Council for World Mission archive

Records of the Council for World Mission (from 1977) and its predecessor bodies, including the London Missionary Society (1795-1966) and Commonwealth (formerly Colonial) Missionary Society (1836-1966). Also includes some material for the Congregational Council for World Mission (1966-1977), which re...

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Date(s) of creation: 1764-2017
Level: Collection
Format: Archive           

Reference number: CWM
Summary: Records of the Council for World Mission (from 1977) and its predecessor bodies, including the London Missionary Society (1795-1966) and Commonwealth (formerly Colonial) Missionary Society (1836-1966). Also includes some material for the Congregational Council for World Mission (1966-1977), which reflects the administrative changes and restructuring leading up to the creation of the Council for World Mission in 1977. Records for this period have been arranged and listed as a continuation of the London Missionary Society material as in many cases changes to administrative structures took place gradually.
Main author: CWM Ltd
Other authors: Council for World Mission (UK) ; Council for World Mission ; Council for World Mission (Congregational and Reformed) ; Congregational Council for World Mission ; London Missionary Society ; The Missionary Society ; Commonwealth Missionary Society ; Colonial Missionary Society
Extent: 2,966 boxes/loose volumes & additional maps, blueprints & pictures
Admin history: The Council for World Mission (CWM) is a worldwide partnership of Christian churches. The 32 members are committed to sharing their resources of money, people, skills and insights globally to carry out God's mission locally. CWM was created in 1977 and incorporates the London Missionary Society (1795), the Commonwealth Missionary Society (1836) and the (English) Presbyterian Board of Missions (1847). During the period after 1945, the work of the London Missionary Society (LMS) evolved from traditional mission fieldwork to a more democrati ... View more
Acquisition: Deposited on indefinite loan by the Council for World Mission in 1973 (Acc. No. 7). Further deposits were made in 2005 (Acc. No. 2005/011), 2007 (Acc. No. 2007/026), 2008 (Acc. No. 2008/003 and 2008/012), 2009 (Acc. No. 2009/021), 2011 (Acc. No. 2011/077) and 2012 (Acc. No. 2012/076).
Accruals: Further accruals to the Council for World Mission archive are expected.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged by the constituent parts of the organisation - papers of the Council for World Mission from 1977; papers of the London Missionary Society comprising one main accession, 1795-1940, three accruals, 1941-1950, 1951-1960, and 1961-1970, additional materials for the period 1971-1977, and papers of the Commonwealth Missionary Society, 1836-1870.
Access status: Restrictions
Access conditions: Candidates' papers and other records containing personal information such as minutes are subject to access restrictions in compliance with the Data Protection Act. Otherwise, papers are unrestricted.
Copyright: Copyright held by Council for World Mission unless otherwise indicated.
User restrictions: For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance
Language: English
Multiple languages
Finding aids: An unpublished Guide to the London Missionary Society Archive was originally prepared by Hannah Lowery in 1994. This has been subject to a number of revisions and an up-to-date version is available on the SOAS Digital Library at https://digital.soas.ac.uk/AA00000885 Unpublished lists for the three accruals to the collection, 1941-1950, 1951-1960 and 1961-1970 and detailed lists for sections of the London Missionary Society papers, including early missionary correspondence (to c.1899), journals and missionary deputations, 1795-c.1900, reports, 1866-1939, candidates papers and missionary portraits, are available in the Special Collections Reading Room. Digitised versions of these lists are available on the SOAS Digital Library at https://digital.soas.ac.uk/mref A separate handlist has been prepared for the papers of the Congregational Missionary Society (CWM/CMS). A guide to the CWM collection was prepared by the Rev C. Stuart Craig, published by SOAS in 1973, and revised in 1980.
Copies: The main accession of London Missionary Society papers, 1795-1940, and the first accrual, 1941-1950, have been published on microfiche by IDC Publishers (now Brill). Copies are held at a number of research libraries around the world.
Related material: SOAS, University of London, also holds the Council for World Mission Library of c.13,000 books and pamphlets, and papers of the Presbyterian Church of England Foreign Missions Committee (Ref: PCE) and Women's Missionary Association (Ref: PCE/WMA). A separate catalogue for the Presbyterian material is available. Items in the CWM Library have been catalogued onto the SOAS Library catalogue, available at https://library.soas.ac.uk/ All items have the classmark prefix 'CWML'. The collection of artefacts and oil paintings formerly be ... View more
Publications: Papers from the CWM archive have been used in the compilation of the following official histories: 'The History of the London Missionary Society, 1795-1895', by Richard Lovett (Oxford University Press, 1899); 'A History of the London Missionary Society, 1895-1945', by Norman Goodall (Oxford University Press, 1954), and 'Gales of Change: Responding to a Shifting Missionary Context. The Story of the London Missionary Society, 1945-1977', edited by Bernard Thorogood (WCC Publications, Geneva, 1944).
Format: Archive           
Subjects:
Access Points - Person, Corporate & Family Names:
Name Code Person, Corporate or Family Name Type of Entity
GB/NNAF/C15657 Colonial Missionary Society Corporate
GB/NNAF/C80574 Commonwealth Missionary Society Corporate
GB/SOASNAF/C101 Congregational Missionary Society Corporate
GB/NNAF/C4978 Council for World Mission Corporate
GB/SOASNAF/C107 Congregational Council for World Mission Corporate
GB/NNAF/C54634 London Missionary Society Corporate
GB/SOASNAF/C565 CWM Ltd Corporate
Access Points - Places:
Place Code Place Name
6251999 Canada
7729891 Caribbean
7729894 Eastern Asia
7729886 Central Africa
7729889 Eastern Africa
7729884 Eastern Europe
6255149 North America
6255151 Oceania
7729895 Southern Asia
7729896 South Eastern Asia
9406051 Southern Africa
6255148 Europe