Roots and Fruit

Scotland has played a major role in the worldwide movement of Christian mission. Equally, the missionary movement has played a big part in Scotland's story. There have been many studies of particular people, places and periods which feature in this story. The distinctive contribution of this book is its attempt to offer a comprehensive and synchronic assessment of the movement as a whole. It examines the development of Scottish mission theory and practice from the formation of the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge in 1709 until the present day. It explores some of the leading features of the movement through original analysis from leading scholars in the field. The essays it contains increase understanding of a dimension of Scotland's story that is often overlooked or forgotten. They also contribute to our understanding of the modern missionary movement and suggest lessons that can be learned by those taking fresh mission initiatives in many different contexts today. The photograph on the front cover shows Rev Dr J.W. Arthur (1881-1952) receiving new communicants into church membership in Kenya during the 1920s. It is reproduced here by kind permission of the Church of Scotland World Mission Council and with sincere thanks to the National Library of Scotland.