The year 1810 marks the start of the North American foreign missions movement -- a movement begun with typical American enthusiasm and vigor but in need of practical grounding. This volume explores important facets of the development of North American foreign missions, paying particular attention to the role agencies like the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) played in shaping the theology, theory, and policy of evangelistic activities overseas. Written by leading experts on missions and religious history, this volume is distinguished by its focus on key events taking place at the home base rather than on happenings in the foreign mission field. In doing so, these insightful studies shed light on important yet neglected topics, including the impact of debates about slavery on foreign missions, the emergence of distinctive mission strategies for women, the role of the social gospel as a missionary ideology, and the contribution of foreign missions to the creation of a global evangelical network. Contributors: Alvyn AustinRuth Compton Brouwer, Wendy J. Diechmann Edwards, Janet F. Fishburn, Paul Harris, David W. Kling, Charles A. Maxfield III, Susan Wilds McArver, John F. Piper Jr., Dana L. Robert, Richard Lee Rogers, Wilbert R. Shenk, Carol Ann Vaughn. bThis excellent volume will command widespread attention not only for its display of scholarly expertise but for the fresh and revealing light it throws on the principal landmarks and major themes in the history of missionary expansion overseas.b

-- Andrew Porter

Kingbs College London