Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations Secretaries' Files: Iran Mission

From the outset, Presbyterian work in Iran (Persia) was threefold in nature, evangelical, medical, and educational. Missionary efforts originated with the work of Rev. Justin Perkins in 1834. At first, activities were limited to only a few lone missionaries. By 1872 , however, the work was transferred to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. The first stations were opened in Tehran and Uramia in that year, and in Tabriz in 1873. Hamadan Station was organized in 1880. Resht was opened in 1902; Kermanshah, in 1905. Finally, in 1911, a mission station was established in the sacred Persian city of Meshed. Numerous local churches had been organized and placed in the hands of native ministers within the central Evangelical Church of Iran. Medical work began as early as 1835, and was extended in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Formal hospitals were built in Kermanshah in 1882, in Tehran in 1890, and in Tabriz in 1913, followed by similar openings in Meshed, Hamandan, and Resht. Schools were established for the children of missionaries by the 1870's. In time, these grew into multinational institutions such as the Alborz Foundation (Armaghan Institute), Iran Bethel (Damavand) College, the Community School of Tehran, the Mehr Jordan Schools, and later community out-reach programs.

All of these, schools, hospitals, and churches were in full operation in the late 1950s, the period in which half this collection begins. However, within a decade and a half, a marked change occurred in the Iran Mission, as in Third World missionary movements overall. In 1970, only two of the five mission-operated hospitals remained open. By 1971, even those were forced to close due, in part, to increased national health care, and deteriorating physical plants. Two mission nursing schools were turned over to national agencies. Further, the Armaghan Institute, Damavand College, and the Community School of Tehran were re-established as independent organizations. In many ways, this decline in the mission structure signals the mission's own success in terms of advanced education, medical care, and Christian service.