Mormon Missiology: an Introduction and Guide to the Sources
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Mormon Missiology: An Introduction and Guide to the Sources David J. Whittaker Introduction Missionary work has been a central concern of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called Mormons) since their beginnings in 1830. The visions of Joseph Smith proclaimed the opening of a new dispensation in which the gospel of Jesus Christ would go forth to all nations. In their study of the Bible, particularly the New Testament, Latter-day Saint leaders identied with early Christian missionaries who were commissioned by the Master to “go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Latter-day Saint scriptures emphasized and reinforced this missionary outlook. Many passages in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants described the world as a “eld . white already to harvest” (D&C 4:4; 6:3; 11:3; 12:3; 31:4; etc.), and the faithful were assured that no joy would be greater than that which came as a result of successful missionary work. They understood that once they heard the “good news,” they had a desire and an obligation to inform their neighbors (see D&C 88:81). These same scriptures told the stories and described the qualities of good missionaries (see, for example, Alma 17–26, 29; D&C 4). Early in the history of the church, missionaries were commanded to assemble “the elect” from throughout the world (D&C 29:7–8; compare D&C 110:11). Their work centered on the concept of the “gathering,” a two-phase process. First, missionaries were to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to the honest in heart and then to administer the saving priesthood ordinances (beginning with baptism by immersion and the laying on of hands to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost) to those who accepted their message. Second, converts were to gather physically with other faithful members to assist in building Zion, a covenant community of righteous Saints.1 Immigration to America followed conversion throughout the nineteenth century, and this gathering to a central place gave the Mormon movement great economic, political, and religious power wherever the Latter-day Saints settled. In fact, the process was viewed as a critical part of preparing the earth for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Rejecting old ways and purposefully acting on new knowledge was a signicant rite of passage for the new convert. Millennial expectations thus fueled a missionary zeal and outreach that remains unabated to our own day.2 Besides the obvious spiritual benets of this kind of work, there were also more practical effects. Historically, missionary work served to revitalize church membership at critical periods of stress and strain. New converts also brought much-needed skills and talents during the hectic western pioneering period of the church’s history. The history and development of the various missions of the church were often the testing ground for church leaders as well as for ofcial programs and publications. The mission experience was an important instrument of socialization and testimony building for those who accepted the call to serve. Problems of government and administration that arose in the various mission elds very early required church leaders to deal more comprehensively with matters of organization, licensing, discipline, publication, immigration, and nancial management. Thus the study of missions and missionary work is an essential area for students of Latter-day Saint history, or for students of the broader topic of missiology, or the scholarly study of mission history in its broadest sense.3 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints remains a strong missionary organization; as of January 2000 more than 59,000 full-time missionaries were assigned to one of 333 missions in 160 countries and territories worldwide. Each missionary generally serves from one to two years, but missionary service is a task accepted throughout the lifetime of active members. While the majority of missionaries today are nineteen to twenty-three years old, it is common to have self-supporting retired couples also called to serve in a variety of missionary capacities. In addition, about 137,000 members of the church are currently serving church-service missions that range from family history projects to literacy education and public communications. Whether the work of teaching grows out of a formal mission call, or from a more informal setting in one’s own neighborhood, missionary work remains a central concern for the Mormon faithful. The Latter-day Saint missionary system has been voluntary from the beginning. To study it is to study the history of the church itself, moving as it did from a few committed families in April 1830 to an international membership today. A full discussion of the missionary system would require a look at a variety of topics ranging from preparing to serve; receiving the formal missionary call (including preparing for and receiving the sacred temple ordinances); the conversion process in which the nonmember is converted (including such sociological topics as recruitment, acculturation, and socialization); the mission experience itself (including such topics as testimony, morale, the disciplined life of the missionary, missionary companionships, the mission rules, the quest for orthodoxy in thought, behavior, and literature); the mission experience as a rite of passage into the larger Mormon world; and religious disaffection or apostasy. Until recently these topics have been subsumed into the historical studies of the various missions. But such topics require a closer focus on the missionary as well as on the convert and form the substance of the scholarly eld of missiology. Mormon Missions: A Short Overview Church membership grew from 6 original members in April 1830 to 268,331 in 1900, by which time Latter-day Saint missionaries had preached in nearly all the countries of the world. The majority of the missionaries who served in the nineteenth century were older by today’s standards and were almost always males who commonly left wives and families behind while serving wherever they were called. The rst “foreign” mission attempted was into Ontario, Canada. From 1832 on, individuals or groups of missionaries hazarded trips there, and notwithstanding the few converts that were made in these early years, those who were baptized became instrumental in the opening of the British Mission, the next foreign mission attempted by the church. From its small beginnings in 1837, the British Mission became the most successful foreign mission of the church in the nineteenth century. From 1840 to about 1900 it is estimated that over 50,000 converts immigrated to the United States from Britain. Very early in their history, the Latter-day Saints also sent missionaries into other countries. Even before the death of Joseph Smith, elders were sent to Australia, India, South America, Germany, and Jamaica. Although they failed to go, Orson Hyde and George J. Adams were even called to Russia. Orson Hyde did visit Palestine in 1842, and other missionaries visited the Society Islands in the Pacic Ocean in 1843. Thus a substantial effort had been expended in missionary work by 1844. From England, early missionaries made the rst proselyting thrusts into Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and continental Europe and then gradually extended themselves in more organized ventures. In 1849, no doubt encouraged by the Revolutions of 1848, calls were issued for the Italian, French, and Scandinavian missions. A mission to Hawaii came in 1850, another to South America in 1851, and in 1852 missionaries were dispatched to Gibraltar, India, Burma, Siam, China, South Africa, the West Indies, British Guiana, and again to Australia. Although few of these more extended missions were successful during the nineteenth century, the very attempt suggests the serious international outlook and millennialism of the early church. As Paul had beneted from the law and transportation routes of the Roman Empire, early Latter-day Saint missionary work followed the paths and locations of the British Empire throughout the world.4 During a period of anti-Mormon persecution and prosecution in the 1880s, foreign missionary work continued. It began in Mexico in 1875 but ended about 1889. Mexico was opened again in 1901 and, with Latin America, has become the most fruitful mission eld in the church. In 1883 several missionaries worked in Austria and Hungary, but for many years few signicant results were obtained there. In 1885 missionary work was begun in Turkey. In 1888 a mission was organized in Samoa; in 1891 the work was extended to Tonga, which was organized as a separate mission in 1916. In 1901 Japan was opened as the twentieth foreign mission, while the older missions continued to grow. The stress on the gathering of new converts to an American headquarters meant sacricing a stable base in the converts’ home country in favor of the colonizing activities in the Great Basin. By 1907 President Joseph F. Smith, following suggestions of George Q. Cannon in 1894, began counseling European members to remain in their own lands. However, despite this counsel, a signicant number of converts continued to gather to America. The church itself maintained statistics on these numbers until 1962: 103,000 from 1840 to 1910 (ca. 2,000 per year); 10,185 from 1911 to 1946 (ca. 291 per year); 6,000 from 1947 to 1953 (ca. 1,000 per year), and almost 8,000 from 1954 to 1962.5 While the general trend has been for converts to remain in their native countries, it is obvious that the American pull has been strong on new members. World wars and the Great Depression hindered but did not stop Latter-day Saint missionary work in the twentieth century. In some cases, it was LDS American servicemen who began or strengthened missionary work in the country to which they were assigned (for example, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand).