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Canada
and North America
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Austrailia
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Newfoundland
Society for the
Education of the Poor
(Newfoundland School Society)
Founded
30 June 1823
In
this, Britain's oldest colony, evangelicals were concerned
for the spiritual state of the people. Samuel
Codner, a fish merchant who traded there, called a
meeting at the London Coffee House on Ludgate Hill 'for
the purpose of establishing a Society to promote the education
of the numerous poor in Newfoundland.' The object of this
Society was 'to teach the people the knowledge of the
Holy Scriptures and the way of salvation in them.
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Western
Australia Missionary Society
Founded
30 September 1835
As
the western Australian colonies began to grow, the need
for spiritual provision for the settlers became more and
more apparent. Existing mission agencies were not meeting
the need, so the evangelical Western Australian Missionary
Society was established for missionary work by Captain
Frederick Chidley Irwin.
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Newfoundland
and British North American Society for Educating the Poor
Name
change effective 13 May 1829
This
name change reflects the wider vision of the Society,
moving beyond Newfoundland into the rest of the Canadian
and North American colonies. The Society saw there was
great need for education and spiritual guidance.
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Australian
Church Missionary Society
Name
change effective 1836
The
Western Australia Missionary Society's work developed
rapidly, particularly as emigration to Australia increased,
and the new name reflected its broader geographical scope.
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Church
of England Society for educating the Poor of Newfoundland
and the Colonies
Name
change effective 30 July 1846
The
intention for this change of name was for the Society
to become an official educational agency of the colonial
church. This highlighted some of the tensions between
such endeavour and missionary work. The Society had been
founded to educate, but from the beginning was also alert
to more general missionary opportunities.
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Colonial
Church Society
Name
change effective 1838
This
new name reflected the desire to see the Society's field
of operations expanding to meet needs in all colonies,
particularly as The Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel (SPG), the only other missionary organisation that
had been focused on the colonies said that they could
not meet the needs of all those asking for help. The Society
broadened its scope to all the colonies, with the aim
of sending out workers to minister to not only British
colonies but also other areas where there were English-speakers.
Work was thus undertaken in North America, South Africa
and Europe.
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The
Colonial Church and School Society
Founded
1 January 1851
Both
the above strands were working within the colonial field
and were based on the same evangelical principles, with
the same support base and areas of work.
The merger brought the benefits of one large colonial
Society that would secure the support of the whole evangelical
body of the Church of England and also, reduced administration
costs enabled more funds to be put into the work itself.
The geographical scope of the new Society ranged from
Canada, North America, South America, India, West Indies,
South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and increasingly,
Europe was a major focus of its efforts.
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Colonial
and Continental Church Society
Name
change effective 1861
The
new name reflected the twin spheres of operation for
the Society - the colonies and continental Europe. It
continued to pioneer work amongst English-speakers and
also worked amongst foreign language groups in British
territories.
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Commonwealth
and Continental Church Society
Name
change effective 1 July 1958
The
two World Wars of the 20th Century had a major impact
on the work of the Society, and much of the work had
to be suspended during the conflicts. Resulting economic
issues led to there being an emphasis on work in the
colonies becoming self supporting. By 1950 the Missionary
Society of the Canadian Church has assumed responsibility
for most of the work previously funded by the Society
there, as the founding of the Bush
Church-Aid Society in Australia in 1919 had led
to Australian work becoming self supporting. This new
name reflected the realities of decolonisation and the
development of the Commonwealth
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Intercontinental
Church Society
Name
change effective 11 June 1979
Abbreviation:
ICS
The
majority of the Society's work was now outside of the
Commonwealth as the spiritual needs of an increasingly
post-Christian Europe dominated the agenda. (Briefly
the Society was known as Intercon during the 1980's.)
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