Record Details

The trivial round, the common task: minutes of the Missionary Board of the Glasgow Missionary Society (1838-1843)

In die Skriflig

 
 
Field Value
 
Title The trivial round, the common task: minutes of the Missionary Board of the Glasgow Missionary Society (1838-1843)
 
Creator Ross, J. S.
 
Subject — Cape Colony; Glasgow Missionary Society; Minute Book; Missionary Logistics; Xhosa Intellectuals
Description This article seeks to bring to attention a hitherto little-known account of missionary life among the Xhosa people in the Cape Colony during the period 1838-1843 as contained in “The minute book of the Missionary Board of the Glasgow Missionary Society, adhering to the principles of the Church of Scotland, in Caffraria, and in the neighbouring Colony” (MBGMS). The Missionary Board was responsible for providing adequate material infrastructure and logistical support to enable the accomplishment of the aspirations of the Society. The author argues that such mundane work is often neglected in modern missiological historiography, which focuses rather on the more “‘spiritual” aspects of mission work. The historiographic approach adopted in this article is that of modern narrative history. By focusing on some of the themes, trends and struc- tures presenting themselves in the record, the MBGMS is permitted to speak for itself with relatively little retrospective interpretation. It is demonstrated that the Board made an important contribution to the achievement of the goals of the Glasgow Missionary Society, as seen in the rise of a Xhosa middle class and the emergence of a significant group of black intellectuals, whose voice and influence are being recovered after years of enforced neglect.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2009-07-26
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ids.v43i3.237
 
Source In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi; Vol 43, No 3 (2009); 563-584 2305-0853 1018-6441
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/237/133
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2009 J. S. Ross https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT