known as THE GOSPEL. That is no longer the case .. .. For while [the larger missions]
have in the ranks of their workers very many who are true to that Gospel standard, they
also have those who have embraced that which is subversive of the whole truth of the
Gospel, and which is destructive of faith in God's Word.50
By the end of the 1 920s organisations like the BIM would perceive themselves to be the true defenders of biblical and evangelical faith and the true dispensers of the Christian gospel overseas. As such the underlying theological rationale for and the ecumenicity of the missionary movement, noted from the 1 890s onwards, was potentially under threat.
5.5 Assessing the Missionary Movement of the 1 920s
In assessing the 1 920s missionary movement, the first and obvious development to account for is the high number of both missionary applicants and departures, for growth in numbers presumably reflected an underlying growth of popular interest and enthusiasm. As with the 1 890s, what we need to consider is the interrelationship between a range of specific and contextual factors.
In the first place a number of separate factors account for much of this growth. Methodist missionary work in the Solomon Islands became New Zealand' s responsibility in 1 9 1 9,5 l and nearly as many Methodist missionaries left New Zealand between 1 9 1 9 and 1 930 (forty-two) as had left in the previous three decades (fifty-one). The Anglican missionary workforce continued to diversify. At least twenty-nine missionaries departed to work for seven different Anglican mission agencies - the
49 See footnote 27.
50
Bolivian Indian, April 1 9 1 6, pp. 3-4.51
Carter, A Family Affair, p. 1 03.Chapter Five - Post-War Growth and Diversity, 1 9 1 9- 1 926
NZCMS, the Melanesian Mission, the SPG, the Australian Anglican Papua Mission, the NZABM own missionary scheme, the Diocese of Polynesia and the Australian Anglican Board of Missions. There were also a number of replacements appointed by both the NZBMS and the Presbyterian FMC. In 1 929 the CIM in England initiated a worldwide recruitment campaign seeking 200 new volunteers. This was a motivating factor for at least one New Zealander who left by 1 930, and probably for other departures over the next two years.52 Following the 1 927 visit of the Rev. Rowland Bingham, founder of the Sudan Interior Mission, a New Zealand SIM Council was formed in Auckland.53 Between 1 927 and 1 930 nine New Zealanders subsequently left to serve with the SIM. Finally there were also a number of other individual factors that must have had their own impact - visiting speakers and the influence of John R. Mott in particular, the 1 926 Missionary Conference, the well-oiled machinery of groups like the BWMU and PWMU, and the growing influence of the Bible Class movement amongst Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian young people.
These developments fitted against a broader backdrop. The impact of World War One figured largely in this respect. It had a profound impact upon both the psycho-spiritual motivation of applicants - whereby missionary publicists and recruiters made appeals using the language of wartime sacrifice, service and duty - and upon the public 's intellectual awareness of the changing contexts within post-war non-European societies. The war itself had exposed a disturbing human heart of darkness, raising serious questions about human progress per se. Many people now understood that world peace was a fragile commodity and, rightly or wrongly, that new forces of liberation in the Asian and African colonies were a potential threat to that peace. The sum effect was that people perceived in clearer terms the spiritual and humanitarian needs of the non Western world, and their responsibilities in the face of that need. Yet the impact of the war was also somewhat ambiguous. Moving averages plotted for missionary applications and departures suggest that World War One was more of a temporary disruption in the movement's pre-war growth. If so then growth in the 1 920s may simply have continued a pre-war trend. A closer consideration of the figures suggests otherwise (Figure 5.4).
52 [NZBTI] Reaper, 7:6 ( 1 929), p. 1 29; 'Arthur Saunders', Personnel Files, Cabinet A2, OMF Archives. 53 9 May 1 927, New Zealand SIM Council M inutes, 1 926-1 934, Box MD-2, Archives of the SIM.
Chapter Five -Post-War Growth and Diversity, 1 9 1 9- 1 926
Figure 5.4 -Comparison of Moving Averages for Missionary Applications and Departures, 1 900-193054 o
�
E :::I z5
0
0 N � <0 ex:> 0 N � <0 ex:> 0 N � <0 co 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; � 0; � 0; N N N N N (Y) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) (J) � � � � � � � � � � � � � ,.... � �Departures Moving Averages _ Applications Moving Averages
The apparent wartime trough in figures actually dated from between 1 9 1 0 and 1 9 1 2, indicating that the decline was also due to a range of earlier factors - such as the labour strikes and social disruption of 1 9 1 3 , or simply a lack of applicants after the 1 9 1 0 bubble. Similarly, when the post-war application figures are considered, it is not clear that this growth would be sustained long term. The growth in applicants for each of the five representative mission organisations largely peaked between 1 92 1 and 1 925, and had dipped noticeably by 1 930. Latourette observed that internationally there was a 'brave surge' of Protestant missionaries after 1 9 1 8, followed by a stagnation and decline in missionary figures.55 The New Zealand figures for the early 1 920s may simply have been a reflection of this broader trend - a burst of post-war enthusiasm that, in the long run, was difficult to sustain. Furthermore, for some at least, the experience of war may have served as a strong disincentive for missionary service. Henry Budd told the Rev. Alexander Don, on returning from wartime service, that he was withdrawing his application because of unspecified 'personal circumstances' and 'a somewhat changed spiritual outlook,.56 At least two Baptist, three Presbyterian, two NZCMS and two ClM pre-war applicants withdrew their applications after 1 9 1 8, possibly for similar reasons.
If the war's impact helps to explain growth in the early 1 920s, then the emergence of conservative elements and sentiments within Protestant Christianity provides an
54 Calculated from the same data base as for previous graphs for missionary applications and departures. 55 Latourette, A History o/the Expansion o/Christianity, vol. 7, p. 1 6 .
56 Henry Budd to Alexander Don, 20 May 1 9 1 9, 'Budd', Missionary Candidates 1 905-1 935, Series 3 . 0 1 ,
PCNZ FMC (GA000 1 ), PCANZ Archive.
Chapter Five - Post-War Growth and Diversity, 1 9 1 9- 1 926
explanation for growth in the later 1 920s. It may well be, as Douglas Ireton has suggested for the New Zealand context, that conservative Christianity was partly a reaction to the trauma and social changes engendered by war.57 At the same time it was also the continuation of developments predating the conflict of 1 9 1 4- 1 9 1 8. As Chapter 6.6 will point out, international debates over issues like biblical criticism and hermeneutics, and the Christian's relationship to the dominant culture, were largely aired in New Zealand within particular contexts. Bryan Gilling observes, however, that conservative Christianity in New Zealand was less divisive and occupied more of a middle ground than in the United States of America, was 'generally irenic in tone', and remained firmly denominational in character.58
Yet it obviously touched a chord amongst some sectors of the Protestant community. The proof of this was in the success that the NZBTI had in gaining the support of the public, the attention of prospective students, and in the number of these who went off to missionary service. Up to 1 82 (fifty-four per cent) NZBTI students went overseas as missionaries between 1 923 and 1 938, with 1 00 of these departing within ten years of the Institute's foundation in 1 923.59 They largely went under the auspices of non denominational mission organisations that viewed the NZBTI as a trustworthy and reputable evangelical training institution.6o In the period 1 923 to 1 930 at least fifty seven missionary graduates went on to work for two denominations and at least another eleven non-denominational organisations (Table 5 . 7). Overall non-denominational missionaries made up just over a third of all missionaries departing from New Zealand between 1 924 and 1 930 and, by 1 930, accounted for fifty per cent of all annual departures. The denominational societies increasingly struggled with financial exigencies from the 1 920s. The indications are, however, that non-denominational missionaries continued to grow in number into the 1 930s, as these more conservative agencies established working councils in New Zealand and drew upon graduates from the NZBTI in particular.61
5 7 Douglas E. Ireton, ' "0 Lord How Long?": A Revival Movement in New Zealand 1 920- 1 933', MA
Thesis in History, Massey University, 1 986, p. 2.
5 8 Bryan GiIling, 'Retelling the Old, Old Story', pp. 88-9 1 . This is also lan Breward's overall conclusion.
Breward, A History of the Churches in Australasia, p. 423 .
59 J. Oswald Sanders, Expanding Horizons: The Story of the New Zealand Bible Training Institute,
Auckland: Institute Press, 1 97 1 , pp. 94, 96.
60 M issionary speakers regularly visited the NZBTI, being reported in the [NZBTI] Reaper, 1 925- 1 930.
61
Roberts, 'The Growth of lnter-Denominational Mission Societies in New Zealand', pp. 45-46, 46-50. For a further examination of the nature of these organisations see David HiIliard, 'The South SeaChapter Five - Post-War Growth and Diversity, 1 9 1 9- 1 926
Table 5.7 -Missionary Gradates of NZBTI, 1 922-193562