James Hudson Taylor

The single most important person in the formation of the China Inland Mission (CIM) was James Hudson Taylor (1832-1905). Taylor was born in Barnsley, England, to James and Amelia Hudson Taylor. He was the oldest of five children - William Shepard, Amelia Hudson (later Mrs. Benjamin Broomhall), Theodore, and Louise Shepard (later Mrs. William Walker), but only Hudson and his sisters lived to adulthood. Hudson`s father was an apothecary and Methodist lay preacher who had wanted to be a missionary to China.

Both his parents were devout Christians who had prayed that their son would preach the gospel in the Middle Kingdom. In 1849 Hudson had a conversion experience and soon afterwards felt called to be a missionary. In 1852 he began training in London Hospital to become a doctor. However, in 1853 news of the Taiping rebellion in China, supposedly led by indigenous Christians, caused the Chinese Evangelisation Society (CES) to decide to send a missionary at once because of the seemingly promising situation. Hudson set sail from Liverpool for Shanghai on September 19, 1853, and arrived there on March 1, 1854.

Taylor`s first years in China

The next six years were difficult. The actions taken by the CES administration proved repeatedly to be confusing, erratic, and financially irresponsible, finally causing Taylor to resign in 1857. He had been travelling on evangelization tours, often with at least one companion. He even tried to cross the battle lines to reach Taiping-held Nanking. He began to adopt the dress and hairstyle of a Chinese scholar and tried in other ways to make his evangelism attractive. He developed other principles from his experience, such as no mission should base its work on borrowed money.

While in China, he met and married Maria Dyer (January 1858), a missionary teacher and the daughter of missionaries. In 1860, the family returned to England. Disease, overwork, and stress had broken Taylor’s health, and he had to return home to recover.

Formation of the China Inland Mission

In England, as he recovered, prepared a revised Chinese translation of the New Testament and studied to become a doctor, he reflected on the lessons he had learned in China.

He came to feel that a new mission society was needed because the existing ones were too tied to old methods and strategies. He envisioned a mission with headquarters in China (rather than in Great Britain) and dedicated to going into areas where no other Christian group was active (such as China`s eleven inland provinces). The mission would have no fund-raising programs but would, like the orphanages run by George Mueller, depend on prayer and God`s faithfulness for support. The mission would not guarantee the support of any work but funds that were received would be given out according to need. Candidates would be accepted from any Protestant denomination, provided they could sign the mission`s statement of faith.

In 1865 he formed the China Inland Mission and people who knew of this mission began to send contributions. On May 26, 1866 Taylor left England for China with his family and sixteen workers aboard the Lammermuir. The party reached Shanghai on September 30. Taylor chose Hangchow (new spelling, Hangzhou) in the province of Chekiang (new spelling, Zhejiang) as the mission`s base. The missionaries would travel in groups of two or three to cities, dressed as Chinese, preaching the gospel and attempting to start churches. By the end of 1866 twenty-four workers were active in four stations.

In 1868 Taylor moved from Hangzhou to Yangchow to be better situated for starting work in the interior. The presence of "foreign devils" in the city caused rioting that endangered all the Chinese. The CIM came in for much criticism in England, despite the fact that Taylor had never requested or wanted gunboat protection. However, the publicity helped make the mission one of the best known of the groups working in China.

The early years and structure of the CIM

The next few years were ones of great hardship, since the CIM workers had to bear the resentment and suspicion of the Chinese caused by the activities of the European governments. For Taylor, there was also personal hardship. His daughter Grace had died in 1867 and his wife, Maria, passed away in 1870. He later married Miss Jenny Faulding. Taylor began to divide his time between directing the work in China and explaining about the work in England.

In 1872 a council of management of the home department was set up in England. Until this time, Taylor`s friend, W. T. Berger, had acted as home secretary for the mission. The government of the mission began to assume the form it retained until 1950, except for minor changes.

A 1923 handbook described that government in this way: "The China Inland mission consists of a body of missionaries labouring in China, and of the members of the home departments of the mission. The missionaries are members, not agents, of the mission, and the direction of the work at home and in China is undertaken by one or more Directors, those in China being themselves missionaries.

"The mission... is carried on under the direction of a General Director, assisted by those who at his invitation are associated with him in the conduct of the work. It has its Home and China Departments, which all work in mutual co-operation.

"In the management of the Home Department, the General Director is assisted, and in his absence is represented, by a Home Director; he is further assisted by Secretaries, and is advised by a Council. This department receives applications from candidates, accepts as probationers those who appear suitable, and facilitates their going to China. It does what in it lies to promote missionary interest at home, and receives contributions for the work, which it remits to China, retaining what is necessary for home expenses.

"In the management of the China Department, the General Director is also China Director, and as such may be assisted, and in his absence is represented, by a Director or Directors, or by a Deputy Director. He is also advised by a Council composed exclusively of missionaries, including among them all the Superintendents of Provincial Districts, as presently described. The Department receives probationers on arrival in China, admits to membership of the mission those who approve themselves as suitable, locates the workers, distributes the funds, and directs the operations of the mission in the field."

The further arrangements in China may be summarized as follows: "A missionary in charge superintends each station or district, and directs the operations of those residing and working in his district.

"A number of these districts form together a provincial district, and over each a superintendent is appointed, who takes a general oversight of all the work within his district. In matters of gravity, he will generally call together the senior missionaries in his district for prayer and conference.

"The various departments, besides managing the affairs of the mission arising within their own sphere, also mutually assist one another with advice in any matter relating to the general well-being of the mission."

Growth of the CIM

Shanghai became the base for the headquarters of the mission in 1873. A school for the primary and secondary education of the children of missionaries was begun in Chefoo (new spelling, Yantai) in 1881. Stations were gradually established throughout China. By 1915, 1,063 workers were working at 227 stations. Besides starting churches and supporting literature work and evangelists, the mission ran hospitals and schools. In the peak year of activity, 1934, 1,368 missionaries were serving at 364 stations. The mission staff also included hundreds of Chinese pastors, teachers, colporteurs, chapel keepers, and Bible women.

Wars and revolution in the years following 1934 caused a decline in the number of workers as some were evacuated and others had difficulty returning from furlough. The CIM had 1,263 missionaries in 1942 and 1,104 in 1950, of whom 757 were in China. Because of the mission`s success and its reputation, people in other Western countries besides England contacted Taylor (or after Taylor`s retirement in 1902, the General Director of the mission) to inquire about organizing home councils. By 1950 there were home councils or centers in England, Scotland, North Ireland, Eire, Switzerland (1950), Australia (1890), New Zealand (1894), South Africa (1943), Canada, and the United States. In addition, there were fifteen missions in Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway which were begun in large part by people inspired by Taylor`s example or which began work in China in alliance with the CIM. While the missions were autonomous in their own home countries, their workers were virtually a part of the CIM staff in China. Of the 1,104 CIM workers in 1950, for example, 394 were from these associated missions.

The United States Home Council had its beginnings in the vision of Henry W. Frost of New York state. He had a strong desire to assist in the evangelization of China and in 1887 he invited Taylor to come to the United States to speak about missions in the Middle Kingdom. Taylor did come the next year and spoke at Northfield, Massachusetts; Niagara Falls, New York; Chicago, Illinois; and other spots in the United States and Canada. Many people, stirred by Taylor`s words, donated money to support the sending of North American missionaries to China. Some forty-two candidates volunteered and of these 14 were on their way to China with Taylor by October of the same year. Frost and Albert Sandham of Toronto were given the responsibility of screening the rest of the candidates. The next year, Taylor returned to set up a council for North America in Toronto. Frost was the first Secretary-Treasurer. In 1893 separate directors were appointed in Toronto and Philadelphia for Canada and the United States, with the North American Council over both. A council was set up in 1901, headquartered in Philadelphia, to supervise the mission`s work in the United States. In 1932 the U.S. Council was incorporated under U.S. law. The council for North America was finally dissolved in 1969 and the U.S. and Canadian councils became completely autonomous.

Forced to leave China

As mentioned above, the political and military crises of the 1930s and 40s naturally made the mission`s work in China much more difficult. In 1942 the headquarters was evacuated out of Shanghai to escape the Japanese army. An emergency headquarters was set up in Chungking (new spelling, Chongqing), the same city where the Chinese government had relocated. The staff moved back to Shanghai in 1945, at about the time when the civil war between the Nationalist and Communist forces was beginning to heat up. After the Communist victory in 1949, their suspicion and dislike of missionaries caused them to subject the foreign and Chinese workers of the CIM (as well as other missions) to mounting harassment. An especially common charge against missionaries was that of serving foreign intelligence agencies. In 1950, the General Director finally decided that further work in China was impossible and ordered all missionaries to leave. In 1951 a temporary headquarters was set up in Hong Kong, mainly to oversee the withdrawal of the missionaries. The last CIM workers came out in 1953.

Overseas Missionary Fellowship

The members of the various home councils and the returning missionaries held several meetings in the various home countries, meetings that culminated in the conference held in Bournemouth, England, in November, 1951. At this meeting, it was decided that the mission would continue to exist and the mission workers would be sent to new fields in Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Taiwan (later Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong were added). A new headquarters was set up in Singapore, and the name of the mission was changed to The China Inland Mission Overseas Missionary Fellowship.

The relationships with the associated missions were terminated. Eventually, similar associations were worked out with the Borneo Evangelical Mission, the Bible and Medical Fellowship, and the Indian Evangelical Mission. On October 14, 1964, at a meeting of the mission`s overseas council attended by field superintendents, home directors, and the headquarters staff, the mission was reorganized. Its name became the Overseas Missionary Fellowship. After wrestling again with the question of whether the mission should continue to exist, the council reaffirmed the need for the mission, but changed its structure so that non-western Christians could become full members and set up home councils in their own countries.

The main emphasis of the OMF was to continue to be evangelism, but support would also be given to a literature program, medical services, radio and TV outreach, student work, and linguistic work. Under the new policy of the mission, home councils were begun in Germany (1967), Hong Kong (1966), Japan (1965), Malaysia (1965), the Netherlands (1967), the Philippines (1966), and Singapore (1965). The general director continued as the head of the mission. The overseas director, who was responsible for missionary activities in Asia, and the home directors, who were responsible for the OMF activities in their countries, reported to the general director. Under the overseas director were the area directors who had responsibility for specific countries. The area director was assisted by the superintendent, who handled personnel matters, and the area secretary, who handled business and financial matters. The general, overseas, home, and area directors and the superintendents were all assisted by advisory councils.