History Of Methodist Reform, Volume I - Media Sabda Org

METHODIST REFORM
Edward J. Drinkhouse, M.D., D.D.
APPENDIX H
THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
The facts herewith submitted were compiled by the late Missionary Secretary, Rev. T. B.
Coulburn, with supplementary matter furnished from other sources.
The Methodist Protestant Church has had in existence a Board of Missions almost from the
beginning of its history. At the first General Conference, in May, 1834, a Board consisting of twelve
members was formed, of which Rev. Dr. S. K. Jennings was chairman, and was located in Baltimore,
Md. A few tentative efforts were not long after made to effect a location of foreign work, but they
failed, as instanced in the body of the "History of Methodist Reform." In 1850 the location of the
Board was changed to Pittsburgh, Pa., and finally to Springfield, O. Until about the year 1875,
however, nearly all the funds raised were expended in home work, or in such outlying territory as
Oregon. Individual churches, notably that of East Baltimore, Md., under the pastorate of Rev. J. T.
Murray, D.D., and his devoted wife, had made efforts to assist in foreign missionary work, but the
Church as such did not accomplish much or effect any thorough organization for this purpose until
after the reunion of the divided Church in 1877. The ensuing General Conference at Pittsburgh, Pa.,
in 1880, found itself confronted with providential indications that it was time to arouse and enter the
foreign field for Christ and the denomination. A new Board of Home and Foreign Missions was
formed, consisting of L. W. Bates, C. S. Evans, A. H. Trumbo, H. Rose, S. K. Spahr, W. W. White,
W. M. McConkey, J. M. Johnson, and N. A. Jones. Rev. C. H. Williams was elected Corresponding
Secretary.
At the same quadrennial session the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, which had been
organized in Pittsburgh the previous February, was recognized as one of the permanent agencies of
the Church. See Appendix F for full history.
The Board of Home and Foreign Missions was continued under this name for the ensuing eight
years, having the oversight of the double work at home and abroad. In May, 1884, however, the
General Conference, then in session in Baltimore, Md., elected nine members of the Board: T. B.
Graham, G. B. McElroy, T. H. Colhouer, O. V. W. Chandler, Benjamin Stout, W. W. McCaslin, A.
H. Widney, W. Porteus, and T. Douglass. Rev. F. T. Tagg was also chosen Corresponding Secretary.
New life was thrown into the work by the diligence and energy of the Secretary, new lines of work
were opened, and the interest of the Church in foreign missions so stimulated, that at the ensuing
General Conference of May, 1888, at Adrian, Mich., it was found that the cause had gained sufficient
prominence as to justify even more aggressive effort in its behalf. Accordingly a new board,
designated as the Board of Foreign Missions, was formed, and empowered "to establish missions in
foreign lands, employ missionaries, fix their salaries, and change or remove them as the interest of
the Church may demand, and to control and apply all the funds in its treasury," etc. The members
chosen to compose this Board were: T. B. Graham, L. W. Bates, G. B. McElroy, C. S. Evans, O. V.
W. Chandler, T. J. Ogburn, W. W. White, W. W. McCaslin, and C. J. Yingling. F. T. Tagg was
unanimously continued as Corresponding Secretary, and entered with renewed zeal upon his