missionaries at Paihia
in 1823, he immediately stopped the trade in muskets. The CMS established further missions in the Bay of Plenty, but converts were few until 1830, when the baptism of Ngapuhi
chief Taiwhanga influenced others to do the same.
In the 1830s the CMS expanded beyond the Bay of Islands, opening mission stations in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay. By 1840 missionaries William Williams
and Robert Maunsell had translated much of the New Testament into Māori. At this time concern about the European impact on New Zealand, particularly lawlessness
among Europeans and a breakdown in the traditional restraints in Māori society meant that the CMS welcomed the United Kingdom's annexation of New Zealand in January 1840. Its missionaries worked to persuade Maori chiefs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi
, a document intended to ratify the annexation.
The CMS was at its most influential in the 1840s and 1850s. Missions covered almost the whole of the North Island and many Māori were baptised. Although the missionaries were often supportive of Māori in their disputes with the Crown, they sided with the government in the New Zealand Wars in the 1840s and again in the 1860s. Negotiations for the CMS's withdrawal from New Zealand began in 1854, and only a handful of new missionaries were sent out after this. In 1892 the New Zealand branch of the Church Missionary Society was formed, and the first New Zealand missionaries were sent overseas soon after. Funding from the UK was completely cut off in 1903.
Today the NZCMS works closely with the Anglican Missions Board, concentrating on mission work outside New Zealand. In 2000 it amalgamated with the South American Missionary Society of New Zealand.
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
and Protestant Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted upwards of nine thousand men and women to serve as mission partners during its 200-year history.
The contemporary Society
On 31 January 2010 CMS had 151 mission partnersMissionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
and co-mission partners (workers jointly sent by CMS and another agency) serving in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The 2009-10 Annual Review also lists "Other people in mission : 78"; "Cross-cultural programme participants: 126" and "Projects financially supported: 114". This does not take into account work in Latin America, which came with the integration of CMS and the South American Mission Society on 1 February 2010. In 2009-10, CMS had a budget of £8 million, drawn primarily from donations by individuals and parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
es, supplemented by historic investments.
In June 2007, CMS in Britain moved the administrative office out of London for the first time. It is now based with the new Crowther Centre for Mission Education in east Oxford.
In 2008, CMS was acknowledged as a mission community by the Advisory Council on the Relations of Bishops and Religious Communities of the Church of England. It currently has approximately 2,500 members who commit to seven promises, aspiring to live a lifestyle shaped by mission.
The Church Mission Society Archive is housed at the University of Birmingham
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Birmingham Medical School and Mason Science College . Birmingham was the first Redbrick university to gain a charter and thus...
Special Collections.
Early history
The Society for Missions to Africa and the East (as it was first called) was founded on 12 April 1799 at a meeting of the Eclectic SocietyEclectic Society (Christian)
The Eclectic Society was founded in 1783 by a number of Anglican clergymen and laymen as a discussion group, and was instrumental in the founding of the Church Missionary Society in 1799.-Origins:...
, supported by members of the Clapham Sect
Clapham Sect
The Clapham Sect or Clapham Saints were a group of influential like-minded Church of England social reformers based in Clapham, London at the beginning of the 19th century...
, a group of activist evangelical Christians. Their number included Henry Thornton, Thomas Babington
Thomas Babington
Thomas Babington was an English philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, alongside more famous abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and Hannah More...
and William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
. Wilberforce was asked to be the first president of the Society, but he declined to take on this role, and became a vice president. The founding Secretary was the Rev. Thomas Scott
Thomas Scott (commentator)
The Rev. Thomas Scott was an influential preacher and author who is principally known for his best-selling work A Commentary On The Whole Bible and The Force of Truth, and as one of the founders of the Church Missionary Society.- Life :...
, the biblical commentator. He made way in 1803 for Josiah Pratt
Josiah Pratt
Josiah Pratt was an English evangelical clergyman, involved in publications and the administration of missionary work.-Life:The second son of Josiah Pratt, a Birmingham manufacturer, he was born in Birmingham on 21 December 1768. With his two younger brothers, Isaac and Henry, Josiah was educated...
who was Secretary for 21 years and an early driving force. The first missionaries - who came from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
, and had trained at the Berlin Seminary - went out in 1804. In 1812 the Society was renamed The Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East, and the first English clergy to work as the Society's missionaries went out in 1815.
From 1825 onward, the Society concentrated its Mediterranean resources on the Coptic Church and its daughter Ethiopian Church, which included the creation of a translation of the Bible in Amharic
Amharic language
Amharic is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide. Amharic is also the official or working...
at the instigation of William Jowett
William Jowett
William Jowett was a missionary and author, in 1813 becoming the first Anglican clergyman to volunteer for the overseas service of the Church Missionary Society...
, as well as the posting of two missionaries to Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Samuel Gobat
Samuel Gobat
Samuel Gobat , was a Swiss Lutheran who became an Anglican missionary in Africa and was the Protestant Bishop of Jerusalem from 1846 until his death....
(later the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem) and Christian Kugler, who arrived in that country in 1827.
From 1813 to 1855 the Society published the Missionary Register; "containing an abstract of the principal missionary and bible societies throughout the world". From 1816, "containing the principal transactions of the various institutions for propagating the gospel with the proceedings at large of the Church Missionary Society".
Twentieth century
During the early twentieth century, the Society's theology moved in a liberalLiberal Christianity
Liberal Christianity, sometimes called liberal theology, is an umbrella term covering diverse, philosophically and biblically informed religious movements and ideas within Christianity from the late 18th century and onward...
direction under the leadership of Eugene Stock. There was considerable debate over the possible introduction of a doctrinal test for missionaries, which advocates claimed would restore the Society's original evangelical theology. In 1922, the Society split, with the liberal evangelicals remaining in control of CMS headquarters, whilst conservative evangelicals established the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society (BCMS, now Crosslinks
Crosslinks
Crosslinks is an evangelical Anglican missionary society, drawing its support mainly from parishes in the Church of England and Church of Ireland. It was known as the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society until 1992-The Society's foundation:...
).
Significant General Secretaries of the Society later in the 20th century were Max Warren, and John Vernon Taylor
John Vernon Taylor
John Vernon Taylor was an English bishop and theologian.Taylor was educated at St Lawrence College, Trinity College, Cambridge, St Catherine's Society and Wycliffe Hall at Oxford, and the Institute of Education....
. The first woman president of the CMS, Diana Reader Harris
Diana Reader Harris
Dame Muriel Diana Reader Harris was an English educator, school principal and public figure.-Early life:...
, was instrumental in persuading the CMS to back the 1980 Brandt Report
Brandt Report
thumb|right|[[Willy Brandt]], the creator of the Brandt ReportThe Brandt Report is the report written by the Independent Commission, first chaired by Willy Brandt in 1980, to review international development issues...
on bridging the North-South divide
North-South divide
The north–south divide is a socio-economic and political division that exists between the wealthy developed countries, known collectively as "the north", and the poorer developing countries , or "the south." Although most nations comprising the "North" are in fact located in the Northern Hemisphere ,...
. In the 1990s CMS appointed its first non-British General Secretary Michael Nazir-Ali
Michael Nazir-Ali
Michael James Nazir-Ali was the 106th Bishop of Rochester in the Church of England: he retired in September 2009, taking up a position as director of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue...
, who later became bishop of Rochester in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, and its first women General Secretary Diana Witts. In 1991 CMS was instrumental in bringing together a number of Anglican, and later other Protestant mission agencies to form the international network of mission agencies Faith2Share.
At the end of the 20th century, there was a significant swing back to the Evangelical position, probably in part due to a review in 1999 at the anniversary and also due to the re-integration of Mid Africa Ministry (formerly the Ruanda Mission). The position of CMS is now that of an Ecumenical Evangelical Society
Religious order
A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practice. The order is composed of initiates and, in some...
, heavily influenced by the Charismatic movement
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
.
The contribution made by the society in creating and maintaining educational institutions in Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, the most literate state in India, is significant. Many colleges and schools in Kerala and Tamil Nadu still have CMS in their names. The CMS College in Kottayam
C. M. S. College
The CMS College is the first college in Kottayam, Kerala, India. It was started by the Church Missionary Society, England, in 1817 when no institution existed in the then-Travancore state to teach English. The Rev. Benjamin Bailey was the first principal of The College, COTTYM, as it was then...
may be one of the pioneers in popularising higher education in India. (Former Indian President K. R. Narayanan
K. R. Narayanan
Kocheril Raman Narayanan , also known as K. R. Narayanan, was the tenth President of India. He was the first Dalit, and the first Malayali, to have been President....
is an alumnus).
Church Missionary Society, Australia
CMS-Australia is committed to proclaiming the gospel and serving God's people around the world to see lives transformed by Christ.The British-based Church Missionary Society began operations in Sydney in 1825, with the intention of bringing the gospel to the aboriginal population. In 1830 the first missionaries arrived from England to establish a mission venture in Wellington Valley
Wellington Valley Mission
Wellington Valley Mission was a Church Missionary Society mission in Wellington Valley, New South Wales and one of the earliest to "Civilize and Christianize" Aboriginal people in Australia. It was founded in 1830 and closed 12 years later in 1842....
. Three Aboriginal people were baptised before CMS discontinued the work in 1842. CMS Associations were set up around Australia, and the first CMS-sponsored Australian missionary, Helen Philips, sailed for Ceylon in 1888.
The organisation now known as CMS-Australia effectively dates from 1916, when the individual CMS associations in the Australian states were amalgamated into a national organisation. CMS had sent missionaries to many countries by this time, including China, India, Palestine and Iran, but by 1927 they had particular interest in North Australia and Tanganyika (now "Tanzania").
Today CMS-Australia is Australia's largest evangelical mission organisation with 160 missionaries serving in 33 countries worldwide.
New Zealand Church Missionary Society
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Its agent the Rev. Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden
Samuel Marsden was an English born Anglican cleric and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand...
performed the first full Christian service in that country on Christmas Day in 1814, at Oihi Bay in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
. The CMS founded its first mission at Rangihoua in the Bay of Islands in 1814, and over the next decade established farms and schools in the area. Thomas Kendall
Thomas Kendall
Thomas Kendall was a New Zealand lapsed missionary, recorder of the Māori language, schoolmaster, arms dealer, and Pākehā Māori.-Early life: Lincolnshire and London, 1778-1813:...
, and William Hall were directed, in 1814, to proceed to the Bay of Islands, in the Active, a vessel purchased by Marsden for the service of the Mission, there to re-open communication with Ruatara
Ruatara
Ruatara is a genus of gastropod in the Charopidae family.It contains the following species:* Ruatara koarana* Ruatara oparica...
; the earlier attempt to establish a mission in the Bay of Islands had been delayed as a consequence of the Boyd massacre
Boyd massacre
The Boyd Massacre took place in 1809 when Māori residents of Whangaroa Harbour in northern New Zealand killed and ate between 66 and 70 people as revenge for the whipping of a young Māori chief by the crew of the sailing ship Boyd...
in Whangaroa harbour in 1809. Kendall and Hall set out on 14 March 1814 on the Active on an exploratory journey to the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
. They met Rangatira
Rangatira
Rangatira are the hereditary Māori leaders of hapū, and were described by ethnologists such as Elsdon Best as chieftains . Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that of other tribes...
(chiefs) of the Ngapuhi
Ngapuhi
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi located in the Northland region of New Zealand, and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whāngārei.Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any New Zealand iwi, with 122,214 people registered , and formed from 150 hapu, with 55 marae.-Foundations:The founding...
including Ruatara
Ruatara (chief)
Ruatara, was a chief of the Ngāpuhi iwi in New Zealand. He introduced European crops to New Zealand and was host to the first Christian missionary, Samuel Marsden....
and the rising war leader Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...
, Hongi Hika and Ruatara travelled with Kendall when he returned to Australia on 22 August 1814. Kendall, Hall and John King, arrived on the Active on 22 December 1814 to establish the mission.
In 1819, Marsden made his his second visit to New Zealand, bringing with him the Rev. John Butler; Francis Hall and James Kemp, as lay settlers. William Puckey came to assist in putting up the buildings Kerikeri
Kerikeri
Kerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
. Butler and Kemp were in charge of the Kerikeri
Kerikeri
Kerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
mission, however they were unable to develop an harmoneous working relationship. In 1820, Mr. Marsden paid his third visit, on H.M.S. Dromedary, bringing James Shepherd. In 1823, Mr. Marsden paid his fourth visit, bringing with him the Rev. Henry Williams
Henry Williams (missionary)
Henry Williams was one of the first missionaries who went to New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century....
and his wife Marianne
Marianne Williams
Marianne Williams together with her sister-in-law Jane Williams were pioneering educators in New Zealand. They set up the first schools for Māori children and adults as well as educating the children of the Church Missionary Society in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand...
and William Fairburn. In 1826 Henry's brother William
William Williams (bishop)
William Williams was the first Anglican Bishop of Waiapu and the father and grandfather of two others. He led the CMS missionaries in the translation of the Bible into Māori and he published an early dictionary and grammar of the Māori language.-Early life:Williams was born in Nottingham to Thomas...
and his wife Jane
Jane Williams (missionary)
Jane Williams née Jane Nelson , was a pioneering educator in New Zealand. Together with her sister-in-law Marianne Williams and others she set up the first schools for Māori children and adults...
joined the CMS mission in New Zealand.
Members of the mission in the early years included:
- Benjamin Y. Ashwell, arrived in 1835, and worked at Otawhao from 1839.
- Rev. Charles BakerCharles BakerCharles Baker or Charlie Baker may refer to:*Charles Baker , executed English Jesuit priest*Charles Baker , North American surveyor and jurist...
, arrived on 9 June, 1828. He was stationed at KerikeriKerikeriKerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
and then at Kororareka (Russell). - Rev. A.N. Brown, arrived in October 1829. He was put in charge of the school at PaihiaPaihiaPaihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...
. In 1835 he opened the MatamataMatamataMatamata is a rural Waikato town in New Zealand with a population of around 12,000 . It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits...
mission station and in 1838 he went to TaurangaTaurangaTauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...
. - Rev. Robert Burrows, arrived in 1840.
- John Butler, arrived 12 August 1819; ceasing work at the mission in 1822.
- William ColensoWilliam ColensoWilliam Colenso was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician.-Life:Born in Penzance, Cornwall, he was the cousin of John William Colenso, Bishop of Natal...
, arrived in December 1834 to work as a printer and missionary. - Thomas Chapman, catechistCatechismA catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
, arrived in 1830 and established the RotoruaRotoruaRotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
mission station in 1835. - George Clarke, arrived 4 April 1824. A blacksmith at KerikeriKerikeriKerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
. - Richard Davis, a farmer, arrived on 7 May 1824. He established a garden at the PaihiaPaihiaPaihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...
mission. In 1831 he established a farm at the WaimateWaimate NorthWaimate North is a small settlement in Northland, New Zealand. It is situated between Kerikeri and Lake Omapere, west of the Bay of Islands.Okuratope Pa was situated here and was the home to chief Te Hotete of the Ngai Tawake hapu in the late 18th-early 19th centuries...
mission. In 1843 he was ordained and appointed to KaikoheKaikoheKaikohe is the central service area for the Far North District of New Zealand, about 260 km from Auckland, situated on State Highway 12 at...
. - William T. Fairburn, a carpenter; Rev. J. Butler's “Journal” mentions his being in the Bay of IslandsBay of IslandsThe Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
in January 1821. In 1823 he was in Sydney and returned on board the Brampton with Rev. Henry WilliamsHenry Williams (missionary)Henry Williams was one of the first missionaries who went to New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century....
and his wife MarianneMarianne WilliamsMarianne Williams together with her sister-in-law Jane Williams were pioneering educators in New Zealand. They set up the first schools for Māori children and adults as well as educating the children of the Church Missionary Society in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand...
; He later went with John A. Wilson, James Preece and John Morgan to establish the Putiri mission station. His daughter Elizabeth married William ColensoWilliam ColensoWilliam Colenso was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician.-Life:Born in Penzance, Cornwall, he was the cousin of John William Colenso, Bishop of Natal...
. - James Hamlin, flax dresser and weaver, arrived in March 1826 with William and Jane Williams. He served as a catechist at WaimateWaimate NorthWaimate North is a small settlement in Northland, New Zealand. It is situated between Kerikeri and Lake Omapere, west of the Bay of Islands.Okuratope Pa was situated here and was the home to chief Te Hotete of the Ngai Tawake hapu in the late 18th-early 19th centuries...
, KerikeriKerikeriKerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
and Mangapouri. In 1836 he became the head of the ManukauManukauManukau City was a large territorial authority in Auckland, New Zealand. The city was sometimes referred to as South Auckland, but this term did not possess official recognition and did not encompass areas like East Auckland, which was previously within the official boundaries of Manukau City...
mission station. In 1844 he was ordained a deaconDeaconDeacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
and sent to WairoaWairoaWairoa is a town in New Zealand's North Island. It is the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Mahia Peninsula...
, Hawkes Bay; in 1863 he was ordained a minister. - Octavius HadfieldOctavius HadfieldOctavius Hadfield was Archdeacon of Kapiti, Bishop of Wellington from 1870 to 1893 and Primate of New Zealand from 1890 to 1893. A missionary for thirty years, he was recognised as an authority on Maori customs and language...
, arrived in December 1838 and was ordained a minister at Paihia on 6 January 1839, that year he travelled to OtakiOtaki, New ZealandOtaki is a town in the Kapiti Coast District of the North Island of New Zealand, situated half way between the capital city Wellington, 70 kilometres to the southwest, and Palmerston North, 70 kilometres to the northeast. It marks the northernmost point of the Wellington Region. The town's...
with Henry Williams, where he established a mission station. - Francis Hall, arrived 12 August 1819 and remained until 1823.
- William Hall, a ship-carpenter, arrived on the Active on 22 December 1814, and left in ill-health in 1824.
- John King, arrived on the Active on 22 December 1814. Shoemaker by trade, employed as a catechistCatechismA catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
, teaching the Māori at Rangihoua. King was also engaged in work to effect improvement in the dressing of Phormium tenaxPhormium tenaxPhormium tenax is an evergreen perennial plant native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island that is an important fibre plant and a popular ornamental plant...
(harakeke in Māori, New Zealand flax). - James Kemp, arrived 12 August 1819. Blacksmith, keeper of the mission stores and catechistCatechismA catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
, and school teacher at KerikeriKerikeriKerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
. - Thomas KendallThomas KendallThomas Kendall was a New Zealand lapsed missionary, recorder of the Māori language, schoolmaster, arms dealer, and Pākehā Māori.-Early life: Lincolnshire and London, 1778-1813:...
arrived on the Active on 22 December 1814; dismissed from the mission in August 1822. - Samuel Marsden Knight (a nephew of Samuel MarsdenSamuel MarsdenSamuel Marsden was an English born Anglican cleric and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand...
), catechistCatechismA catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
arrived in June 1835. - Rev. John Mason, who arrived in 1840 and established the WanganuiWanganuiWhanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
mission station, where he drowned in 1843. - Joseph Matthews, arrived in 1832 and established the KaitaiaKaitaiaKaitaia is a town in the far north region of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula which is about 160 km northwest of Whangarei. It is the last major settlement on the main road north to the capes and bays on the peninsula...
mission station. - Robert Maunsell, arrived in 1835 and worked with William WilliamsWilliam Williams (bishop)William Williams was the first Anglican Bishop of Waiapu and the father and grandfather of two others. He led the CMS missionaries in the translation of the Bible into Māori and he published an early dictionary and grammar of the Māori language.-Early life:Williams was born in Nottingham to Thomas...
on the translation of the Bible. Maunsell worked on the Old Testament, portions of which were published in 1840 with the full translation completed in 1857. He became a leading scholar of the Māori language. He later established the ManukauManukauManukau City was a large territorial authority in Auckland, New Zealand. The city was sometimes referred to as South Auckland, but this term did not possess official recognition and did not encompass areas like East Auckland, which was previously within the official boundaries of Manukau City...
mission station in 1835. - John Morgan, arrived in 1833, and worked with James Preece to establish the Purtiri mission station at Thames in 1833, the Mangapouri mission station in 1835 and the Otawhao mission station in 1842.
- Henry Pilley, catechistCatechismA catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
and carpenter, arrived in February 1834. - James Preece, catechistCatechismA catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
, arrived in 1830and worked with John Morgan to establish the Purtiri mission station in 1833 . - William Puckey, carpenter, arrived on 12 August 1819 and worked with Joseph Matthews to establish the KaitaiaKaitaiaKaitaia is a town in the far north region of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula which is about 160 km northwest of Whangarei. It is the last major settlement on the main road north to the capes and bays on the peninsula...
mission station in 1833. William Puckey was the father of William Gilbert PuckeyWilliam Gilbert PuckeyWilliam Gilbert Puckey , born in Penryn, England, was a prominent missionary in New Zealand. He accompanied his parents to New Zealand at the age of 14 and quickly learned the Māori language, speaking it fluently by age 16, and becoming widely regarded as one of the best interpreters of Māori in...
. - William Gilbert PuckeyWilliam Gilbert PuckeyWilliam Gilbert Puckey , born in Penryn, England, was a prominent missionary in New Zealand. He accompanied his parents to New Zealand at the age of 14 and quickly learned the Māori language, speaking it fluently by age 16, and becoming widely regarded as one of the best interpreters of Māori in...
joined the mission in 1821. He served as the mate of the Herald; then worked for the CMS mission, including collaborating with William WilliamsWilliam Williams (bishop)William Williams was the first Anglican Bishop of Waiapu and the father and grandfather of two others. He led the CMS missionaries in the translation of the Bible into Māori and he published an early dictionary and grammar of the Māori language.-Early life:Williams was born in Nottingham to Thomas...
on the translation of the New Testament in 1837 and its revision in 1844. - James Shepherd, visited with Marsden in 1817 and placed at Rangihoua in 1820. A skilled gardener, who taught the Māori how to plant vegetables, fruit and trees. He was generally employed among the different tribes, instructing them in the Christian religion, as he understood the Māori language better than any of the other missionaries at that time. He served at the mission stations at KaeoKaeoThe township of Kaeo lies some 22 km northwest of Kerikeri in Northland, New Zealand. The town takes its name from the unique shellfish found in the nearby Whangaroa Harbour....
, Te Puna on the Purerua PeninsulaPurerua PeninsulaPurerua Peninsula is a peninsula on the northwest side of the Bay of Islands in Northland, New Zealand. Te Puna Inlet lies to the south of the peninsula. Communities on the peninsula are Purerua, Te Tii and Taronui Bay...
and WhangaroaWhangaroaWhangaroa is a locality on the harbour of the same name in Northland, New Zealand.Whangaroa is 8km north-west from Kaeo and 45km north from Okaihau. The harbour is almost landlocked and is popular both as a fishing spot in its own right and as a base for deep-sea fishing.The harbour was the scene...
. - William Spikeman, a herdsman, arrived in 1814.
- James Stack, had been a Wesleyan missionary at WhangaroaWhangaroaWhangaroa is a locality on the harbour of the same name in Northland, New Zealand.Whangaroa is 8km north-west from Kaeo and 45km north from Okaihau. The harbour is almost landlocked and is popular both as a fishing spot in its own right and as a base for deep-sea fishing.The harbour was the scene...
; then later joined the CMS and in 1839 joined William WilliamsWilliam Williams (bishop)William Williams was the first Anglican Bishop of Waiapu and the father and grandfather of two others. He led the CMS missionaries in the translation of the Bible into Māori and he published an early dictionary and grammar of the Māori language.-Early life:Williams was born in Nottingham to Thomas...
at the mission station at Turanga, in Poverty BayPoverty BayPoverty Bay is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawkes Bay. It stretches for 10 kilometres from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the northeast. The city of Gisborne is located on the northern shore of the bay...
. - Rev. Richard Taylor, arrived in 1839. He was appointed a head of the school at WaimateWaimate NorthWaimate North is a small settlement in Northland, New Zealand. It is situated between Kerikeri and Lake Omapere, west of the Bay of Islands.Okuratope Pa was situated here and was the home to chief Te Hotete of the Ngai Tawake hapu in the late 18th-early 19th centuries...
and was later to establish a mission station at WanganuiWanganuiWhanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
. - William Wade, printer, arrived in December 1834 and worked with William Colenso at PaihiaPaihiaPaihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...
. He later established the TaurangaTaurangaTauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...
mission station in 1835. - John A. Wilson, retired from the navy in 1832 and joined the mission as a lay missionary. In 1833 he and James Preece opened the mission station at Puriri, Thames and in 1836 he and W. R. Wade went to TaurangaTaurangaTauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...
. In 1840 he established the OpotikiOpotikiOpotiki is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty in the North Island of New Zealand. It houses the headquarters of the Opotiki District Council and comes under the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.-Population:* of the town: 4176 - Male 1,989, Female 2,187...
mission station. He was ordained a deaconDeaconDeacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
in 1852. - William Yate, arrived 19 January 1828 dismissed from the mission in June 1834.
The CMS Mission House
Mission House
The Mission House at Kerikeri in New Zealand was completed in 1822 as part of the Kerikeri Mission Station by the Church Missionary Society, and is New Zealand’s oldest surviving building...
in Kerikeri
Kerikeri
Kerikeri, the largest town in the Northland Region of New Zealand, is a popular tourist destination about three hours drive north of Auckland, and 80 km north of Whangarei...
, completed in 1822, is New Zealand's oldest surviving building.
In the early days it funded its activities largely through trade; Thomas Kendall
Thomas Kendall
Thomas Kendall was a New Zealand lapsed missionary, recorder of the Māori language, schoolmaster, arms dealer, and Pākehā Māori.-Early life: Lincolnshire and London, 1778-1813:...
, like many secular settlers, sold weapons to Māori, fuelling the Musket Wars
Musket Wars
The Musket Wars were a series of five hundred or more battles mainly fought between various hapū , sometimes alliances of pan-hapū groups and less often larger iwi of Māori between 1807 and 1842, in New Zealand.Northern tribes such as the rivals Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua were the first to obtain...
. Kendall also brought Māori war chief Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika
Hongi Hika was a New Zealand Māori rangatira and war leader of the Ngāpuhi iwi . Hongi Hika used European weapons to overrun much of northern New Zealand in the first of the Musket Wars...
to London in 1820, creating a small sensation. When Henry Williams
Henry Williams (missionary)
Henry Williams was one of the first missionaries who went to New Zealand in the first half of the 19th century....
became the leader of the missionaries at Paihia
Paihia
Paihia is the main tourist town in the Bay of Islands in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the historic towns of Russell, and Kerikeri, 60 kilometres north of Whangarei. The origin of the name Paihia is obscure. One, possibily apocryphal, attribution is to...
in 1823, he immediately stopped the trade in muskets. The CMS established further missions in the Bay of Plenty, but converts were few until 1830, when the baptism of Ngapuhi
Ngapuhi
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi located in the Northland region of New Zealand, and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whāngārei.Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any New Zealand iwi, with 122,214 people registered , and formed from 150 hapu, with 55 marae.-Foundations:The founding...
chief Taiwhanga influenced others to do the same.
In the 1830s the CMS expanded beyond the Bay of Islands, opening mission stations in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Poverty Bay. By 1840 missionaries William Williams
William Williams (bishop)
William Williams was the first Anglican Bishop of Waiapu and the father and grandfather of two others. He led the CMS missionaries in the translation of the Bible into Māori and he published an early dictionary and grammar of the Māori language.-Early life:Williams was born in Nottingham to Thomas...
and Robert Maunsell had translated much of the New Testament into Māori. At this time concern about the European impact on New Zealand, particularly lawlessness
Antinomianism
Antinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....
among Europeans and a breakdown in the traditional restraints in Māori society meant that the CMS welcomed the United Kingdom's annexation of New Zealand in January 1840. Its missionaries worked to persuade Maori chiefs to sign the Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....
, a document intended to ratify the annexation.
Today the NZCMS works closely with the Anglican Missions Board, concentrating on mission work outside New Zealand. In 2000 it amalgamated with the South American Missionary Society of New Zealand.
See also
- Protestant missionary societies in China during the 19th Century
- History of Christian missions
- List of Protestant missionaries in China
- C.M.S. College
- Frank LakeFrank LakeFrank Lake was one of the pioneers of pastoral counselling in the United Kingdom. In 1962 he founded the Clinical Theology Association with the primary aim to make clergy more effective in understanding and accepting the psychological origins of their parishioners’ personal difficulties...
- CrosslinksCrosslinksCrosslinks is an evangelical Anglican missionary society, drawing its support mainly from parishes in the Church of England and Church of Ireland. It was known as the Bible Churchmen's Missionary Society until 1992-The Society's foundation:...