The Presbyterian Mission Enterprise

American Presbyterians have a remarkable heritage of foreign mission work. While today the mission and ministry of the Presbyterian Church and all of mainline Protestantism is in a time of reformation and deep change, it is vital to remember this heritage of world mission. The Presbyterian Mission Enterprise tells this story by highlighting significant mission leaders through the ages. Our story includes Francis Makemie, a colonial-era missionary pastor and church planter who gathered with colleagues to form the first Presbytery in 1706. Tough, old-school Presbyterians like Ashbel Green insisted on a distinctive Presbyterian mission effort, and Presbyterians were among those who heard the call exemplified by William Carey to take the gospel to the whole world. This vision beckoned Walter Lowrie into leadership, and Presbyterians joined the great missionary movement. Robert Speer was a driving force behind this growing movement, negotiating a moderate path through bitter conflicts. After the traumas of World War II, John Coventry Smith worked to reconfigure and redirect the mission enterprise. Now, in an era marked by fragmentation and realignment, leaders like Clifton Kirkpatrick and Hunter Farrell work to continue the Presbyterian mission enterprise as a vital piece of the way forward. Our heritage guides our future.

""Mark's careful outline of the long heritage of Presbyterian missions ends with a challenge for us as mission co-workers--and indeed for all Presbyterians: how to make real--to embody--mission as partnership in our daily work and worship. With the explosion of short-term mission trips and decentralized mission leadership, we all need to reflect more deeply on what 'communities of mission practice' means as our Presbyterian theology of mission, with Christ at the center.""
--Eric L. Hinderliter, PC (USA) mission coworker, Klaipeda, Lithuania

""The adage goes something like this: 'You can best see where you are going, if you look back at where you have been.' The Presbyterian Mission Enterprise by Englund-Krieger provides an excellent narrative of some of the saints who have led the way in Presbyterian missions over the centuries. Today's mission work can only be strengthened by meeting these people and hearing their stories as we work with global partners to create new narratives.""
--Debra L. Hough, Director of Christian Education, Derry Presbyterian Church, Hershey, PA

""The Presbyterian Mission Enterprise takes us back to the beginning of US Presbyterian mission, holding up critical themes, leaders, and controversies that have shaped the ways in which Presbyterians have been sent out into the world to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. But more than raw history, Englund-Krieger shares his passion that the rich history of US Presbyterian mission can help instruct and lead us into a faithful and effective mission for the future.""
--J. Mark Wright, PC (USA) mission coworker, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Mark J. Englund-Krieger is Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Carlisle, Presbyterian Church (USA). He is the author of The Presbyterian Pendulum (Wipf & Stock, 2010).