Anderson, Rufus (1796-1880)

American Congregational administrator and theorist of foreign missions

Anderson was the son of a pastor in Yarmouth, Maine, and his boyhood call to foreign missions was cultivated during his years at Bowdoin College (graduated 1818) and Andover Seminary (graduated 1822). He offered for overseas service, but in 1826 he was appointed assistant secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Primarily responsible for overseas correspon­dence, he soon became senior secretary, the Board’s prin­cipal policymaker and administrator. He traveled in Latin America (1819,1823-1824), the Mediterranean and Near East (1828-1829, 1843-1844), India, Ceylon, Syria, and Turkey (1854-1855), and Hawaii (1863). His writings in­clude biographies of notable converts and other promo­tional pieces, numerous articles and papers on missionary theory and strategy, and four major historical works. He was involved in the founding and governance of a number of educational, cultural, and philanthropic institu­tions. He and his wife were renowned for hospitality to mis­sionaries and their personal concern. He resigned as secretary in 1866 but continued on the Prudential Committee until 1875.

Anderson contended that mission should aim at noth­ing more or less than the establishment of self-supporting, self-governing, and self-propagating churches; its mandate does not require the “civilizing” of heathen peoples. Con­version and the establishment of truly indigenous and mis­sionary churches is best accomplished by proclamation of the gospel through preaching. Although the spread of “civilization” is desirable, the gospel itself is the most ef­fectual means to that end. In 1854 and 1855 Anderson led a deputation to the missions in India, Ceylon, and the Near East urging that educational work for the prepara­tion of native pastors and their wives be conducted only in the vernacular. Investment in schools, presses, and other institutions should be minimal. Missionaries should move out of central stations into the villages and tour the countryside. Native pastors should be ordained speedily, and congregations should form their own ecclesiastical or­ganization, with the mission serving only as helper and for a limited time. The “Outline of Missionary Policy” in the ABCFM Annual Report for 1856, pp. 53-58, summarizes many of these principles. In 1863 Anderson went to Hawaii to press these concerns and to close the mission.

Anderson’s efforts alienated some missionaries and pre­cipitated major debate. Although the three-self goal was widely accepted, Protestant missions became heavily invested in education, health, and social welfare. But by the mid-twentieth century Anderson’s emphasis on the in­digenous church and the separation of the gospel from “civilization” again became prominent in missionary thinking.

David M. Stowe, “Anderson, Rufus,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 20.

This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Portrait

“Rufus Anderson.” In Jessup, Henry Harris. Fifty-Three Years in Syria. Vol. 1. London: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1910.