| Admin history: |
The Missionary Society of the United Methodist Free Churches (UMFC) was formed in 1857, by the union of the Wesleyan Methodist Association (formed in 1835) and the Wesleyan Reform Society (formed 1849). The Protestant Methodists (formed 1827) and the Armenian Methodists (formed 1831) had previously joined the Wesleyan Methodist Association in 1837.
At the time of the union, the Wesleyan Methodist Association had several missions in Jamaica and the Australian colonies. The UMFC developed these, and opened entirely new missions in West Africa, East Africa, China, Tasmania and New Zealand. The overseas missionary work of the UMFC was directed by a Foreign Missionary Committee, formed in 1860. A special Foreign Mission Fund was started soon after.
In 1859, the UMFC admitted a body of native Christians of Sierra Leone to the missionary Connexion. This turned attention to West Africa and Rev. Joseph New, and soon after Rev. Charles Warboys, were sent to Sierra Leone. Conditions in the area were unfavourable and many missionaries suffered illness, but by 1902 there were 8 stations and 5 outstations in West Africa.
In 1861, Rev. Thomas Wakefield landed in East Africa. He was joined by Rev. Charles New in the latter part of 1862. New died in 1874, whilst trying to establish a mission on the Tana River [Kenya]. There was also a failed attempt to open work among the Wa Nyika race, near the Ribé [Kenya] and along the coast of the Indian Ocean. However, continued perseverance eventually lead to progress in the districts of Ribé and Tana.
Work in China began in 1864, when Rev. Willam R. Fuller opened the mission in Ningpo [Ningbo]. The following year Fuller was joined by Rev. John Mara and Rev. Frederick Galpin. From time to time further missionaries were sent out. A hospital was opened in Ningpo [Ningbo] in 1899, and a college in 1906. In 1878 the work in China was extended to Wenchow [Wenzhou], some 200 miles north of Ningpo [Ningbo]. The first UMFC missionary to arrive in Wenchow [Wenzhou] was Robert Inkerman Exley. Exley died in 1881 and in 1882 he was succeeded by W. E. Soothill, who was the real builder of the Wenchow [Wenzhou] mission. In 1898 Dr. Alfred Hogg went out to Wenchow [Wenzhou] as the first medical missionary of the UMFC. The mission in Wenchow [Wenzhou] opened a college in 1903, and a hospital in 1906. By 1902 there were over 5000 church members in the Ningpo and Wenchow Districts combined.
The mission to Jamaica began through local Methodists in 1838 with the first missionary from the UK, the Rev M Baxter, dispatched in 1842. By 1866 the Jamaica Mission had expanded to undertake work at Bocas del Toro, on the Isthmus of Panama, in order to minister to the Jamaicans who has settled there in search of employment.
Missionary work in Australasia continued but moved towards autonomy at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1892, the UMFC Missions in Australia and Tasmania formed two independent 'Assemblies'. In 1896 the UMFC joined with the Bible Christians and Wesleyans in New Zealand to form the Methodist Church of New Zealand and, in 1902, the same partners entered upon a similar union in Australia.
The Ladies' Missionary Auxiliaries of the UMFC was founded in 1897 through the influence and perusaion of Mrs Vivian of the Leeds and Bradford District. The UMFC Home and Foreign Missions Annual Report of 1900 records the aims and objectives of the Ladies' Missionary Auxiliary. Personnel and funds were supplied to assist with the work of the UMFC missions in all its areas of evangelism.
In 1907 the United Methodist Free Churches merged with the Methodist New Connexion and the Bible Christians to form the United Methodist Church, and the overseas missionary activity of all three was combined under the United Methodist Missionary Society. At the point of union the UMFC had 20,191 overseas members served by 30 missionaries.
With the union of the United Methodist Church, the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and the Primitive Methodist Church, in 1932, the work of the UMMS merged with that of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society (WMMS) and the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society (PMMS), to form the Methodist Missionary Society (MMS).
Further reading:
Rev. Oliver A. Beckerlegge, 'A Bibliography of the United Methodist Free Churches' (Gage Postal Books, 1988).
Thomas Wakefield, 'Our Missionary Enterprise in East Africa. A Brief Sketch'.
R. Elliott Kendall, 'Charles New and the East Africa Mission' ( Kenya Literature Bureau, 1978).
W.E. Soothill, 'A Mission in China' (Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier, 1907). |
The Missionary Society of the United Methodist Free Churches (UMFC) was formed in 1857, by the union of the Wesleyan Methodist Association (formed in 1835) and the Wesleyan Reform Society (formed 1849). The Protestant Methodists (formed 1827) and the Armenian Methodists (formed 1831) had previously joined the Wesleyan Methodist Association in 1837.
At the time of the union, the Wesleyan Methodist Association had several missions in Jamaica and the Australian colonies. The UMFC developed these, and opened entirely new missions in West Africa, E ... View more |
| Related material: |
SOAS holds the records of the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society which include the personal papers of United Methodist Free Church missionaries. These are located in the biographical series of the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society and include the papers of William Edward Soothill.
SOAS also holds the Methodist Missionary Society Library, consisting of approximately 7,000 books and pamphlets. The Library includes The Missionary Echo (1894-1907) and Reports of the Home and Foreign Missions of the United Methodist Free Churches (1868-1907). The Methodist Missionary Society Library is included in the on-line catalogue of SOAS Library (http://library.soas.ac.uk/); books within the the Methodist Missionary Society Library can be recognized by the prefix MMSL. |
SOAS holds the records of the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society which include the personal papers of United Methodist Free Church missionaries. These are located in the biographical series of the (Wesleyan) Methodist Missionary Society and include the papers of William Edward Soothill.
SOAS also holds the Methodist Missionary Society Library, consisting of approximately 7,000 books and pamphlets. The Library includes The Missionary Echo (1894-1907) and Reports of the Home and Foreign Missions of the United Methodist Free Churches (1868- ... View more |
