The below timeline of events, categorised by geography, is by no
means exhaustive but is an outline the story of
Methodist Mission Overseas marked by significant events.
For more information about the Methodist Missionary Archives at SOAS consult the guide linked below.
Continental Europe and the Middle East
Methodism in France, planted in Wesley's lifetime, became self-governing in the mid-19th century but retained close links with the British Conference. Elsewhere in Europe, both British and American Methodism planted churches, with migrants returning from America bringing their allegiance back with them. Churches relating to the USA were clustered in Conferences of the United Methodist Church; most of those linked with Britain eventually united with kindred Churches.
1769
First society in Gibraltar begun by Sergeant Ince
1791
Guernsey-man Mahy launches mission in Normandy, perseveres throughout French Revolution and war years
1792
Armour resurrects class in Gibraltar
1804
M`Mullen stationed at Gibraltar; dies of yellow fever within a month
1808
Gibraltar work set on permanent footing with Griffith's appointment
1818
Cook appointed to Paris, start of 40-year ministry
1823-31
Palestine listed on WM stations, but no appointment made
1824-43
Missionaries stationed in Malta; serve British garrison, but withdrawn after failure to win Maltese
1825-41
Attempts to evangelize in southern Spain from Gibraltar founder due to RC opposition
1826-43
Short-lived work in Stockholm
1827-34
At the invitation of British residents, Croggan stationed in Zante, Ionian Isles, hoping in vain to extend work to mainland Greece
1830-34
Station opened briefly and ineffectually in Alexandria
1831
German trader Muller, converted in London, establishes society in home town of Winnenden, works for 23 years
1839-58
WMA work in Hamburg
1852
Semi-autonomous French Conference, first of the Affiliated Conferences; Cook first President
1853
Chegwin starts class-meeting at Palhal Mines, Portugal
1858-64
German work revived and extended under Lyth's leadership
1861
Italy work begins in Florence; Henry Pigott sent to Italy
1865
Barratt succeeds Lyth in Germany, serves 27 years
1868
Brown sent as lay agent to Barcelona
First chapel built in Porto - work supervised from Gibraltar
1871
Following Italian unification, work begins in Rome
Moreton, first missionary sent to Portugal, begins 43-year ministry in Porto
1879
Brown ordained, extends work to Balearic Islands
1892
Vienna; Magdeburg, seminary
1897
WM and MEC unite in Germany
1904
WM, MEC and Evangelical Free Church of Italy merged
1905
Casa Materna children's home opens in Naples
1939
French Conference unites with Eglise Réformée de France; minority in Midi form Eglise Evangélique Méthodiste
1946
MEC joins Italy District of British Conference
1955
Spanish Methodist Church unites with Spanish Evangelical Church
1962
Italy autonomy
1968
Post-war Consultative Conference of European Methodist Churches (MEC-related) re-formed as European Methodist Council
1975
Italian Methodists covenant with Waldensian Church with one Synod but individual identities
1977
English Church at rue Roquépine, Paris, closed
1993
European Methodist Council reshaped with British and Irish membership
1996
Portugal autonomy
1997
Gibraltar and Malta recognized as circuits of the British Conference
Southern and South Central Africa
Southern Africa in the 19th century comprised an evolving collection of British, German and Portuguese Colonies, Boer Republics, and proudly independent kingdoms, alongside warring and migrating African peoples. In the 20th century these fluid boundaries stabilized and eventually South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia achieved independence. The Union of South Africa (1909) became a Republic in 1961 and left the Commonwealth. From 1948 successive National Party administrations formalized and extended the existing system of segregation and denial of rights into the legal system of apartheid , which lasted until the 1990s. Notable Methodists in the struggle for freedom included Enoch Sontonga, author of the anthem Nkosi Sikele'iAfrika, and Nelson Mandela.
1806
Middlemiss forms a society at Cape Town
1813
Kendrick requests a missionary
1814
McKenny briefly at Cape Town
1815-16
B Shaw arrives Cape Town , moves on to Lilifontein
1816
Links made 'assistant missionary'
1823
W Shaw accompanies settlers to Albany ( Eastern Cape )
Preaching allowed at Cape Town
1823
W Shaw tours Kaffraria; Wesleyville founded
1824
Threlfall, Jaeger and Links murdered in Namibia
1830
Ndebele people under Mzilikazi break from the Zulu nation under Shaka and settle around Bulawayo
1833
Boyce completes first Xhose (Kafir) grammar
Baralong migrations
1834
Sixth Cape Frontier war; several mission stations destroyed
Abolition of slavery
1836
Great Trek begins
1837
W Shaw extends outreach to Natal
1841
Lovedale undenominational mission founded
1846
Xhosa New Testament published
1855
Murder of Thomas at Beecham Wood
1856
Boyce completes Xhosa Old Testament
1857
Chief Molena founds Mafeking society
1862
Ladies' Society sends Lamb to Natal
1866
Bishop Taylor's evangelistic tour
1867
Healdtown Training Institution founded
1870
Ladies' Society sends Miss Beauchamp to Emfundesweni
1871
PM work begins on Orange River
1872
Provincial Synods established
1873
Outreach to Transvaal
1874
Wesleyan Native Home Mission originated in Natal
1883
Autonomous South African Conference set up; WMMS retains Transvaal and Swaziland
1884
5000 acre Kilnerton site bought, Pretoria
1886
Watkins and Msimang tour Zululand
Gold discovered on Witwatersrand
1887
First chapel in Johannesburg
1889
Buckingham's PM expedition sets out for 'South Central Africa' (Zambia)
1891
Watkins and Shimmin follow Rhodes' pioneer column to Rhodesia
Salisbury and Epworth settlements begun
1893
Buckingham reaches 'South Central Africa' after journey lasting 4 years 8 months
Weavind meets Mashaba in Mozambique
1894
Work starts in Matabeleland ; Mashonaland District created
1896
Moleli and Anta murdered
1897
Nkosi Sikele'iAfrika first sung, at a WM ordination service
Stanlake founds Tegwani Training Institution
1898
Six Ndebele baptized
1899
Nenguwo Methodist School founded
1901
Shona gospels published
1904
Three African ministers ordained in Mashonaland
1907
Financial crisis in Transvaal mission - million shillings raised
1912
White (District Chairman) extends WM work north of Zambezi
1913
WM work in N Rhodesia begins; Gray at Chipembi
Osborn begins medical work in S Rhodesia
1914
Smith chairs first General Missionary Conference of N Rhodesia
1915
Nenguwo School changes name to Waddilove after receiving a grant from Sir Josiah Waddilove
1930
Transvaal/Swaziland District transferred to S Africa Conference
1936
United Missions in the Copperbelt
1953
Central African Federation formed from Southern Rhodesia (partially self-governing from 1923), Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland
1960
Rusike establishes Children's Home at Epworth
1963
Break-up of Central African Federation as N Rhodesia became Zambia and Nyasaland became Malawi
Rhodesia Methodist District divided into four Areas each with its own Chairman and Secretary, providing greater opportunities for African ministers to exercise leadership
1964
Mokitimi elected the first African President of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa
1965
United Church of Zambia inaugurated
Ndhlela appointed first African Chairman of Rhodesia District
1977
Zimbabwe District (formerly Rhodesia) becomes autonomous Conference
1978
Abduction - and return - of 400 Tegwani students in the course of the liberation struggle
1980
Zimbabwe becomes independent nation; Banana (Methodist minister) first President
1985
Kumalos murdered at Thekwane (formerly Tegwani)
East Africa
The area where the UMFC established work, and where from 1907 that work was developed by the new United Methodist Church which succeeded UMFC, lies in the territory which from 1920 became the Kenya Colony. It had been recognized as a British sphere of influence at the Treaty of Berlin in 1885 and was governed by the Imperial British East Africa Company from 1888. In 1895 it became part of British East Africa, a Protectorate which included the present Uganda . A comity agreement with other missions confined the Methodist presence to the coastal and Meru areas for a time, but it gradually extended to Nairobi. Only after autonomy did the Methodist Church Kenya begin outreach into the Northern Territory and westwards to Lake Victoria and later take some small congregations in Uganda and Tanzania under its wing.
1862
Krapf and Wakefield establish mission station at Ribe
1863-75
Wakefield joined by New
1870
First baptisms at Ribe
1871
New's expedition to Kilimanjaro
1880-89
During seconded from Sierra Leone
1880
British East Africa Company formed
1884
Start of work at Golbanti in the Tana River area
1886
Houghtons murdered in Maasai raid after five months at Golbanti
1887
Wakefield relocates to Britain after 27 years' service
1896
First baptisms at Golbanti
1899
John Mgomba, first Kenyan minister, ordained
1909
First United Missionary Conference, Nairobi
UMC work extended to Meru area
1913-23
Worthington pioneers Meru work
1914-27
Neukirchen Mission's work on Tana River taken over due to World War I
1916
First baptisms in Meru
1924
United Missionary Council formed
1926
Alliance High School opened
1929
Beresford Memorial Hospital opened at Maua
1934
Philip M'Inoti, first minister from Meru, ordained
1936
Tana River work reverts to Neukirchen Mission
Kaaga Girls' (boarding) School opens
1947
Teacher training begins at Ribe and Meru
1948
Tana River work bequeathed to Methodists again; dispensary at Ngao acquired
1950
Ngao Hospital opened
1952-59
Mau-Mau uprising
1955
Inauguration of St Paul 's United Theological College Limuru
1956
Tana River Church becomes Methodist
1963
Kenya Independence
1966
Kaaga School for Deaf Children started
1968
KMC autonomous: Ronald M`gong`o first President
Port Reitz School for physically handicapped children opens
1976
Negotiations for union with Anglicans and Presbyterians abandoned
1977
Community Based Health Care begun at Maua
1983
Maasai Mission begins
1985
Self-sown Methodists in Jinja, Uganda, join MCK
1987
Several Tanzanian congregations around Lake Victoria join MCK
1988
First Ugandan minister ordained
1997
Kenya Methodist University founded at Kaaga (subsequently expanded with campuses in Nairobi and Mombasa)
2002
Palliative Care programme for people with AIDS begun at Maua
West Africa
'The term Western Africa is generally applied to that part of the vast continent which lies between the Great Desert on the north, the Equator on the south, the Atlantic on the west, and the river Niger on the east.' So wrote William Moister in 1869. The eastern limit had to be redefined with the coming of PM missions, and in 1979 MMS established a link with West Cameroun, formerly a German colony.
1792
223 members recorded in Sierra Leone
1796
Abortive mission to the Fula
1807
Methodists in Sierra Leone ask for a missionary
British parliament bans slave trade
1811
Warren and three schoolmasters sent to Sierra Leone; Warren survives eight months
1821
Morgan and Baker start work in The Gambia
Rawdon Street society, Freetown, secedes and in 1828 forms 'West African Methodist Church'
1823
Settlement founded on Macarthy's Island (The Gambia)
1828
Six missionaries die in Sierra Leone in the course of a single year
West African Methodist Church separates from Sierra Leone mission
1829
May, Yoruba convert in Freetown, becomes 'assistant missionary'
1831
Bible Band in Cape Coast holds first meeting
1834
Conference responds promptly to request from Cape Coast for Bibles and missionary
1835
Dunwell arrives at Cape Coast; survives six months
1836
McBrair appointed for translation work at Macarthy's Island
1837
Freeman lands at Cape Coast
Elizabeth Waldron starts Girls' School at Cape Coast
1839 & 41
Freeman's expeditions to Ashanti
1842
Freeman's journey to Nigeria, Dahomey (Bénin) and Togo
1843
High School and Training Institution opened in Freetown
1845
Wharton from Grenada begins 28-year ministry in Ghana
1851
British rule established in Lagos
1854
Gardiner first European missionary in Lagos
1857
Investigations into overspending in the Gold Coast prompt Freeman's resignation
1859
West African Methodist Church in Sierra Leone affiliates to UMFC
1867
Missionaries expelled from Abeokuta
1870
PM work begins on Fernando Po (Equatorial Guinea)
1871-4
Ashanti War in Ghana
1872
Tregaskis secures repeal of Land Tax in Sierra Leone
1873
Freeman returns to ministry in Ghana
1874
Knight, Sierra Leone, first African District Chairman
New High School in Freetown, with May, African headmaster
1876
High School opened at Cape Coast
1878
Lagos Boys' High School
1879
Lagos Girls' High School
1879
During, African UMFC minister in Freetown, goes to Kenya as missionary
1880
Freetown Girls' High School
The Gambia District staffed entirely by African ministers for next ten years
Girls' High School begun at Cape Coast
1883
Book Depot opened at Cape Coast
Halligey develops work among the Yoruba in Nigeria
1886
Lagos District separated from Gold Coast; Halligey Chairman
1888
Roe develops work in Togo
1892
UMFC in Sierra Leone establishes Mende mission, and WM work expands beyond Freetown
Kemp starts industrial school at Cape Coast
Co-operation with German Mission in Togo
1893
PM work in Eastern Nigeria begins
1895
Printing press purchased for Cape Coast
1896
Centenary Fund raised in Sierra Leone
Church planted successfully at last in Kumasi
1897
Girls' School opened at Cape Coast
1898
Mende War in Sierra Leone
1899
Mende chief of Bandajuma, Sierra Leone, invites missionaries
1900
Cape Coast Girls' High School
1904
Wesley Deaconesses appointed to Cape Coast
1905
Training institution opened at Ibadan, Nigeria
1912
Wesley Guild promotes medical mission; Ilesha Hospital (Nigeria) founded
Lagos Girls' High School re-organized under Wesley Deaconess
Porto Novo (Bénin) Jubilee
1913
Prophet Harris begins preaching in Côte d'Ivoire
1913
Wesley Guild sponsors medical work in Nigeria; Dr Stephens starts hospital at Ilesa
1914
Local Polity of the Gold Coast District published
1922
Atlantis Press begins publishing for West African readership
1923
Platt discovers Harris Christians in Côte d'Ivoire
1925
New French West Africa District administers Dahomey (Bénin) and Togo (separated from Lagos District) and Côte d'Ivoire
1931
Leprosy work begins at Uzuakoli (Nigeria)
1933
United Teacher Training College at Bubunbu, Sierra Leone
1934
Following Methodist union, the UMC in Sierra Leone separates as West African Methodist Church
1939
West African Inter-District Conference
1946
Inter-Mission Agricultural Training Centre at Asaba on Niger River
1950
Joint ministerial training at Trinity College, Umuahia, begins
1954
New Inter-District Conference proposes a Conference of the Methodist Church in West Africa; proposals agreed in all five Anglophone Synods but eventually shelved
1955
North Ghana Mission launched
1958
Joint ministerial training at Immanuel College, Ibadan, begins
1961
Ghana autonomy
1962
Nigeria autonomy
Faculté de Théologie Protestante de Yaoundé founded
1965
Collapse of Nigeria Church Union scheme due to Methodist lawsuits
1966
Sierra Leone autonomy
1967
Civil War in Nigeria; wives, children, single women missionaries evacuated from Biafra
1968
All missionaries withdrawn from Biafra
Dabou hospital (Côte d'Ivoire) opened
1970
Nigerian war ends; Uzuakoli in ruins
1976
New 'Africanized' constitution adopted by MC Nigeria; '1962 constitution group', largely in the east, separates
1979
Partnership agreement with Presbyterian Church in Cameroun; mission partners
1983
Negotiations for Church Union in Ghana abandoned
1985 Côte d'Ivoire autonomy
1989
Mental health care started at Amaudo, Nigeria
1990
Reunification of MC Nigeria
1991-2002
Civil war in Sierra Leone; Nixon Hospital as well as church life badly affected
1992
Bénin autonomy
1997
Church in Bénin split over (un)constitutional changes
2000
Togo autonomy
2009
The Gambia autonomy
Australia and the Pacific
Australia began to be settled from the late 18th century. Missionaries serving there began work in Aotearoa and Tonga, and Tongans were the pioneers in Fiji and Samoa. (For the sake of clarity, the Friendly Islands are here referred to as Tonga, the Navigators' Islands as Samoa and New Zealand generally as Aotearoa.) Because supply ships were unreliable, the WMMS operated its own from 1840 (managed by the Australasian Conference 1855-73) until 1881, by when there was a more regular shipping service. In both Aotearoa and Australia, Europeans soon outnumbered the indigenous population. The autonomous WM Conference of Australasia took responsibility for the Pacific Island Districts, but its ministers had friends, relations and continued interest in Britain. From 1973 the MMS again sent mission partners to the islands, and from 1964 to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
1812
Class meeting begun in teacher's home, Sydney
1815
Leigh arrives in Sydney
1818
Lawry joins Leigh
Leigh visits Aotearoa
1820
Waddy's class meeting in Hobart
Walker appointed to indigenous work in New South Wales
Leigh returns from sick leave to Aotearoa
1821
Lawry goes to Tonga
1822
Leigh establishes Wesleydale station before returning for health reasons to Australia
1825
First Maori conversion reported
1826
Thomas reaches Tonga after 14-month journey
1827
Wesleydale attacked and destroyed
N Turner transferred to Tonga, diverts Cross from Aotearoa to Tonga
1828
Savaia, first Samoan Christian, converted in Tonga; returns home with some Tongan Methodists and spreads the gospel
1829 & 30
First Tongan and Maori baptisms
1831
First Maori class meeting
Taufa`ahau, founder of Tonga's ruling dynasty, baptized George, proclaims himself King George Tupou I of Tonga
1835
Cross and Cargill sail from Tonga for Fiji
P Turner sails for Samoa, unaware of agreement in London leaving Samoa to LMS
1836-45
McKenny, ex-S Africa and Ceylon stationed as Chairman in New South Wales
1836-48
Tuckfield's ministry among aborigines
1837
Colonists arriving in S Australia include WMs who form a society in Adelaide
1838
WMA in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
Arrival in Fiji of Tongan missionaries, followed by the Calverts, Hunts and Jaggars
Triton begins to supply the island stations
Waterhouse General Superintendent of Missions in Polynesia and Australia
Withdrawal under protest from Samoa
1840
Treaty of Waitangi
1841
Maori New Testament published
1843
Hunt Fiji Chairman
1844
Lawry General Superintendent of Polynesian Missions, based in Auckland
PM in Aotearoa
1845
King Tupou completes unification of Tonga
1846
Boyce arrives in Australia
Triton sold, John Wesley built, sails from Southampton
1848
Beecham's memo to Colonial Secretary protesting on behalf of Maoris at violation of Treaty of Waitangi
Lyth tours Fijian islands on John Wesley
1849
First society on South Island of Aotearoa formed at newly-colonized Christchurch
1850
Thomas leaves Tonga after 33 years
BC in Adelaide
1852
Victoria gold rush begins; Symons begins 16-year ministry to migrants
1853
Young's visit to Australia and the islands prepares for autonomy
King George of Tonga visits Cakobau in Fiji
1854
Cakobau abandons cannibalism and embraces Christianity
1855
Autonomous Australasian Conference, Boyce first President
1856
Thomas returns to Tonga for three more years as Chairman
1857
Thomas persuades Conference to resume work in Samoa
1860
S Baker ordained and sent to Tonga
1862
NC in Adelaide
Baker sides with Tupou in dispute with missionaries, becomes his adviser
1864
UMFC in Aotearoa
1865
NC in Aotearoa
John Wesley founders on a Tongan reef
1866
Draper drowned returning from furlough
1867
John Wesley II built in Aberdeen
T Baker and seven Fijians murdered in Fiji
1868
Caldwell, training for Chinese mission in Melbourne, drowns in China
1869
S Baker returns to Tonga as Chairman after three years in Australia
Whiteley killed during the last of the New Zealand Land Wars (1843-72)
1871
Leong On Tong examined in Chinese by Josiah Cox and accepted as probationer for Chinese mission
1872
W M'Arthur MP and other leading WMs in London lobby for annexation of Fiji
1873
Management of John Wesley II reverts to WMMS
1874
Fiji annexed by Britain
Brown leads mission to Bismarck archipelago (off New Guinea)
1875
Baker author of Tongan constitution
1876
Autonomous BC Conference in South Australia
1878
Blanche Bay murders and reprisals
1880
Baker resigns from WM ministry, installed by Tupou as premier of Tonga
1881
John Wesley II sold for £500
1885
Free Church of Tonga, led by Baker, secedes from WM; Tupou orders all Tongans to join new church
1886
BC in Aotearoa
1890
Baker deported to Aotearoa by High Commissioner Thurston
1892
Indian Mission in Fiji launched to serve indentured plantation workers
1896
WM, BC and UMFC in Aotearoa unite
1900
Methodist union in Australia
1910
New Zealand (Aotearoa) Conference separates from Australia
1913
PM unite with other Methodists in Aotearoa
1924
Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga results from reunion
1964
Fiji and Samoa autonomy
1967
Methodists and others form United Church of PNG and the Solomon Islands
1969
Mission partners to PNG
1973
Barbara Pott, mission partner to Tonga
1974
Mission Partners to Fiji
1977
Uniting Church of Australia formed; Tonga autonomy
1996
United Church of PNG and United Church of the Solomon Islands become separate
China, East and South-East Asia
The opium wars, Taiping movement, Boxer uprising, overthrow of the Manchu dynasty, Sino-Japanese war, civil war, inauguration of the People's Republic, cultural revolution and the new politics of 'reform and opening' form the turbulent backcloth to the two centuries of Protestant mission in China which started with the Scots Presbyterian Morrison in 1807.
In 1958 a new system of romanizing Chinese characters, known as Pinyin , was officially endorsed, replacing the Wade-Giles spelling previously used. Pinyin names are shown in italics.
MMS established links with Chinese diaspora Methodists after the People's Republic expelled foreign missionaries.
1844
Class meeting for soldiers in Hong Kong begun by Rees, later continued by Ross
1845
Farmer promises £1000 for mission in China
1846
Finances oblige Conference to defer China work
1850
Piercy volunteers to work in China at own expense; studies Chinese
1851
Piercy arrives Hong Kong, finds Ross has died, class dispersed; proceeds to Canton ( Guandong )
1853
Beach and Cox formally appointed and ordained; take 'letter of ordination' to Piercy
1856
Second Opium War: missionaries evacuated to Macau
1860
Treaty of Tiantsin
MNC begins work in Tientsin ( Tianjin ), N-E China (Innocent and Hall)
Cox invited to associate with Taiping movement; initiative proves fruitless
1861
Cox settles in Hankow ( Hankou ), Central China
Women's Auxiliary first sends a women worker to China
1864
Porter Smith, first WMMS medical missionary, joins Cox
UMFC sends Fuller to Ningpo (Ningbo), on east coast
1865
Central China becomes separate Wuchang ( Wuhan ) District
Hill arrives in Wuchang
1869
Galpin begins 30 years' ministry in Ningpo
1875
Chi Shoo Nga first Chinese minister ordained by WM
1879
UMFC forms second District around Wenchow ( Wenzhou ), on east coast
Hill seconded for famine relief work in Shanxi
1878-85
WM women workers withdrawn
1881
Hill sets up Central China Prayer Union
Fatshan ( Foshan ) hospital opened by Wenyon
1882
Soothill (later Professor of Chinese at Oxford) begins ministry in Wenchow
1886
BC begin work in Yunnan, S-W China (Vanstone and Thorne)
1887
Pollard and Dymond join BC team
Hankow Women's Hospital founded by WM women
1888
Laymen's Mission set up as distinct organisation in Central China
1891
Argent killed in rioting in central China
1893
Chinese evangelists extend Wuchang District work from Hupeh ( Hubei ) province into Hunan
Dr Alfred Hogg, first UMFC medical missionary, goes to Wenchow
1895
First fully qualified woman WM medical missionary, Ethel Gough, arrives Hankow
1896
Death of Hill
1900
Boxer rising begins: 37 Chinese in North China District (NC) killed
1901
Migrant Methodists from Fuzhou settle in Sarawak
1904
Miao people of S-W China ask for gospel; response spearheaded by Pollard at Shimenkan
1905
BC Hospital opens in Chaotung ( Zhaotong )
1906
Macdonald murdered by pirates when returning by river from Synod
1907
Centenary of first Protestant missionary (Morrison) in China marked by multi-denominational Missionary Conference in Shanghai
1911
Manchu dynasty overthrown government of Republic appeals to churches for prayers
1914
Haigh College opened in Fatshan
1915
Death of Pollard
1925-7
Anti-foreign troubles intensify anti-Christian sentiments; missionaries withdrawn
1932
Seven Districts recognised at Methodist Union
1933
All- China Methodist Conference, Ningbo
1935
Shen Wenching becomes Chairman of Hupeh District (first indigenous Chairman of any overseas District)
1936
T'ao Vuh Sa, Wenchow District Chairman
1937-45
Sino-Japanese War: 70 missionaries and 20 children interned, others constantly on move
1938
New hospital opened at Chaotung
1939
Goldsworthy killed by bandits at Shimenkan
1943
Wong Chung Ho, South China District Chairman
1949
Chu Shui Kwang, South West China District Chairman
People's Republic of China declared, ending civil war
1950
Outbreak of Korean War accelerates governmental pressure for church self-government; missionaries expelled, institutions taken over
1951
Kendall and Stones, last missionaries in Yunnan, deported
Chinese stations no longer listed in Minutes of Conference except Hong Kong
1955
Smith appointed to work in Singapore
1957
Missionaries appointed to work alongside American Methodists in Sumatra and Sarawak
1975
Hong Kong (Chinese) District becomes autonomous in unity with American Methodist Wei Li Kung Hui
1980-3
Mission partners in Korea
1981
Partnership agreement with Kyodan , Japan; first mission partner sent to Japan
1985
Amity Foundation established on initiative of Chinese Christian leaders to promote health, education and welfare; recruits foreign Christians as language teachers to serve public institutions
British & Irish Amity Teachers Group set up with MCOD support
1988
Hong Kong (English) District joins autonomous church
South Asia
At the very start of the period parts of both India and Ceylon were the East India Company's fief, but Ceylon soon became a crown colony and in 1859 the government of India passed from the Company to the crown. The territories known as the Raj eventually became India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma, while Ceylon was renamed Sri Lanka in 1972. The secluded mountain kingdom of Nepal opened its doors in the 1970s to western development agencies but not to Christian missions; officially Christianity was banned there until 1990.
1787
Coke's Proposal for establishing a Protestant Mission in Bengal and Beehar (Bihar) unheeded
c 1798
Armour forms society among soldiers in Madras
1800 & 1811
Conference resolutions to send missionaries to Ceylon
1813
East India Company's charter renewed
1814
Coke's party, minus its leader, lands in Bombay and continues to Colombo
1816
Sinhalese New Testament printed
First Ceylonese candidate accepted for the ministry
1816-19
Short-lived mission in Bombay
1817
Lalmon, a Burgher convert, appointed 'Assistant Missionary' in Ceylon
Lynch visits Madras
1818
Gogerly arrives in Colombo to take charge of the Press
1819
Ceylon Mission organized as two Districts, South (Sinhalese) and North (Tamil, including Madras)
1823
Gogerly enters ministry; in Ceylon without furlough to his death in 1862
1824
Madras District separated from N Ceylon
1826
Mysore Mission re-opened after tentative earlier ventures
1829
Sati abolished in India
1829-32
Abortive mission in Calcutta
1831
Brief venture in Mauritius
1832
From Calcutta Hodson moves to Mysore and Percival returns to Jaffna
1835
Jaffna School opened by Percival
1838
Mary Twiddy sent to Jaffna by Ladies' Society for Promoting Female Education in China and the East
1840
Mysore Mission Press set up
1849
Mysore District separated from Madras
1851
S Ceylon District acquires Richmond Hill property near Galle
Great Exhibition in London displays Indian art and artefacts
1852
Garthwaite, one of first Westminster College students, appointed to educational work in Bangalore
1857-8
Indian Rebellion
1858
East India Company forfeits rule of India to the crown
Mary Batchelor (née Twiddy) writes from Negapatam pleading for women missionaries
Madras mission house wrecked by a mob
1859
Pearson military chaplain at Barrackpur
1860
Ladies' Committee sends two women missionaries to Mysore
1861
Tentative extension of military chaplaincy in Bengal to Bengali-language ministry; Broadbent and Highfield stationed in Calcutta
1864
Theological Institute and Normal School opened in Galle
1866
Military and English work started in Lucknow
1868
Sanjivi, first Indian Biblewoman, appointed and supported by Ladies' Committee for the Amelioration of the Condition of Women in Heathen Countries, Female Education, etc
1869
Calcutta District formed
Theological training begins in Mysore
1872
General Missionary Conference for All-India, Allahabad: 136 missionaries of several denominations
1873
Tamil Mission in Colombo launched
1874
Wesley College Colombo opened
1876
Famine in India; orphanages opened
1877
Karur industrial school
1878
Burgess begins Telugu ministry in Madras
Madras Christian College
1879
Lucknow & Benares District separated from Calcutta
Madras Missionary Conference
1880
Burgess and Benjamin Wesley begin Telugu ministry in Hyderabad
1883
Theophilus Luke, first Kanarese minister, ordained
1884
Royapettah School, Madras, upgraded to College
Karimnagar station opened; first baptisms 1885
1885
S Ceylon District divided as Galle and Kandy Districts Negapatam District separated from Madras
Prem Chand Nath, first Bengali minister ordained
Disturbances over street preaching in Hyderabad
1886
Years after earlier attempts were discontinued, work in Bombay resumes
Winston pays preliminary visit to Burma
1887
Ceylonese ministers win entitlement to Synod membership
1888
Mission station opened in Pakakku, Burma
1889
Haigh sets up new Mysore Press in Mysore City
Work started in Medak
Missionaries in India meet and contest charges brought in Methodist Times
1890
Conference exonerates Indian missionaries
Leprosy ministry in Mandalay
1891
Baptism of Santal converts in Sarenga, Bengal
1892
Rahator, first Marathi minister, ordained in Bombay
1893
Provincial Synods created
1894
Girls' School, Mandalay, opened
Ikkadu hospital, Madras Province, started
BMS opens hospital for women and children at Ludhiana (later Christian Medical College and Hospital)
1896
Wesley Deaconess sent to Puttur, Ceylon
Miss Posnett and Miss Harris begin medical work in Medak
1897-9
Famine and Bubonic plague
1900
Numerous Mala people join the church in and around Medak South India Missionary Conference, Madras: 150 missionaries from 45 agencies
1901
First General Synod of WM Districts in India. Ceylon and Burma
Bombay and Punjab District separated from Lucknow and Banaras
1902
Decennial Conference of WM Missionaries in India, Burma and Ceylon in Madras
1905
Holdsworth Memorial Hospital opens in Mysore
1906
Redfern Memorial Hospital opens in Hassan, Mysore Province
1910
United Theological College, Bangalore, founded
1915
Overtures from South India United Church about union lead nowhere
Dichpalli Leprosy Home opened
Station opened in India's new capital, Delhi
1925
WMs accept invitation to enter discussions about union in South India with SUIC and Anglicans
1929
First scheme of South India union drafted
First official conversations about Church Union in North India
1933
Women's Conference on Church Union, Madras
1934
S India Provincial Synod and Methodist Conference support latest revision of scheme
1942
Christian Medical College in Vellore, outcome of work begun in 1900
1942-5
Burma missionaries evacuated during Japanese occupation
1943
Provincial Synod and Conference give definitive approval to S India union
1947
India and Pakistan become independent
Church of South India inaugurated
Emergency centre for injured refugees fleeing Pakistan and India established at Ludhiana hospital
1948
Burma independent
1962
Scheme of Church Union in Sri Lanka collapses
1964
Burma and Sri Lanka autonomy
1965
Foreign missionaries expelled from Burma
1970s
Indian government ceases issuing visas for new missionaries; missionary presence begins rapid decline
1970
Church of North India and Church of Pakistan inaugurated
1974
Church of Bangladesh inaugurated
1978
MCOD becomes member of United Mission to Nepal
The Caribbean and the Americas
The islands of the Caribbean were colonised by Spain, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark. Methodist presence preceded Coke in Antigua, St Kitts and the Dutch island of St Eustatius. Lay pioneers also began Methodist work in Anguilla and Montserrat, in the Dutch territory of Demerara on the South American Coast, on the Danish island of St Thomas and - in the 20th century - on the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curaçao. Coke left three ministers on the islands in his 1787 tour. Later, Methodism appeared in Panama/Costa Rica and Honduras/Belize in Central America. A short-lived autonomous West Indies Conference was formed in 1884, but the Districts returned to the British Conference in 1904 until 1967 when the MCCA was established.
1759
Gilbert begins house church in Antigua that includes domestic slaves
1760
House in St John's, Antigua, rented for worship
1769
Gilbert resigns as Speaker of House of Assembly and equips room on his plantation as chapel
pre-1773
Rented house in St John's replaced by chapel built by self-help
1778
Baxter arrives in Antigua
1785
Lambert ordained by Coke and has brief ministry in Antigua Baxter ordained by Coke in Baltimore for Antigua appointment
pre-1786
Slave known as Black Harry preaches on St Eustatius
1786
Methodists in Bahamas
1786
Coke's landfall in Antigua at Christmas
1787
Coke visits six islands; stations ministers in Antigua, St Vincent and St Kitts
1787-8
Coke's second tour; minister in Barbados
1789
First class meeting established in Jamaica; ministers in Dominica, Nevis and Tortola
1790
Committee of Management of West Indian affairs formed in England
Coke's third tour; visits Jamaica, where first society is formed at Spanish Town, the seat of government; a meeting of the West Indian missionaries held on Nevis
Methodists in Grenada (first minister 1793)
1792
St Vincent House of Assembly bans preaching to 'negroes'; Lumb imprisoned
Black from Nova Scotia proposed by Coke as superintendent of West Indian Missions, but not released by Nova Scotia Methodists
1793
St Vincent ban annulled by Colonial Secretary
Coke presides over the 'Little Conference' of preachers in Antigua
1794
Secessionist Hammett sends preachers from America to Bahamas; repeated WM attempts to plant a society at Nassau
1796
Work on St Bartholomew (Swedish) organized by layman Turton, son of a Barbados planter
1797
Coke's ship captured by French privateers who seized all his possessions but freed him at Puerto Rico
1800
Bahamas work set on sound footing by Turton, now a minister
1802
Work started in Demerara by two freed slaves from Nevis
1803 & 06
Jamaican House of Assembly prohibits sectarian worship
1806
Creation of four West Indian Districts with Chairmen who had authority to recruit local married men
1809
Talboys starts mission in Trinidad
1810
Kitty Dorset, slave woman, introduces Methodism in Montserrat
1813
Hodge becomes lay worker on Anguilla recognized as first black WM minister in 1818, ordained 1822
1815
Talboys appointed to Demerara (from 1814 part of British Guiana)
1817
Two ministers stationed on newly independent Haiti but expelled following year
Auxiliary Missionary Society formed in Demerara (possibly the first)
1815
Tobago transferred from LMS
1819
Work starts on half-Dutch half-French island of Sint Maarten/St Martin
1820
Missionary Society in Antigua; Maddock to Montserrat
1823
Slave uprising in Demerara brutally suppressed
Shrewsbury driven from Barbados
1824
'Jamaica Resolutions' defending slavery passed by four missionaries, immediately disavowed by WMMS
1825
Self-sown society in Honduras
1826
Five missionaries, two wives, six children, returning from Synod on St Kitts, drowned when mail-boat Maria sank off Antigua
1831-2
Slave insurrection in Jamaica
1834
Slaves in British territories emancipated on 1 August; transitional 4-year apprenticeship period begins; slaves in Antigua 'full free', no apprenticeship
Special West Indian Fund opened in England
1835
Parliamentary grants to West Indian schools
1836
Pennock, former Chairman of the Jamaica District, secedes Guiana work extended to 'Arabian Coast' (Essequibo)
1837
3000 WMs in Jamaica affiliate to Wesleyan Association
1839
Bird begins 40 year ministry in Haiti, 39 as Chairman
1848
Scriptures translated in British Guiana into Tamil by a Hindu convert - though many of the Indian indentured workers did not speak Tamil
1851-4
Cholera and smallpox epidemics deplete membership
1852
Williams, a Tamil-speaker, transferred from Ceylon to East Indian Mission in Demerara; but died following year
1855
Guiana work extended to Berbice
1859
Susannah Beal, first appointed woman missionary, arrives in Belize; survives six months
1860
East Indian Mission in Guiana resumed by Bronkhurst
1864
Emancipation of slaves on Dutch islands
1865-1910
UMFC work in Bocas del Toro, Panama
c1867
Disputes with WMMS over equality of pay between missionaries and locally enlisted ministers
1868
High School and Theological College opened at York Castle, Jamaica
1878
Picot succeeds Bird in Haiti, Chairman for 37 years
1884
West Indian Conference formed, with ten Districts, two annual Conferences (Eastern and Western) and a triennial General Conference; George Sargeant first President
Geddes in isthmus of Panama
1888
Eastern Annual Conference resolves to start work in St Lucia
1891
First minister in St Thomas (Danish)
1893
Bird College (at first for girls) founded at Port-au-Prince, Haiti
1897
W I Conference appeals to WMMS for financial help
1902
Eruption of La Soufrière, St Vincent
1904
W I Conference dissolved, WMMS resumes overall responsibility
1907
Earthquake destroys Kingston, Jamaica
1908
Extensive Port-au-Prince premises destroyed by fire in civil unrest in Haiti
1912
UMC work in Jamaica transferred to Methodist Episcopal Church
Yates appointed to work with East Indian immigrants in British Guiana
1913
Surgeon starts work with Guaymi tribe of Valiente Indians, Panama
1917
Alphonse sent to work among Valiente
1920 & 21
Jamaica Synod sends gifts of £100 for famine relief in China
1931
Powell opens school for five children on veranda of his home in Kingston
1930s
Methodists in Aruba and Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles)
1942
Boys' Town opens in Kingston by Sherlock
1951
Mitchell heads United Mission Church in bauxite-mining town of Mackenzie, Guyana
1960
Operation Friendship begun in Kingston by Sister Julia Davis
1961
Potter (Dominica) becomes first MMS Secretary appointed from an Overseas District
1965
United Theological College of the West Indies formed in Kingston
1966
First minister stationed on St Croix, US Virgin Islands (Danish pre-1916)
1967
Chambers from Jamaica appointed to work with Caribbean community in London
MCCA established, with Sherlock as first President
1969
Bahamas District joins MCCA
1973
MCCA a founder member of the Caribbean Conference of Churches
1973-7
AMPLA (Anglican-Methodist Project) appoints mission partners to Latin America, but Project soon abandoned
1991
First mission partners in Bolivia
1994
Mission partners in Argentina
1990s
Schism in Bahamas District
North America
The thirteen colonies declared independence from Britain in 1776 and secured it by the Treaty of Paris in 1783 which brought to an end the American Revolutionary War. Wesleyan Methodism in the United States became a separate Church at the 1784 Baltimore Conference when Coke ordained Asbury as his co-superintendent, and the Methodist Episcopal Church was born.
Some 5000-6000 loyalist refugees settled in Canada, which was divided in 1791 into Upper Canada (later Ontario) and Lower Canada (Québec). They united as the Province of Canada in 1841 and, with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, became the Dominion of Canada in 1867. The latter territories, with the other maritime provinces of Newfoundland (which only joined the Dominion in 1949) and Prince Edward Island, were prior to 1867 known as Eastern British America.
1760s
Strawbridge arrives in Maryland and the Palatine emigrants in New York
1765
Coughlan settles in Newfoundland
1766
Embury begins preaching in new York at Barbara Heck's prompting
1767
Captain Webb joins the New York society
1768
Old John Street Church opened in New York
1769
Conference stations Boardman and Pilmoor to America
1771
Asbury stationed in America
1773
Rankin stationed in America
1775-83
War of Independence; Rankin and others return; Asbury in hiding; Palatines leave for Canada
1783
Fugitive United Empire Loyalists in Novia Scotia and New Brunswick
1784
Coke 'ordained' superintendent, ordains Asbury at Christmas Conference
MEC constituted; elders will administer sacraments
Palatines settle in Augusta, Upper Canada
Preachers sent by MEC to Nova Scotia for a short period
1785
Conference stations M'Geary to Newfoundland
1786
Clarke and Hammett, appointed by Conference to Nova Scotia, diverted by storm to Antigua
1787
Garretson ordained Superintendent for Nova Scotia and West Indies
1789
Black appointed Presiding Elder for British North America
1790s
MEC sends preachers to Canada
1801
African-American denomination later known as AMEZ chartered in New York
c1802
First camp meetings
1805
American preachers Ryan and Case introduce camp meetings to Canada
1807
First camp meetings in England, inspired by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow, portend Primitive Methodist movement
1812-14
America and Britain at war; MEC personnel in Canada withdrawn; Montreal applies for English preachers
1816
Several black congregations break with MEC and form AME
1817
Asbury dies
1820
Lower Canada churches to relate to Britain, Upper Canada to MEC (Genesee Annual Conference)
1822
Beginnings of work among indigenous 'redskins' of Canada
1824
Upper Canada becomes separate Annual Conference of MEC
1825
Addyman pioneers Methodist New Connexion mission in Canada
1828
Upper Canada becomes autonomous 'MEC of Canada'
1829
Four PM missionaries, including Ruth Watkins, sent to New York
1830
First PM missionary in Canada
1831
Bible Christians begin work in Canada
1833
Wesleyan Methodist Church of Upper Canada, dropping 'Episcopal' from title
1837
Hudson Bay (Indian) Mission planted by WMMS by agreement with Hudson Bay Company
1840
Evans appointed to Hudson Bay ; in due course devises Cree alphabet
American PM Conference formed
1845
BC work in USA established
1847
At NC Jubilee, 20,000 members in Britain and 30,000 in Canada
1854
Hudson Bay and other Indian missions, and Lower Canada, integrated in autonomous Canadian Conference
Autonomous BC Conference in Canada
1855
Beecham, WMMS Secretary, visits maritime provinces and brings about union of four Districts (East Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island ; West Nova Scotia; New Brunswick ; Newfoundland ) as autonomous Conference of Eastern British America
1875
Union of EBA and Canadian Conferences, and MNC
1884
PM and BC Conferences unite with Canadian Conference
Britain and Ireland
1769
First Methodist Preachers appointed to overseas stations: Boardman and Pilmoor to America
1784
Coke's Address to the Pious and Benevolent endorsed by Wesley
1786
First missionaries to the Caribbean arrive in Antigua on Christmas Day
1813
Irish Conference, Dublin, calls for Auxiliary Missionary Societies to raise funds to support the missions
Missionary Societies formed by the Leeds and Halifax Districts, soon followed by others
1816
Conference appoints Watson and Marsden as Missionary Secretaries
1818
Laws and Regulations of the General Wesleyan Methodist (WM) Missionary Society adopted by Conference
1842
Methodist New Connexion (MNC) Missionary Society formed; work in Canada
1843
Primitive Methodist (PM) Missionary Society formed; home and colonial work
1857
United Methodist Free Churches (UMFC) inherit work in Jamaica, N America and Australasia
1858
WM Ladies' Committee formed
1859
UMFC invited to Sierra Leone by independent West African Methodist Society
1859
MNC begins work in China
1860
UMFC Missionary Committee meets Krapf and resolves to start work in E Africa
1862
MNC begins work in Australia
1865
UMFC starts work on China's East coast
1868
WMMS buys Richmond College to train ministers for work overseas
1870
PM missionaries to South Africa and Fernando Po
1880
Bible Christian (BC) Missionary Society formed
1885
First BC missionaries sail for S-W China
1894
First Wesley Deaconess in overseas appointment: E Oates, S Africa
1907
BC, MNC and UMFC unite
1915
Women missionaries' training at Kingsmead College, Selly Oak begins
1932
Methodist Union: MMS formed
1937
Overseas Training Fund set up
1945
MMS buys Kingsmead
1950
First Methodist International House opened, in London
1961
Skegness Consultation with representatives from 28 countries charts the future trajectory: autonomy and partnership
1966
Missionary preparation for men and women concentrated at Kingsmead
1967
Follow-up Overseas Consultation in Manchester
1973
MMS becomes Methodist Church Overseas Division
1993
Kingsmead closed; Methodists share College of the Ascension with USPG
1995
Third Overseas Consultation in Brazil
Missionaries formally redesignated as Mission Partners
1996
MCOD merged with other Divisions in a Connexional Team, including a World Church Office, later renamed World Church Relationships
2006
United College of the Ascension closed; Selly Oak Centre for Mission Studies opened at The Queen's College, Birmingham
2010
All Partners Consultation, London: 'Re-imagining Future Mission Together'
2013
MMS officially wound up