Where have all the Women Gone?

Abstract

Dr. R. Pierce Beaver has made an important contribution to the history of Christian missions in his recent book “All Loves Excelling.” 1 Much of the historical content of this paper has been drawn from his book. (It is my hope that the reader may be inspired to obtain a copy of Dr. Beaver's book for study and reflection;) The book bears the subtitle “American Protestant Women in World Mission” and tells the story of the rise and fall of Woman's Foreign Missionary Societies.

It is the purpose of this paper to look at this history from the perspective of a time when there is a rising consciousness on the part of women in many countries of the possibilities of a new role in society. This includes a potentially new role in the church, with women moving out on new mission frontiers. While this cannot be considered a mere repetition of history, it has enough in common with the woman's missionary movement of the last century to merit a look at these Woman's Missionary Societies and to learn from them.