View source for Church Missionary Society in the Middle East and North Africa

{{Infobox organization
|name         = Church Missionary Society
|image        = Church Missionary Society 1799.gif
|caption      = CMS logo
|abbreviation = CMS
|formation    = 12 April 1799
|headquarters = 
|type         = [[Evangelical Anglicanism]]<br />[[Ecumenism]]<br />[[Protestant missionary]]<br />[[British Commonwealth]]
|founder      = [[Clapham Sect]]
|website      = 
}}
The '''Church Missionary Society''' in the Middle East and North Africa, operated through branch organisations, such as the Mediterranean Mission (for countries bordering on the [[Mediterranean]]), with the mission extending to Palestine ([[Jerusalem]], [[Gaza City|Gaza]], [[Jaffa]], [[Nazareth]], [[Nablus]] and [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]]), [[Iran]] (Persia), [[Iraq]], [[Egypt]], [[Ethiopia]] (Abyssinia) and the [[Sudan]]. The missions were financed by the CMS with the local organisation of a mission usually being under the oversight of the [[Bishop]] of the [[Anglican]] [[diocese]] in which the CMS mission operated. The CMS made an important contribution to the [[Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East]].

The [[Church Mission Society]] ('''CMS'''), was founded in  Britain in 1799 under the name the '''Society for Missions to Africa and the East'''.<ref name="I1">{{cite journal|last1= Mounstephen |first1= Philip |author-link1=Philip Mounstephen |title= Teapots and DNA: The Foundations of CMS|url=http://www.nzcms.org.nz/teapots-and-dna-the-foundations-of-cms-intermission-issue-22/ |year= 2015 |journal= Intermission|volume=22}}</ref>  In 1812, the organization was renamed the '''Church Missionary Society''',<ref name="CMS-RK">{{cite web| last =Keen| first =Rosemary| work= Adam Matthew Publications |title= Church Missionary Society Archive|url= http://www.ampltd.co.uk/digital_guides/church_missionary_society_archive_general/editorial%20introduction%20by%20rosemary%20keen.aspx| access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref> and later the '''Church Mission Society'''.

==The Ottoman Empire (Turkey)==
In 1815, [[William Jowett]] was appointed to commence the Mediterranean Mission, however the CMS was not able to establish missions in [[Ottomon Empire|Ottoman Turkey]] in 1819-21 as the result of resistance to the Christian faith by the Turkish authorities.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>
Following the [[Crimean War]] (1853-1856) the [[List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire|Sultan of Turkey]] was forced to issue a decree to secure religious liberty throughout the Ottoman Empire. The CMS sent two missionaries in 1862 to open a mission station in [[Constantinople]].<ref name="CMSatlasHme">{{cite web|title= The Church Missionary Atlas (Middle East)|pages=  67–76|date= 1896| url= http://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/CMS_OX_Atlas_01|access-date=19 October 2015 | publisher = [[Adam Matthew Digital]]}}</ref> However, the continued opposition by the Turkish authorities to [[evangelism]] resulted in the failure of the mission, which closed in 1877.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>

==Egypt and Ethiopia (Abyssinia)==
Five missionaries were sent to [[Egypt]] in 1825. The CMS concentrated the Mediterranean Mission on the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Church]] and in 1830 to its daughter [[Ethiopian Church]], which included the creation of a translation of the Bible in [[Amharic language|Amharic]] at the instigation of [[William Jowett]], as well as the posting of two missionaries to [[Ethiopia]] (Abyssinia),  [[Samuel Gobat]] (later the [[Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem]])<ref name="SG">{{cite book |last1= Gobat|first1=Samuel |title= Journal of a Three Years' Residence in Abyssinia, in Furtherance of the Objects of the Church Missionary Society| year=2001 |publisher=  Adamant Media Corporation (Elibron Classics) facsimile reprint of a 1834 edition by Hatchard & Son; Seeley & Sons, London. | isbn= 1421253496}}</ref> and Christian Kugler arrived in that country in 1827.<ref name="CMS-RK"/><ref>Donald Crummey, ''Priests and Politicians'', 1972, Oxford University Press (reprinted Hollywood: Tsehai, 2007), pp. 12, 29f. For an account of the society's Amharic translation, see [[Edward Ullendorff]], ''Ethiopia and the Bible'' (Oxford: University Press for the British Academy, 1968), pp. 62–67 and the sources cited there.</ref> Charles Isenberg (1806–64) joined the Abyssinian mission in 1835, followed by [[Johann Ludwig Krapf]] (1810–81) in 1837.<ref name="IK">{{cite book |last1= Charles William Isenberg, Johann Ludwig Krapf, James MacQueen|title= Journals of the Rev. Messrs Isenberg and Krapf, Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (Detailing their Proceedings in the Kingdom of Shoa, and Journeys in Other Parts of Abyssinia, in the Years 1839, 1840, 1841, and 1842)| year=2011 |publisher= Cambridge University Press| isbn= 9781108034173}}</ref> The missionaries were expelled from Abyssinia in 1844.<ref name="CMSatlasHme"/> The Egyptian Mission was abandoned by the CMS in 1862.

The Egyptian Mission was revived in 1882 by the Revd [[Frederick Augustus Klein]].<ref name="CMSatlasHme"/> The number of converts to the Anglican Church in Egypt was small because CMS decided not to [[Proselytism|proselytise]] among members of the Coptic or [[Evangelical]] churches, as the intention of the mission was the evangelisation of non-Christian people.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>  In Cairo the CMS established schools for boys and girls. In 1899, Dr Frank Harpur established the Old Cairo Hospital. In 1905, [[Douglas M. Thornton]] and [[William Henry Temple Gairdner|W. H. Temple Gairdner]] established a book depot in Cairo, which also published the ''Orient and Occident'' magazine in Arabic which published articles on religious and general subjects.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>

==The Ottoman Empire (Palestine)==
[[File: Nazareth Christ church 1.jpg |thumb|right|200px|Christ Church in Nazareth, built 1871]]
The CMS sent missionaries to Palestine ([[Jerusalem]], [[Gaza City|Gaza]], [[Jaffa]], [[Nazareth]], [[Nablus]] and [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]]), which was then part of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The Revd [[Frederick Augustus Klein]] arrived in [[Nazareth]] in 1851 where he lived for 5–6 years, then he moved to [[Jerusalem]] until 1877. Klein discovered the [[Moabite Stone]], and assisted with the translation of the [[Book of Common Prayer]] into Arabic.<ref>{{cite book|last=Murray|first=Jocelyn|title=Proclaim the Good News: A Short History of the Church Missionary Society|year=1985}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Stock|first=Eugene|title=History of the Church Missionary Society|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchurchm03stoc|year=1899}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Frederick Augustus Klein|url=http://www.dacb.org/stories/egypt/klein_frederick.html|work=Dictionary of African Christian Biography|access-date=19 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524201158/http://dacb.org/stories/egypt/klein_frederick.html|archive-date=24 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Gerald|title=Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions|year=1998|publisher=Eerdmans|location=Grand Rapids}}</ref>

Former CMS missionary [[Samuel Gobat]] became the second bishop of the [[Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem|Diocese of Jerusalem]], and in 1855 invited the CMS to make Palestine a mission field. In 1855 the Revd [[John Zeller]] was sent to [[Nablus]]. In 1857 he moved to Nazareth, where he stayed for the next 20 years, then he moved to Jerusalem.<ref name="CMS-RK"/><ref name="CMSatlasHme"/>

Over the years many missionaries were sent to [[Jerusalem]], [[Gaza City|Gaza]], [[Jaffa]], [[Nazareth]], [[Nablus]] and [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], by 1899 there were 59 missionaries in Palestine.<ref name="CMS-RK"/> The missionaries included [[John Zeller]], who exercised a great influence on the development of Nazareth and founded [[Christ Church, Nazareth]], the first Protestant church in the Galilee, which was consecrated by Gobat in 1871.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Miller|first=Duane Alexander|title=Christ Church (Anglican) in Nazareth: a brief history with photographs|journal=St Francis Magazine|date=October 2012|volume=8|issue=5|url=http://www.stfrancismagazine.info/ja/images/stories/DuaneMiller-oct2012.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908180608/http://www.stfrancismagazine.info/ja/images/stories/DuaneMiller-oct2012.pdf|archive-date=2013-09-08}}</ref>

The CMS established hospitals at Gaza, Jaffa, Nablus, [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], [[Al-Salt|Salt]] and [[Al-Karak|Karak]],<ref name="CV27">{{cite book |title= The Centenary Volume of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East 1799-1899|url= https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/29805/1/Z163_02_0540.pdf|year=1902|publisher= London : Church Missionary Society, digital publication: Cornell University|page=27}}</ref> and an orphanage at Nazareth.<ref name="CMSP">{{cite web|title= CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY ARCHIVE, Section IX, Middle East Missions |date= 2019| url= http://www.ampltd.co.uk/collections_az/CMS-9-01/description.aspx| publisher =Adam Matthew Publications| access-date=4 March 2019}}</ref> [[Edith Eleanor Newton|Edith Newton]] worked at the Jaffa Mission Hospital from 1887 to 1893 along with both of her sisters and fellow missionaries, Constance A. Newton and [[Frances E. Newton|Frances Newton]], who was in Palestine from 1889 until 1938.<ref>Tusan, Michelle. [http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-review&month=0807&week=e&msg=AEYy%2Bnpo08iEvUysHmgwtg&user=&pw= Review] of Stockdale, Nancy L. ''Colonial Encounters among English and Palestinian Women, 1800-1948''. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007.</ref>

The CMS established a school at Bethlehem, with Miss McNeile as principal;<ref name="THB">{{cite book |last1= Mæhle, Ingvar B., and Inger Marie Okkenhaug (editors) |first1= Okkenhaug |title= 'Mission and Education as Liberating Strategies: The Case of Mabel Warburton' in Women and Religion in the Middle East and the Mediterranean |url= http://dspace.uib.no/bitstream/handle/1956/16727/M%25C3%25A6hle%2Band%2BOkkenhaug%2B-%2BWomen%2Band%2BReligion%2BMiddle%2BEast%2BMeditteranean.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y|year=2004 |publisher= Unipub/Oslo Academic Press |pages=67–84}}</ref> and the Jerusalem Girls' College, with [[Mabel Clarisse Warburton]] as the co-founder and first principal from 1919 to 1926.<ref name="THB"/> The CMS supported the Bishop Gobat School for boys (est. 1847). The CMS also established the Newman School of Missions, set up by the CMS missionary Eric Bishop,<ref name="CMSP"/> which was established for the study of languages and Islamic studies for missionaries.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>

In 1951 it was decided that the [[Jerusalem and the Middle East Church Association (JMECA)|Jerusalem and East Mission]] would take over the work of the CMS in [[Israel]].<ref name="CMSP"/>

==Iran (Persia)==
[[File: Henry Martyn.jpg|thumb|right|200px| [[Henry Martyn]], [[Church Missionary Society in India|missionary to India]] and Persia]]
The Revd [[Henry Martyn]] visited Persia ([[Iran]]) in 1811. He reached [[Shiraz]],<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|wstitle=Martyn, Henry|volume=17|page=804}}</ref> then he travelled to [[Tabriz]] to attempt to present the [[Shah]] with his Persian translation of the New Testament. The British ambassador to the Shah, was unable to bring about a meeting, but did deliver the manuscript to the Shah.<ref name="cp">{{cite book | last =Padwick | first =Constance | title =Henry Martyn, Confessor of the Faith| publisher =Inter-Varsity Fellowship | year =1953 | location =London  | pages =172 }}</ref><ref name="ODCC">{{cite book |editor=F. L. Cross |editor2=E. A. Livingstone | title =The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd edition | publisher =Oxford University Press | date =13 March 1997 | location =USA | pages =[https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00late/page/1046 1046] | url =https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00late/page/1046 | isbn =019211655X | url-access =registration }}</ref> However a CMS mission was not established until 1869 when the Revd Robert Bruce established a mission station at [[New Julfa|Julfa]] in [[Ispahan]].<ref name="CV30">{{cite book |title= The Centenaru Volume of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East 1799-1899|url= https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/29805/1/Z163_02_0540.pdf|year=1902|publisher= London : Church Missionary Society, digital publication: Cornell University|page=30}}</ref><ref name="CV122">{{cite book |title= The Centenaru Volume of the Church Missionary Society for Africa and the East 1799-1899|url= https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/1813/29805/1/Z163_02_0540.pdf|year=1902|publisher= London : Church Missionary Society, digital publication: Cornell University|pages=122–124}}</ref><ref name="May1876">{{cite web |title= The Church Missionary Gleaner, May 1876|work= The New Mission to Persia|access-date=24 October 2015 |url= http://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Images/CMS_OX_Gleaner_1876_05/5| publisher = [[Adam Matthew Digital]]}}</ref><ref name="Feb1877">{{cite web |title= The Church Missionary Gleaner, February 1877|work= From London to Ispahan |access-date=24 October 2015 |url= http://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Images/CMS_OX_Gleaner_1877_02/2| publisher = [[Adam Matthew Digital]]}}</ref> The Persian mission operated hospitals and schools.<ref name="CMS-RK"/> In 1880 medical work was begun by Dr. E. F. Hoernle.<ref name="CV30"/> The mission in Persia expanded to include [[Kerman]], [[Yezd]] (1893) and [[Shiraz]] (1900), with [[Mary Bird (medical missionary)|Mary Bird]], a medical missionary, establishing hospitals at Kerman and Yezd.<ref>Rice, Clara C., ''Mary Bird in Persia'', London: Church Missionary Society, Salisbury Square, E.C. 1916</ref> [[Donald William Carr|Dr. Donald Carr]] expanded and built additional hospitals at the {{ill|Isa Bin Maryam Hospital|fa|بیمارستان عیسی بن مریم}}, in [[Julfa, Isfahan, Iran]], and the Shiraz Christian Missionary Hospital.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ebrahimi |first=Sara |title=Emotion, Mission, Architecture |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-4744-8657-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Hospitals in Iran and India, 1500-1950s |publisher=Brill |year=2012 |isbn=9789004228290 |editor-last=Speziale |editor-first=Fabrizio}}</ref> After Bishop [[Edward Stuart]] resigned as the [[Anglican Diocese of Waiapu|Bishop of Waiapu]] in New Zealand, he then served as a missionary in Julfa from 1894 to 1911.<ref name="ES1">{{cite web|first= Eugene|last= Stock |title = The Story of the New Zealand Mission| date =1913|url= http://anglicanhistory.org/nz/stock1913/ |access-date=4 March 2019}}</ref><ref name="CMSatlasHper">{{cite web|title= The Church Missionary Atlas (Persia)|pages=  78–80|date= 1896| url= http://www.churchmissionarysociety.amdigital.co.uk/Documents/Details/CMS_OX_Atlas_01|access-date=19 October 2015 | publisher = [[Adam Matthew Digital]]}}</ref> In 1940 government action forced the missionaries to end their activities.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>

==The Ottoman Empire (Iraq)==
The CMS sent missionaries to the [[Ottoman Empire]], to what is now [[Iraq]]. The CMS established a mission in [[Baghdad]] in 1883, with a hospital also established in Bagdad in 1896. The CMS also established a hospital in [[Mosul]] in 1901. Following the outbreak of the [[First World War]] the mission workers were interned by the Turkish authorities, then expelled to Egypt where they worked during the war years. In 1919 the CMS decided not to resume the mission.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>

==Sudan==
===North Sudan===
[[Llewellyn Gwynne]], [[Archibald Shaw]] and Dr Frank Harpur established mission stations in North [[Sudan]] at [[Omdurman]] (1899) and [[Khartoum]] (1900). A hospital was established at Omdurman. Later schools were established in Omdurman, [[Atbara]] (1908) and [[Wad Madani]] (1916). At the request of the government the CMS established schools in the [[Nuba Mountains]] at Salara (1935) and Katcha in (1939). In 1959 the government took over the operation of the schools.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>

===South Sudan===
The first station in [[South Sudan]] was established by Archibald Shaw in the land of the [[Dinka people]] at Malek, near [[Bor, South Sudan]] (1905), then later at Akot. The CSM also worked among the [[Nuer people]] at Ler and Zeraf Island, the [[Zande people]] at [[Yambio]] and [[Maridi]] and the [[Bari people]] at [[Juba]], [[Yei, South Sudan|Yei]], Loka and [[Kajo Keji]] (Kajokaji).<ref name="CMS-RK"/> The CMS operated elementary schools and the Nugent Secondary School, which was started at Juba in 1920, then in 1929 it was moved to Loka.<ref name="CMS-RK"/>

==CMS activities in the 20th Century==
[[J. Spencer Trimingham]] served with the CMS in the Sudan, Egypt, and West Africa (1937–53).

Rachel Hassan worked for the CMS in Sudan from 1944 to 1971. She taught in the Nuba Mountains (1944-1959). She was at the Salara Mission (1945-1951); Katcha Mission (1951-1959); and was the CMS Secretary in Omdurman from 1963 to 1971.<ref name="RH">{{cite web|title= Catalogue of the papers of Rachel Hassan |date= 1971| url= https://reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?docId=ark/32150_s1pk02c9793.xml|access-date=30 December 2021 | publisher = Durham University Library: Archives and Special Collections}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
* [[History of Christian missions]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Protestant missions to Africa}}
{{Protestant missions to the Middle East}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1799]]
[[Category:Church of England missions]]
[[Category:Church of England missionary societies]]
[[Category:Evangelical Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Anglican organizations established in the 18th century]]
[[Category:Christian missionary societies]]