at the turn of the century: astudy of the centenary conference of 1907 Kevin Xiyi Yao

he year 2007 marked the two-hundredth anniversary byterian Mission, in introducing the resolution draft on behalf of tof robert Morrison’s arrival in china.1 anumber of the committee on the chinese church, pointed out that William events wereheld in mainland china, hong Kong, Macau, and Milne, Morrison’s coworker,in1820 had written “retrospect taiwan to commemorate this historic event. it is worth noting of the first tenyears of the Protestant Mission to china.” in it that one hundred years ago Western in china also Milne predicted that at the current growth rate, the total number marked the day by holding acentenary missionary conference of chinese believers would reach one thousand, including their to celebrate the first century of Protestant missionary presence children, by 1907. “now at the end of the century,” Gibson said, and labor in that ancient land. “we count achurch of at least 180,000 communicants, which in the tradition of the great missionary conferences of 1877 implies achristian community of some 630,000 souls ...besides and 1890, the china centenary Missionary conference (hereafter some 120,000 children and young people. ...—this is the won- centenary conference) convened in from april 25 to derful fruit which one hundred years have left in our hands. ... May 8, 1907, and was attended by 1,170 missionary delegates, our first thoughts in this centenary conference may well be representatives of home boards, and visitors. among all the those of profound thankfulness to God for what he has done” attendees, fewer than ten chinese can be identified.2 twelve (pp. 1–2). overall, asense of pride, gratitude, and celebration is subjects wereselected for discussion, and twelve program com- evident throughout the conference reports. mittees wereformed to draft resolutions on these subjects. in addition, anumber of resolutions and open letters (memorials) Manifestation of Church Union wereeventually adopted by the conference and implemented by twenty-four committees after the conference ended.3 comparingthe 1907 conference with the china Missionary the centenary conference of 1907, alandmark event in the conference held seventeenyears earlier, in 1890, many par- history of Protestant missions in china, was “a celebration of the ticipants singled out harmony and cooperation as highlights of close of the first century of Protestant missionary work in china” the centenary gathering (p. 690). “comity and federation” was and the ushering in of the second century (p. ii; page numbers actually listed as one of the twelve conference subjects. confer- in text refer to Records, China Centenary Missionary Conference). ence participants seem to have been quite united on this issue. looked at today,the discussions and resolutions of the confer- Going beyond fostering aunified spirit, the conference began to ence yield insights into the issues the missionaries faced and take concrete measures towardalarger church union, adopting their mentality,permit evaluation of their decisions in the light resolutions that recommended formation of afederal union to be of later developments, and offer lessons pertinent to challenges titled the christian federation of china (pp. 719–20). the vision facing the Protestant movement as it enters its thirdcentury in embraced by the conference clearly foreshadowed the birth of the country.rather than examining each of the twelve conference the national christian council in the 1920s. subjects, ishall focus on five main themes shaping the conference aspirit of unity also permeated other resolutions and dis- agenda and discussions. cussions.acknowledging the divisions and confusion caused by Protestant denominationalism, conference participants through Retrospect of the First Century resolutions on the chinese church offered ajoint statement of faith that stressed the basic doctrinal consensus of the Protes- atthetimeofthecentenaryconferenceinshanghai,themission- tant china missionaries (pp. 437–38). consensus on the nature aries and church in china wereenjoying remarkable social favor. and tasks of mission was expressed as well in “Memorial to the in the wake of the disastrous , the Qing Dynasty home church.” Preaching or spreading the Gospel was clearly initiated aseries of economic, governmental, educational, and emphasized as the coreofmission, but christian social respon- military reforms. at the same time, chinese society showed un- sibility was also considered to be indispensable (p. 364; see also precedentedopennesstowardWesterninfluences.consequently, pp. 548, 550, 656–59). the fact that the conference delegates the intense hostility that the church had constantly faced in the wereable to reach consensus on fundamental doctrines and previous hundred years ebbed considerably,ifitdid not vanish missionary tasks is aclear indication of the continuing existence completely.insuchanenvironmentthechurchandthemissionary and influence of the so-called Protestant missionary consensus movement experienced rapid recovery and expansion. within the Protestant missionary community in china in the not surprisingly,the conference participants wereover- early twentieth century.4 whelmingly upbeat in their comments on past missionary work signs of the coming collapse of missionary unity,however, and the current situation. first, the considerable change of social began to emerge during the conference. therewereintense circumstance was amatter frequently noted. second, reports debates on chinese ancestor worship, the relationship between highlighted and praised the tremendous missionary progress preaching and social involvement, and the value and necessity made since Morrison’s days. John c. Gibson of the english Pres- of church union, among other subjects (pp. 486–88, 540, 614). inroads made by higher criticism in china werealready causing Kevin Xiyi Yao, associate Professor in Theological Studies, China Graduate concern in some sectors of the missionary community (p. 66). School of Theology,Hong Kong, is the author of the fundamentalist Move- Gradual intensification of these debates and concerns eventually ment among Protestant Missionaries in china, 1920–1937 (Univ.Press led to the demise of the consensus in the modernist-fundamen- of america, 2003). talist controversy in the 1920s and 1930s. the conference of 1907 april 2008 65 can thereforebeconsidered the last major manifestation of the the education committee, “our great ideal is the establishment Protestant missionary consensus in china.5 But in 1907 ideas of of the kingdom of God on earth. We aim at influencing all the unionandcooperationwerestillsodominantthatonemissionary strata of society.christianity is to save the world and to bring all couldpredictthat“‘together’isthetwentiethcenturywatchword” human relationship, political, social, commercial, and industrial (p. 597). ironically,within less than two decades the national into harmony with laws of God” (p. 68). akingdom-centered christian council that had been envisioned by the conference theology clearly exerted ashaping influence on the missionaries’ proved unable to unify missions and churches across the country thought and practice. in the manner that the conference of 1907 had done. the strong missionary emphasis on forming achristian civilization in china, in combination with the new openness to Gospel and Civilization christianity on the part of chinese society,led to agrowing call for providing futuregenerations of chinese church workers with the notion of christian civilization was very much taken for much moreadvanced skills and moresophisticated education. granted in the centenary conference. few of the missionaries the conference’s “Memorial to the home church” declared: “We would have doubted that the Gospel was the spiritual founda- want to train preachers who can appeal not only to the poor and tion and power source of modern Western civilization, the latter the illiterate, but to the thoughtful” (p. 380). in his report to the being the fruit of the former.their calling was to bring to the conference, Pott argued that “it is not sufficient to give those chinese people the Gospel of Jesus christ, as well as its fruit. as who aretobeemployed as pastors or evangelists, asuperficial aresult, spreading the Gospel, planting churches, and reforming theological education, but we must first give them an education society and culturealways went together in chinese missions of that is liberal in the true sense of the word” (p. 66). the nineteenth century. it is no surprise, then, that the 1907 conference called for in looking back at the first one hundred years, the mission- mission schools to be expanded and upgraded. the conference aries felt proud not just of the growth of the church but also of resolutions on education asked the home churches and mission their role in introducing modern civilization and stimulating boards to increase considerably their investment in education in china. they also appealed for better and moreprofession- ally trained missionaries, closer cooperation between different The overwhelming support missions in education, and establishment of aunion christian universityofferinginstructionofthehighestacademicstandards. for expansion of in addition to educational endeavors, the “Memorial to the educational and medical home church” urged great expansion of the missions’ medical work (p. 380). work exposed tensions theoverwhelmingsupportforexpansionofeducationaland between preaching and medical work exposed tensions between preaching and social services and between grassroots- and elite-oriented approaches. social services. in calling for moreresources for education, the “Memorial to the homechurch”carefullymaintainedabalancebetweeneducation and evangelism by emphasizing that “our insistence, as acon- social progress in china. in aspeech entitled “the influence of ference, on the pressing need of education is not as asubstitute christianMissionsonchinesenationallifeandsocialProgress,” for preaching”; rather,itsought to make the preaching more D. l.anderson of the Methodist episcopal Mission, south, made effective (p. 380). for missionaries such as Dixon edwardhoste painstakingeffortstoillustratethemissionaries’impactonchina’s of the china inland Mission, the need of native church workers political, educational, and medical development, and even their for ahigher educational level seemed overemphasized. he chal- roleasa“walkingadvertisement”ora“kindofsandwichman”in lenged proponents of the majority position not to assume “too promoting foreign trade and Western goods in the country.6 such readily that the man with intellectual cultureisnecessarily more words reveal much about many china missionaries’ self-identity effective for good, than one who, though but apoor scholar,has in the nineteenth century,namely,that they wereambassadors astronger and moreintense religious life” (p. 452). of Western civilization, as well as of the Gospel. nevertheless, the call for considerable expansion of the the same mind-set was dominant in missionary discus- educational, medical, and other social dimensions of mission sions of current needs and futuretasks of Protestant missions enterprises was dominant in the conference. not surprisingly, in china. the resolutions on the chinese ministry declared that the first three decades of the twentieth century witnessed asurge china’s ongoing reform “opens up beforethe christian church of educational and social work, acceleration of institutionaliza- aunique opportunity to inspirethe new civilization with its tion, and the rise of professionalism and elitism in china mission ethical truths and religious life” (p. 473). in line with this view, enterprises. the “Memorial to the home church” affirmed that the vision of in 1907 the missionary community seemed quite united china missionaries “is nothing less than that china may become about the possibility and necessity of blending the Gospel and achristian nation.” indeed, the memorial admitted, Western civilization, preaching and social services, and spirituality and civilization had its own flaws, but “after all thereisawide gulf education. unfortunately,this unity could not be maintained; between anation that acknowledges, even only outwardly and within twenty years the positions of liberals and fundamentalists imperfectly,the christian law,and one that deliberately repu- polarized. outside the church and missionary community,the diates the name, the commands and the worship of our lord” seemingly innocent ties between mission and modern Western (p. 382). in the conference abroad view of mission, understood civilization weresoon reinterpreted by chinese nationalists of all as integration of evangelism and social services, was repeatedly strains, and they turned from being agreat missionary achieve- emphasized. according to francis lister hawks Pott, of the ment into indisputable evidence that was the american Protestant episcopal church Mission and chair of tool of Western cultural imperialism.

66 international Bulletin of Missionary research,Vol. 32, no. 2 Debating the Treaty Protections should be limited strictly to cases of religious persecution, even though Mateer admitted that chinese believers wereoften per- the rapid spread of followed imposition of secuted for reasons not directly related to their christian identity the so-called unequal treaties between china and the Western but for nonreligious causes (p. 340). in the end, on this issue of colonial powers, signed in the wake of several wars that china treaty protections, Mateer advised that lost to the West. the treaties guaranteed tolerance of christian- ity,provided extraterritorial privileges, and protected the right thetrueideal,bothforthemissionaryandhisconvert,istodowhat of christians to do mission work and plant churches through- will best subserve the cause of christ ...every man should live up out the empire. the advance of christianity in china, however, to the light he has. no general rule can be made or imposed. ... constantly encountered anti-christian riots and official hostility it is unfortunate that any appeal to atreaty or aconsul is ever or harassment in many forms, which the missionaries usually necessary.Bythe necessity of things, it turns the minds of native christians in the wrong direction. they areled to depend on an referred to as persecution. the notorious Boxer rebellion in 1900 arm of flesh, rather than on the power of God. ...Weshould pray was the culmination of the opposition. earnestly for the advent of the day when the necessity for such since in 1907 the missionaries’ memory of the Boxer rebel- things shall pass away,and the native church enjoy true religious lion was still fresh, the issue of the protections provided by the liberty based on aspontaneous chinese law.(p. 346) treaties quickly became one of the focal points of the conference. calvin Wilson Mateer of the american Presbyterian Mission, in sum, Mateer’s report regarding the treaty protections was north, who was appointed chair of an eleven-member commit- affirmative, circumspect, and conditional. tee on the missionary and “public questions,” was at the center the basic contentions set out in Mateer’s report wereall of the discussion. in the committee’s report to the conference, endorsed by the conference. the final resolutions adopted on Mateer did not deny that the Western powers had acted unjustly publicquestionsexhorted“allmissionariestourgeuponchinese for political and commercial purposes, but he tried to distance christians thedutyofpatienceand forbearanceunder persecu- christian mission from Western political and economic interests tion forchrist’ssake, andalsomakeevery possible effort to in china by arguing that the religious aspects of the treaties were settle mattersprivately,anappeal to the authorities being the last “a mereincident,” free of pressure(pp. 337–38). resort” (p. 743). that the missionaries chose their words on this Mateer then dealt with two controversial issues. the first sensitive issue with careafter thorough deliberation is beyond was whether the treaty protections should be maintained. ac- doubt. for most of them the treaty arrangement was anecessary knowledging growing sentiment for overcoming persecution by evil to be maintained only for the sake of the church’s survival patience and forbearance rather than through appeals to treaty in avery harsh environment. as the environment became more privileges, Mateer launched atwofold refutation (p. 339). first, favorable, appeal to the treaty provisions would, it was hoped, he argued that the treaties “can and do make the missionary and become obsolete. the convert at one with the law of the land.” Without the treaty the position adopted by the conference, however,did not protections, “the probability is that much blood would have been go without challenge. significantly,some of the strongest voices shed, and many hardships endured, and avery inconsiderable in opposition came from within the committee for public ques- success achieved.” Drawing upon church history,hedeclared, tions itself. c. Bolwig of the Danish lutheran Mission was one “Patient submission is by no means apanacea for persecution, of those who spoke in opposition. he pointed out that the treaty nor yet ahighway for the triumph of truth.” second, Mateer insisted that Jesus’ teachings of nonresistance “weredoubtless spoken of private and personal revenge, and werebynomeans Placing Chinese converts intended to nullify the function of civil government.” in fact, “Paul was not slow to resent his being struck contrary to the under treaty protections law” (pp. 338–40). had earned missionaries the second issue concerned the practice of placing chinese convertsundertreatyprotections.Doingsohadearnedmissionar- abad reputation for ies abad reputation for interfering in the chinese judicial system, interfering in the Chinese and it directly contributed to the phenomenon of so-called rice christians, persons who joined the church to gain an advantage judicial system. in legal cases or to enhance their status in local communities. to correct abuses, therewas an increasing demand that the treaty rights be confined strictly to the foreign missionaries (p. 338). protections were“ahated yoke laid upon the government” Mateer opposed this position mainly on the grounds that it vio- (p. 727). in his view,the protection granted to chinese converts lated “the demands of christian sympathy and brotherhood” was especially unjustifiable because “it is injurious to the church and ignored the rights entitled to chinese believers by chinese inasmuch as it strengthens the belief that we arepolitical agents, law (p. 341). and it fosters ‘rice’ christians and produces aspirit of weakness thereisnodoubt that Mateer’s stand on the treaty protec- in the converts. ...itplainly tells the chinese that they arenot tions reflected the general outlook of the missionary community masters in their own house, and will in the long runexcite much atthattime.J.c.GarrittofamericanPresbyterianMission,north, moreanimosity” (p. 728). amember of the drafting committee, spoke the mind of many criticizing Mateer’s argument on the basis of christian missionaries when he depicted the treaty privileges as simply brotherly love, Bolwig suggested that therewereother ways “the providence of God” (p. 726). By the end of the conference, to assist chinese christians in suffering, such as prayer and however,Mateer’s report emphasized that “great careand financial aid. furthermore, he believed that Mateer’s cautious circumspection should be used in taking up supposed cases of advice to exercise prudence and carefulness was misdirected and persecution” (p. 340). in other words, missionary intervention called for completely shutting the door to “the mighty.” citing april 2008 67 his own mission’s refusal to interfereinlawsuits or to appeal to the missionaries wereconfident that the new century would the foreign consul, he did not see that his mission’s work was definitely be much morepromising. hindered as aresult (pp. 729–31). the missionaries werenot unawareofchallenges ahead, Bolwig was echoed by Dixon edwardhoste, also amember which included the familiar difficulties of resistance from tra- of the drafting committee. he expressed great concern about the ditional cultureand hostility on the part of the class of scholar- danger of missionaries’ being “implicated in affairs which were officials. Moreinterestingly,however,some missionaries were not really persecutions.” Because of interference in the chinese beginning to feel that these old obstacles might be diminishing legal system, he warned, “the cause of christianity was being and that new challenges wereonthe horizon. secular and ma- hindered and the repute of the christian church was suffering terialistic aspects of modern Western civilization werebeing through it” (p. 733). Bolwig and hoste represented aminority introducedintothecountryandextendingtheirinfluenceamong voice in the conference. history has shown, however,that their young people, even as the native traditions wereweakening. position was morefarsighted and even prophetic. James Jackson of the american Protestant episcopal church from the nineteenth century to the present, the unequal Mission, chair of the committee on ancestral worship, sounded treaties and related tensions have been key factors in shaping the following alarm: “the great struggle of christianity in china the image of the christian community in chinese society.the in the coming days will not be with the superstitious practices of missionaries in 1907 no doubt took the issue seriously.But per- the masses, but with the materialism, godlessness and practical haps the most fateful and wishful thinking on their part was atheism of the educated. that is what we have to fear most of all” (p. 245). at least for some of the missionaries, asense of crisis and The missionaries were urgency became adriving force behind the numerous calls for strengthening mission schools and expanding evangelistic and confident that the new literary work. it even added anew dimension to the long-de- century would definitely bated issue of ancestor worship. although the majority opinion and final resolutions on ancestor worship failed to transcend be much more promising. the traditional approach that rejected the practice as idolatry, missionaries such as J. Jackson and J. c. Gibson began to see the significant role ancestor worship played in maintaining social that the whole issue would simply fade away as chinese society order and in strengthening belief in the supernatural. they urged was reformed. unfortunately,instead of passing away,the ties careful handling of the tradition in order not to “drive out one between the missionaries and the Western colonial powers have devil only to let in seven” (p. 620). been manipulated to such amagnitude that the chinese church in light of later historical developments, the prophetic in- has had to live under their shadow down to the present. from sights of some participants of the 1907 conference areamazing. the vantage point of 2007, we can ask some hardquestions: Did still, the pace, scope, and depth of social and cultural changes in the missionaries in 1907 see fully the importance of the issue china in the early twentieth century far surpassed their boldest and the harm it could cause to the church? could the result have estimation. in 1907 the missionary community’s awareness of been different had the majority of the missionary community the coming crisis and turmoil remained weak, and it could by embraced the outlook of Bolwig and hoste? thereare no easy no means counterbalance the overwhelming mood of optimism. answers to these questions. still, we cannot help but regret that for most of the missionaries, the coming opportunities seemed the missionaries did not act morereflectively and firmly on this clearly to outweigh the challenges ahead. issue at that time. Concluding Remarks Looking Ahead thechinacentenaryMissionaryconferenceof1907wasanevent seeking at the opening of the new century of Protestant mission of unity,triumph, and hope. it fully manifested the Protestant in china to peer into the future, the 1907 conference sounded missionary consensus of the previous century,ithighlighted the overwhelmingly hopeful and optimistic.all of the speeches fore- missionaries’ vision of transforming china into achristian na- casting the futureheralded the country’s ongoing cultural and tion or civilization, and it projected abright pictureofchristian social transformations as signs of the coming of the kingdom of advance in the new century.the thinking and policies embodied God in that ancient land. in the new century,itwas predicted, this in the conference resolutions and other documents werelargely trend would continue, and the christian missionary movement inherited from the missionary movement of the previous century wouldhavetremendousopportunities.thewordsofc.e.ewing and werestrongly colored by achristendom outlook and trium- of the american Boardofcommissioners for foreign Missions phalism. standing at the turn of the century,the missionaries ap- aretypical and telling: “the kingdom is coming in china. ...the parently did not see any need to make fundamental adjustments leaven is in, the fireislighted; the loaf is rising fast. anew vital or to reorient the missionary movement in china. force is within, and the uplift of china is sure. he who doubts is standing today at the turn of another century and looking deceived. ...our earnesthopeis this—thatthekingdom ofchrist back at the conference of 1907, we areperhaps most struck by the shall come in china. let therebenomorelooking back, no more sharp contrast between the missionaries’ expectations and the dull-eyed pessimism. the day of the croaker [complainer] is past; historicalrealityofthetwentiethcentury.inlessthanadecadethe the day of the worker is now....Weare heretosave, not merely Protestant missionary consensusthatfeaturedsoprominently in souls, but anation; not the church, but china; not to point the 1907washopelesslysmashedbyfundamentalist-liberaldivisions way for afew,but for all; not to make small demands, but claim withinthemissionarycommunity.outsidethechurchtherewere china for christ; to sow the seed of the kingdom broadcast over even moresurprises. Just four years later the Qing Dynasty,upon the land” (pp. 86–87). having weathered aturbulent century, which the missionaries laid so much hope, was overthrown, and

68 international Bulletin of Missionary research,Vol. 32, no. 2 Ourfull-time Mission and Evangelism facultymembers include: “I love the PhD program in Intercultural Studies. Richard R. Cook, PhD It combines global breadth, intellectual depth, Mission Historyand Global Christianity and apassion for effective missional thinking and Harold A. Netland, PhD Religion and Intercultural Studies practice. Ihave gained exposure and mentoring John W. Nyquist, PhD from outstanding professors, and Ihave learned Evangelism and Discipleship intellectual and research skills that Ineeded to Craig Ott, PhD take the next step of leadership in my field.” Church Planting and Contextualization James F. Plueddemann, PhD —Doctoral student Rick Richardson is an associate Leadership and Education RobertJ.Priest, PhD professor and director of the MA in evangelism Anthropology and Intercultural Studies program at Wheaton College. Tite Tiénou, PhD Theology of Mission and Ethnicity

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Contactour Admissions Office today: 800.583.6654 TrinityEvangelical DivinitySchool |2065 Half DayRoad,Deerfield,IL60015 |www.teds.edu thecountrychangedpermanentlybothsociallyandculturally.far surprising and totally unanticipated that the whole conference from witnessing the triumph of christ’s kingdom in china, the looks rather beside the point, if not tragic. new century brought the church even worse ordeals than those as we stand on the threshold of the thirdcentury of the experiencedinthenineteenthcentury.afterashort-livedharmony Protestant movement in china, it is not difficult for us to see betweenchurchandsocietyinthe1910s,thechristiancommunity similarities between the church in china then and now.the found itself under relentless attack from rationalism, scientism, church then recovered from the Boxer rebellion. after enduring and revolutionary ideologies. far from being forgotten as time tremendous hardships from the mid-1950s through the cultural passed, the unfortunate historical ties between christianity and revolution, the church miraculously “resurrected” in the 1980s Westerncolonialismbecameastigmaforthechinesechurch.the and has since experienced amazing growth both in number and culmination came during the cultural revolution of the 1960s, influence. if history can repeat, however,isitpossible for the when the church lost all right to exist and was suppressed. in tragedy of the 1907 conference’s misreading of its times and the the 1907 conference’s “Memorial to the home church,” thereis futuretorecur in our day as well? Guarding against misread- apregnant, almost fateful statement: “the judgment of history ings is not dependent solely on what the church itself does. has frequently reversed contemporary judgments as to what other agents and other factors arealso at work. in any case, if was failureand what was success” (p. 367). Based on what the we remain humble beforetwo decades of unprecedented church chinese church went through in the first half of the twentieth growth; if we courageously face existing problems and poten- century,wehave to acknowledge that history’s judgment has tial difficulties and make timely adjustments; and especially if long since been rendered on many aspects of the 1907 conference we reflect appropriately on the two major legacies of the 1907 and the whole movement it represented. yetthereisnoneed to conference—the mixing of the Gospel and civilization and the point our fingers in judgment or scorn at our predecessors of one ties between mission and colonialism—then thereisreason for hundredyearsago,forthepeopleofeverytimeandcircumstance, optimism that the tragedy of 1907 can be prevented from hap- including our own, have their own blind spots. nevertheless, the pening again. this is perhaps the best tribute we can pay to our courseofhistoricaldevelopmentfollowingtheconferencewasso predecessors of acentury ago. Notes 1. in recent years the traditional view that Morrison was the first (shanghai: Methodist Publishing house, 1907). also, the following Protestant missionary to china has been challenged by scholars volume, containing nationwide surveys of missions and churches, from mainland china. they argue that the Dutch Presbyterian was published beforethe conference: Donald MacGillivary,ed., missionaries who arrived in taiwan in the seventeenth century aCentury of Protestant Missions in China (1807–1907) (shanghai: should be considered the first ones to reach china. nevertheless, american Presbyterian Mission Press, 1907). these three volumes most scholars agree that Morrison’s arrival in 1807 marks the real arethe major sources for the study of the centenary conference. beginning of the Protestant movement that swept the entirecountry 4. see James alan Patterson, “the loss of aProtestant Missionary in the next two centuries. see yanKe-jia, “Malixun chuan Jiao shi consensus: foreign Missions and the fundamentalist-Modernist ye de hui Gu yu Ping Jia” (a retrospect and appraisal of robert conflict,”inEarthenVessels:americanEvangelicalsandForeignMissions, Morrison’s Mission Work), in Chuan Jiao Yundong yu Zhong Guo 1880–1980,ed.Joela.carpenterandWilbertr.shenk(Grandrapids: Jiao Hui (the Missionary Movement and the chinese church), ed. eerdmans, 1990), pp. 73–91. the missionary consensus provides a china christian council and national committee of the three-self caution against exaggeration of the differences between hudson PatrioticMovement (Beijing: Press of religious culture, 2007), taylor and . they differed mostly on the focus of p. 67. mission rather than in overarching theological and missiological 2. allchinese participants were categorized as “visitors” and had no orientation and thus did not break the overall missionary consensus. right to vote. see “conference Directory” in Records, China Centenary see lauren f. Pfister,“rethinking Mission in china: James hudson Missionary Conference,ed. centenary conference committee taylor and timothy richard,” in The Imperial Horizons of British (shanghai: Methodist Publishing house, 1907), pp. 785–808. During Protestant Missions, 1880–1914,ed. andrew Porter (Grand rapids: the afternoon of april 27 agroup of chinese pastors was invited eerdmans, 2003), pp. 183–212. to the platform and was welcomed by the conference during the 5. see M. searle Bates, “the theology of american Missionaries in discussion of “chinese Ministry” (see Records,pp. xxiii, 470–71; china, 1900–1950,” in The Missionary Enterprise in China and america, hereafter,page references in the text aretoRecords). ed. John King fairbank (cambridge, Mass.: harvarduniv.Press, 3. Besides Records,avolume of speeches, discussions, and sermons 1974), p. 143. was compiled and published as addresses Public and devotional 6. addresses Public and devotional,pp. 52–53.

70 international Bulletin of Missionary research,Vol. 32, no. 2