For at least a generation, scholars interested in the history of Methodism in the British Isles and the United States have been treated to many high quality books that explore this religious movement with sensitivity and depth. Methodism outside the North Atlantic world, however, has not benefited from the same historiographical focus. As such, Pritchard's concise history of British Methodist foreign missions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is a welcome addition to an open field and will provide a helpful foundation for future scholarship.
The bulk of Pritchard's book concerns early Methodist mission efforts and the work of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS). He also seeks to include the work of other Methodist denominations that joined in the Methodist Union of 1932 in his story. British Methodist missions in the twentieth century are covered in a companion volume.
As the author notes in the preface, there are detailed accounts of Methodist missions in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most published about a century ago. These sources are used, with other primary and secondary texts, to inform the narrative. While Pritchard casts his own work as a “much more concise and less comprehensive history” than those earlier works in seeking to cover “the same ground from a more distant vantage point,” the author's intent is actually more ambitious than he admits (xvii). He reframes the story of Methodist foreign missions in the light of more recent academic scholarship on the history of Christian missions. Among other objectives, this newer historiography has sought to reclaim the importance of indigenous Christians in the emergence of new Christian communities, recognizes the centrality of missionary women in the Protestant missionary movement, and rejects assumptions of European superiority that can pervade source material.
Initial chapters detail the background and foundations of the Methodist missionary enterprise. This background includes the brief service of both John and Charles Wesley as Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) missionaries, the emergence of Methodist societies outside the British Isles through colonial connections and migration, and the dedicated, yet impulsive, endeavors of Thomas Coke. The year 1813 marks a transition point as it signaled the beginning of new opportunities for Christian missions in India, the launch of the first auxiliary society to raise funds for missions, and Coke's departure for Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Methodist beginnings in North American and Australasia are briefly summarized up until the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the newly-independent United States and creation of autonomous conferences in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand/Aotearoa in the mid-nineteenth century.
The primary focus of the book, however, is foreign, cross-cultural missions operated by British Methodists. Pritchard introduces this focus with three chapters that explore issues that span multiple contexts. The first (chapter 5) explores the work of lay Methodist soldiers, slaves, and colonists who frequently preceded foreign missionaries. Chapter 6, entitled “Gospel and Justice,” details Methodist opposition to slavery in the Caribbean and cannibalism in the South Pacific. Chapter 7 describes the establishment and operation of the WMMS in its first half century. A series of chapters addresses Methodist missions in India, China, Africa, and “Islands in the Sun” (the Caribbean and Pacific Islands, chapter 11), in turn. In addition to outlining the major historical events in each region, these chapters recount the major personalities, developments, and persistent issues faced by Methodist missions in those contexts.
Concluding chapters summarize the work of so-called “parallel” Methodist missions, survey the effects of a century of mission, describe the nature and scope of missionary work, consider the work of women in missions, and explore missionary martyrdom.
As a work that spans the better part of two centuries and the entire world, Pritchard can be commended for covering an impressive amount of ground in an informative manner without becoming tedious. Future scholars who wish to explore the history of Methodism outside the North Atlantic will find this work a valuable source, as it lays the groundwork for more in depth treatments in both an accessible fashion and one that reflects current scholarly concerns.
At several points, however, the intent behind the book's organization is unclear. For example, the decision to dedicate a chapter to the “Parallel Missions” (chapter 12) of the Methodist New Connection, Bible Christians, Primitive Methodists, United Methodist Free Churches and Joyful News is somewhat surprising given the author's stated interest in including their stories in his history. Those accounts could as easily have been incorporated into the geographically based chapters. Likewise, the chapter that summarizes and evaluates nineteenth century missions is followed by three full chapters that explore recurrent themes, which could have been addressed before a concluding summary.
Throughout the book, a persistent issue the author approaches, but doesn't fully engage, is that of Methodist mission theory. What made Methodist foreign missions Methodist? In particular, did Methodist theological emphases and practices shape their missionary work and its reception in any way? One suspects so. Unfortunately, such questions are not explored in depth. Pritchard suggests that the Arminian theology that permeates Charles Wesley's hymns formed missionary motivation in some way even if for the Wesleys the emphasis that all people might be saved was “a theological rather than a geographical point”(4). As with a belief in free grace, a hope in the possibility of sanctification and organizational structures such as class meetings and conferences set Methodists apart from other evangelical Protestants. The effects of such beliefs and practices are not explored in this work.
Even so, this book will be a useful resource for scholars interested in exploring the foundational history of Methodism in India, China, Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific Islands.
