Publishing history: Replaced the Church Record, which ran from 1830 to 1849. In 1876 the name was changed to Church Missionary Intelligencer and Record: A Monthly Record of Missionary Information. In 1893 the name was changed back to Church Missionary Intelligencer: A Monthly Journal of Missionary Information. Superceded by the Church Missionary Review in 1907.
The Church Missionary Society (CMS) was started in 1799 in England by a group of Anglican laypeople and clergy who had evangelical sympathies. The CMS wanted to convert "the heathen" - that is non-christians and participated in social activism such as campaigns against slavery and educational programs for the underprivileged. The CMS played a particularly important role in the Canadian West as it worked to convert and "civilize" the First Nations people. They did this through religious ministry and education, starting schools, particularly for First Nations. CMS continued to support the Canadian work until the turn of the century when it adopted a plan of gradual withdrawal and the Canadian Church had to become self-supporting.
Scope and Content
Reel 1 - CMS Finding Aid
Reel 2-53 - CMS records (A75-A126)
Finding Aids
Finding aids available. See Microfilm collections - Church Missionary Society
Restrictions
No copies without written permission from Library and Archives Canada.
"This short book fills a notable gap. It is the only popular introduction in English to the Christians of the Holy Land. .... The rich mosaic of the Christian presence is surveyed in a review of the story of the Churches of the Middle East down the centuries. The reader is introduced to the different Orthodox traditions, the growth of the Catholic Churches and the formation of the more recent Protestant (including Anglican) denominations". -- Intro., p. iii.
Contents: Introduction -- Setting the scene -- The start of the story -- A clearer picture of people and places -- The Holy Sepulchre -- Diversity -- Muslims and momophysites -- Crusaders and Catholics -- Eastern Christians united with Rome -- Protestant missionary activity -- Anglicans in Jerusalem -- Younger Protestant Churches.-- Christians and Jews -- The world's painful apex -- The Christian Church of the Middle East (diagram).