Surrendering the Task

CONTENTS

Introduction 1

1. The BMS and Its China Missionaries 19
Origins, Early Influences and Founding Principles 19
Organisational Structure, Terms of Service and Funding 24
Profile of BMS China Missionaries, 1937 35
The Development of BMS Work In China 37

2. Japanese Occupation in Shandong, 1937–1942 49
The Impact of War 52
BMS Missionaries as Third-Party Nationals During the Occupation 57
The Chinese Baptist Church in Occupied Shandong 68

3. The BMS in Shaanxi, 1937–1945 81
The Red Army in Shaanxi 82
BMS Evangelical Work in Shaanxi before and During the War 88
The Educational Work of the Mission 92
Impact of the War in Europe, and the British Entry into the War against Japan 105
Treaty Revision and International Relationships 108
The BMS in Shaanxi by the End of the War 112

4. Planning and Recovery, August 1945 to July 1946 115
Formation of BMS Policy 117
Partnership with the Church of Christ in China 124
Return to the Formerly Occupied Provinces 128
Missionaries and Their Families 137
SOS from Shandong 144

5. Civil War, July 1946 to December 1948 147
The Civil War and Its Impact 147
The Missionaries and their Chinese Co-Workers: The Case of Wang Juntang 160
Rebuilding the Hospital in Xi’an: The Tilehouse Street Gift 169
Policy with Regard to Mission Work under a Communist Regime 178

6. The BMS in China, 1949–1952 183
Barriers to Understanding the BMS China Experience 185
Communists Take Over Xi’an 189
Shandong Churches under the CCP 194
CCP Moves to Control the Chinese Church 199
Departure and Decisions about Subsequent Postings 205

Conclusions 211

Appendix 1: BMS China Missionaries 219
Appendix 2: The BMS In China: A Timeline 223
Bibliography 227
Index 253

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Audrey Salters (1938-2017) was born in Shandong Province, northern China, where her father was a doctor working for the Baptist Missionary Society. Her formative years were spent living in occupied China, initially on a rural hospital compound and then three years in several interment camps in Shanghai, released in August 1945. She studied English at St Anne's College, Oxford, and then undertook social work professional training at the London School of Economics and the University of Edinburgh. Following a career in social work and as a trainer for Children's Panel members, she returned to academic in retirement to complete her PhD at the University of Edinburgh. She returned to China several times and retained many close friendships there, as well as being interviewed for Shandong television about her early life in the Province. Her book, Bound With Love, telling the story of her parents' lives in China both before and during occupation, was published in 2007.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
1. Why did you decide to write your book?
Having researched the period and discovered that the facts as they related to the history of the Baptist Missionary Society in China in the first half of the twentieth century differed material from much of the popular narrative of the period, it was important to correct the record.

2. What is distinctive about the content of your book?
The book is distinctive because it draws on the personal accounts of missionaries in the field, shedding light on their views and experiences at this time and the impact that political events in China had on the BMS's withdrawal plans. The BMS had been committed, from the very start of its work in China, to place responsibility for evangelism, church organisation and leadership in the hands of Chinese Christians and had put in place a withdrawal plan that would have seen the BMS withdraw completely from Shandong in 1942, leaving behind a self-sufficient thriving Christian community. Contrary to popular myth, the documents demonstrate that the War of Resistance against Japan and the subsequent Chinese Civil War delayed rather than precipitated the BMS departure from China.

3. Why is this subject important?
The subject is important because it is important to have an accurate understanding of this period of history. It is important that the integrity and motives of those who served in China at that time are put in correct context rather than the conventional narrative that they deliberately outstayed their welcome. It is also important to tell the story of the individuals - both missionary and their local colleagues - in their own words and acknowledge the part they played in shaping life in China in the period in question and in terms of remaining legacy today.

4. What difference would this book make for the ministry?
I'm afraid don't feel well-placed to answer this.

5. Feel free to add anything else you find relevant.
If anything else occurs to me I will be in touch. I fear the only additional thoughts I would have would be ones based on personal or family connections rather than the more scholarly analysis the book deserves.

This book tells the story of the final years of missionary activity in China, with particular reference to the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS). Contrary to some existing narratives, the Society was committed, from the very beginning of its work in China, to placing responsibility for evangelism, church organisation
and leadership in the hands of Chinese Christians, but this plan was derailed by events in China between 1937 and 1952. The missionary departure from Shandong had been planned for 1942. This was delayed when members of the Chinese church found themselves obliged to seek additional help from the BMS to cope with the destruction caused first by the War of Resistance against Japan and later by the Civil War. This book explores contrasting experiences of work during this period in three different provinces of northern China: Shandong, Shanxi and Shaanxi. It examines the way the BMS dealt with the new developments, and the impact on individual missionaries of working in this rapidly changing environment, telling their story in their own words and those of their Chinese colleagues.

Audrey Salters’ scholarly account of the Baptist Missionary Society’s work in North China between 1937 and its closure in 1952 provides a valuable corrective to conventional narratives of the end of the Western missionary era in China. She provides
clear evidence that, in Shandong province at least, the Chinese church had agreed with the Society a timetable for missionary withdrawal and full devolution by 1942. The political and economic turbulence caused by the Japanese occupation played havoc with that timetable. Well-grounded in archival research, including the papers of her missionary parents, this important book deserves to be widely read.
Brian Stanley, Professor Emeritus of World Christianity,
University of Edinburgh