Guides: Christian Missions in Africa: Reference Works on Christian Missions in Africa

Reference works

World Christian encyclopedia : a comparative survey of churches and religions in the modern world 2nd ed. 2 vols. Oxford University Press, 2001.
Print only. Van Pelt Reference: BR157 .W67 2001
Combines quantitative data with qualitative descriptions of Christianity in individual countries worldwide.
Evangelical dictionary of world missions. Baker Books, 2000.
Print only. Van Pelt: BV2040 .E92 2000
More than 1,400 articles covering mission history, academic and applied missiology, biographies, relevant theological and social science topics, with reports on Christianity in countries worldwide.
For a review of EDWM, see:
"Review" / Robert Schreiter. International bulletin of missionary research 25, 1 (January 2001): 36.
Cambridge history of Christianity. 9 vols. Cambridge University Press, 2006-2009.
Recent multivolume history, each volume with extensive bibliographic apparatus. See especially:
• Vol. 8, World Christianities, c.1815-c.1914 (2008).
• Vol. 9, World Christianities, c.1914-c.2000 (2008).
Americans in Africa : a preliminary guide to American missionary archives and library manuscript collections on Africa / by Robert Collins and Peter Duignan. Hoover Institution, 1963.
Print only. LIBRA: 248.3B C6941.
Lists individual American missionary societies and describes the location, extent, and availability of their archival resources (albeit half a century ago!). Includes two helpful appendixes listing missions by target country.

Mission statistics, atlases

World Christian Database
Directory and statistical information for present-day (1970- ) Christian denominations worldwide. Includes notes listing missions currently active in each country.
Directory of Protestant medical missions / Arthur W Marsh. Missionary Research Library, 1959.
Not at Penn. Request through BorrowDirect. (We are waiting for a digitized copy.)
Provides a statistical survey by continent and country, listing each mission with numbers of patients and staff.
World missionary atlas. Institute of Social and Religious Research, 1925.
Print only. Van Pelt stacks: BV4025 .B4
World atlas of Christian missions. Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions, 1911.
Print available. Online via HathiTrust.
Subtitle: "a directory of missionary societies, a classified summary of statistics, an index of mission stations, and maps showing the location of mission stations throughout the world". Good map reproductions. Based on:
• Statistical atlas of Christian missions : containing a directory of missionary societies, a classified summary of statistics, an index of mission stations, and a series of specially prepared maps of mission fields. World Missionary Conference, 1910. Online via HathiTrust.
A geography and atlas of Protestant missions : their environment, forces, distribution, methods, problems, results and prospects at the opening of the twentieth century / Harlan P Beach. 2 vols. Student volunteer movement for foreign missions, 1906
Online via HathiTrust. Vol. 1 : Geography (1901). Vol. 2 : Statistics and Atlas (1903).
Katholischer Missionsatlas : enthaltend die gesamten Missionsgebiete des Erdkreises / Karl Streit. Verlag der Missionsdruckerei, 1906.
Online via HathiTrust.
Centennial survey of foreign missions : a statistical supplement to "Christian missions and social progress" / James S Dennis. Fleming H. Revell Co., 1902.
Print at LIBRA; Online via HathiTrust.
The church missionary atlas. New ed. (8th). Church Missionary Society, 1896.
Starting with the 7th ed. (1887), this CMS atlas covered missions and missionary stations of other societies.
Neuer Missions-atlas, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der deutschen Missionen / R. Grundemann. Verlag der Vereinsbuchhandlung, 1896.
Online via HathiTrust.
Another in the Burkhardt-Grundemann series, with very nice maps. The latest edition of B-G seems to lack maps:
• Kleine Missions-Geographie und -Statistik zur Darstellung des Standes der evangelishen Mission am Schlus des 19. Jahrhunderts / R Grundemann. Verlag der Vereinsbuchhandlung, 1901.
Online via HathiTrust.
Les missions évangéliques depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours / G.E. Burkhardt & R. Grundemann. 4 vols. Georges Bridel Ed., 1884.
Onlline via HathiTrust.
vol. 2 = Africa. This is a translation of Dr. G.E. Burkhardt's Kleine Missions-Bibliothek. 2nd Aufl. Velhagen & Klasing, 1879-[1880] (in Fraktur, but with better maps).

Biographical Information

Use these biographical directories, registers, and dictionaries to identify physicians, surgeons, and nurses who served as missionaries. With personal names and biographical information, you can search contemporary magazines and newspapers for mentions.

Biographical dictionary of Christian missions / Gerald H. Anderson, ed. Paperback [rev.] ed. Grand Rapids, Mich. : W.B. Eerdmans, 1999.
Print only. Van Pelt Reference: BV3700 .B56 1999
Informative entries with bibliographies, with a special emphasis on native-born missionaries. Appendices list subjects by time period, gender, martyrdom, region of service, agencies and orders, and type of missionary work.
For an appreciation of Anderson, an overview of its arrangement and use, and comments on related works, see:
• "Review" / William R. Burrows. U.S. Catholic historian 18, 2, Reference works (Spring 2000): 87-94.
Many BDCM biographies have been put online in:
• Biographies - History of Missiology / Boston University Theology Library.
Dictionary of African Christian Biography / Center for Global Christianity and Mission, Boston University
An ongoing collaborative biographical dictionary. It mines a variety of sources for its entries, from scholarly works to church websites to historic missionary organization registries.
Register of missionaries : (clerical, lay, and female), and native clergy, from 1804 to 1894 / Church Missionary Society
One of several Church Missionary Society registers available online, together covering 1804 through 1928. Many CMS missionaries contributed reports to CMS periodicals.
HathiTrust : Directories/Registers of Missionaries
A messy HathiTrust search result that includes several directories of missionaries.

National biographical dictionaries

These broad databases will include notable missionaries and church figures..

American National Biography
The American National Biography (ANB) is the successor to The Dictionary of American Biography (DAB, 1926-1937). It is a source of biographical information on Americans of significance, broadly defined. The one fast rule for inclusion is that the person must have died before 1996.

African Biographical Dictionary. 2nd ed
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
A collection of current biographies on influential men and women in British history and culture, written by specialized authors.
World Biographical Information System Online
Containing 3.2 million. short biographical entries for eminent individuals who lived in North and South America, Western and Central Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania.
Biography and Genealogy Master Index
An index to reference works with biographical information on multiple persons, focusing on late 19th- and early 20th-century Americans.

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Christian Missions in Africa: Reference Works on Christian Missions in Africa

Guide purpose and history

Reference works

Mission statistics, atlases

Biographical Information

National biographical dictionaries

Librarian & Coordinator of Social Sciences Collections