This week in Christian history: Gender neutral Bible, Albert Schweitzer, Protestant goes to China

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, September 01, 2019

First Protestant Missionary arrives in China – September 4, 1807

A painting of Robert Morrison (1782-1834), a British minister who in 1804 became the first Protestant missionary in China. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when British minister Robert Morrison became what is widely believed to be the first Protestant missionary in China.

A native of Northumberland and a member of the Scottish Presbyterian Church, Morrison landed in Macau after securing passage to the region via a ship called the Trident.

“On September 7, 1807 he was expelled from Catholic Macao and went to the Thirteen Factories outside Canton City, an area where foreign trade had been allowed since the ban on maritime activities had been lifted in the eighteenth century,” noted New World Encyclopedia.

“During his 27 years of service, he baptized only ten converts, but each one remained loyal. The admission of the convert Liang A-fa to the office of evangelist was the first Protestant ordination performed in China.”