Guide to the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Commission on Ecumenical Mission and Relations Records

The United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA) was organized in 1858 by the union of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARPC) and the Associate Presbyterian Church of North America (APC). The overseas missionary work of the UPCNA was directed by a corporation established in 1859 known as the United Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Its responsibility was to supervise the missionary work that had been started by the ARPC and the APC as well as to direct all of the philanthropic work of the church outside of the United States. Following the merger of the UPCNA and the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. in 1958, all mission work was transferred to the newly formed denomination, the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

The missionary work of the APC had begun in Trinidad in 1842. However, a considerable loss of personnel through disease and illness resulted in that work being turned over to the Free Church of Scotland in 1852. In 1854, the APC undertook work in India when Andrew Gordon and his family started their work at Sialkot in the Punjab. Work in this field was continued by the UPCNA after 1858.

The ARPC began its mission work in Syria in 1844 with the general aim of evangelizing the Jewish population there. Known as the "Mission to Damascus," where the only station was founded, the work was continued by the UPCNA until 1878. In that year, the field was transferred to the Presbyterian Church of Ireland. In 1853, the ARPC transferred one of its missionaries from Damascus to Cairo, thus marking the beginning of the Egypt Mission. The mission's chief aim was to preach the gospel to all classes of the Arabic-speaking population, to train native Christian workers, and to build up an evangelical Christian church in Egypt. Operating primarily out of Cairo and Alexandria, the methods used were evangelistic, educational, and medical and included work among women as well as the distribution of literature. Work in Egypt continued by the UPCNA after 1858. In 1900, the UPCNA's Egypt Mission expanded its operation by sending missionaries into the Sudan, thus formally commencing the North Sudan and Upper Nile Missions. Mission work began in Ethiopia, then known as Abyssinia, in 1920. 

In 1860, the first General Assembly of the UPCNA agreed to commence missionary work in China and Central Africa. A mission was opened in Canton, China in that year but never grew and was eventually abandoned in 1878. Efforts instead were then redirected to work among the Chinese population in California with the San Francisco Presbytery and later the Board of Home Missions assuming primary responsibility for this ministry. The UPCNA briefly engaged in limited missionary work in Europe. From 1862 until 1870, the Rev. W.G. Moorehead, sent out under the American Foreign and Christian Union, labored in Central and Northern Italy.

UPCNA Work in Egypt

The UPCNA's work in Egypt was divided into five distinct areas. Cairo, where missionary work commenced under the ARPC in 1854, was the oldest station, followed by Alexandria which was organized in 1857. Work in Upper Egypt centered in the Assiut and Luxor Districts which were organized in 1865 and 1883 respectively. Missionary work in Middle Egypt commenced with the organization of the Fayoum Oasis station (1866) and later expanded to include Beni Suef (1891) and Minia (1923). Stations in the Delta region were organized first around Mansura (1865), followed by Tanta and Benha in 1892 and 1894 respectively.

The UPCNA's ministry in Egypt was evangelistic, educational, and medical in nature. Numerous congregations of the Evangelical Church were established throughout the country where the focus was on work with women and children and the distribution of Christian literature. The Women's General Missionary Society of the UPCNA contributed significantly in the training and evangelization of both women and children. The church's commitment to the educational needs of the Egyptian people was manifested in the establishment of numerous institutions such as Assiut College, the Pressly Memorial Institute, the American College For Girls as well as primary, secondary, and boarding schools for children of both sexes. The church's medical work was evident in the organization of the Assiut Hospital, the Martha McKowan Hospital in Tanta, and numerous clinics and dispensaries.

UPCNA Work in India/Pakistan

Missionary work in India began in 1854 with the Sialkot mission and later spread to Eastern parts of the Punjab including stations at Zafarwal (1880), Pasrur (1884) and Badomali (1915). Mission stations in Central and Western India were established at Gujranwala (1863), Lahore (circa 1913?) Sheikhupura (1923), Martinpur (1918), Sangla Hill (1901), Lyallpur (1895) and Sargodha (1905). Along the border of the Jhelum river, mission stations were founded at Rawalpindi (1856), Jhelum (1874), Campbellpur (1916) and Taxila (1921). Near the Kashmir border, stations were founded at Gurdaspur (1872), Pathankot (1882) and Dhariwal (1890).

Work in India, while primarily evangelistic in nature, was also geared towards medical and educational concerns. Missionaries were involved with the creation and supervision of numerous institutions, ranging from village schools and technical training centers to colleges (i.e.: Kinnaird College for Women) and hospitals (i.e.: the Memorial Hospital, Sialkot and United Christian Hospital, Lahore). Missionaries in India and Pakistan were also involved in special projects in conjunction with the government such as the irrigation and colonization of the Thal, a 1.5 million-acre desert region west of Sargodha set aside for the relocation of displaced Christian families and families of refugee soldiers in the Pakistan Army.

In 1947, after the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan, only one mission station (Gurdaspur) remained within the boundaries of India. Other existing stations became part of West Pakistan.

UPCNA Work in the Sudan

Mission work in the Sudan was divided into two fields: the North Sudan Mission and the South Sudan (also called the Upper Nile) Mission.

Work in the northern part of the Sudan was directed mainly to the Muslim population and commenced when missionaries from the Evangelical Church of the Egypt Mission came to Omdurman in 1900. Work was later expanded into Khartoum and Khartoum North in 1903 and 1908 respectively. Stations were later opened north of Khartoum at Port Sudan (1915) and Atbara (1947). South of Khartoum, other stations were created at Wad Medani (1938), El Obeid (1947) and Gedaref (1948). 

Missionary work in the South Sudan Mission was geared toward the evangelization of specific tribal units. Work among the Shullas people commenced in 1902 with the opening of a station at Doleib Hill, followed by additional stations at Atar (1946) and Malakal and Obel (1948).

Efforts to evangelize the Nuers people began in 1913 with the establishment of stations at Nasir and laterWanglel (1947). The station at Abwong, opened in 1945, became the focus of work among the Ngok Dinka tribe. Work among the Anuaks centered around the stations at Akobo (1938) and Pokwo (1951). The station at Pibor (1952) became the focus of work among the Murles tribe.

In both the North and South Sudan Missions the thrust of mission work was evangelical, educational, and medical in nature. Evangelistic work in the North Sudan Mission was strongly influenced by the Evangelical Church of the Egypt Mission with many of the organized congregations being independent and self-supporting. 

Educational work, as in the Egypt Mission, involved the establishment of primary, secondary, and various boarding schools that were staffed by Egyptian, Sudanese and UPCNA mission personnel. Like other fields in which the UPCNA was operative, women's work in the Sudan was directed by the Women's General Missionary Society of the UPCNA and included reading, writing and Bible Study.

Efforts to evangelize in the South Sudan produced mixed results. In some cases, indigenous churches were organized, notably among the Shullas people. Cooperative ventures between the UPCNA, the Church of England and the Reformed Church in America characterized other efforts. In 1952, a "Committee on Cooperation in the South Sudan" (CCSS) was established to act on behalf of the three participating groups that were operative in the South Sudan: the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America; the Board of Foreign Missions of the United Presbyterian Church of North America; and the Women's Board of the Women's General Missionary Society of the UPCNA. Comprised of twelve members appointed by the participating boards, the CCSS was responsible to its constituting boards for the administration of the missionary work in the South Sudan mission field.

Educational work in the South Sudan involved the establishment of primary and secondary schools as well as a teacher training institution. Bible translation work was also undertaken in some of the mission stations. Medical work, which consisted of both clinical and hospital work,was performed at Doleib Hill, Abwong, Nasir, Wangel, Akobo and Pibor.

UPCNA Work in Ethiopia

Work in Ethiopia commenced in 1919 when a party of missionaries, on the request of British and Ethiopian government officials, landed at the river port of Gambeila. Stations were subsequently established at Sayo (1920), Addis Ababa (1923), Gorei (1924), Maji (1948), and Ghimeera (1951). In 1924, the Ethiopia Missionary Association was formed, and the work in Ethiopia began at that time as an independent mission.

The work of the UPCNA in Ethiopia was largely evangelistic, educational, and medical in nature. The establishment of the Evangelical Church of Ethiopia met with considerable resistance from the Coptic Church of Ethiopia, a state established and highly nationalistic institution that strongly opposed any evangelical movement. Fear and suspicion of foreign influence precipitated considerable persecution of Ethiopian evangelicals despite the fact that the Evangelical Church was an entirely indigenous church with no ecclesiastical connection with any foreign or western church whatsoever. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, persecution of evangelicals continued, with churches and schools closed by local authorities and teachers and preachers incarcerated without trial.

The educational work of the UPCNA in Ethiopia, limited mainly to the establishment of primary schools, resulted in the founding of a boarding school and school for the blind in Addis Ababa. Adult classes were initiated in Gorei along with several primary schools in Maji andGhimeera. Medical work centered around the Jean R. Orr Memorial Hospital in Sayo and clinic work in both Maji and Ghimeera.

Missionary work in Ethiopia was disrupted in the early 1940s during the Italian occupation of the country but was resumed at the end of World War II and continued until 1958 when the UPCNA merged with the PCUSA.