Eastern Fellowship of Professors of Missions records, 1932 -- 1965

The Teachers of Missions Group was established to promote the fellowship, spiritual life, and professional usefulness of its members through papers, discussion, prayer, and social intercourse. Membership consisted of people in New England and the Mid-Atlantic area. The earliest records in this collection, recorded by secretary Henry Winters Luce, date from 1932; however, the group began to meet informally in 1917. Early discussions included those on the Laymen's Foreign Missions Inquiry; interacting with the International Missionary Council; and the discussion of training missionaries. The constitution was officially adopted in April 1940 and stated the name of the group as "The Fellowship of Professors of Missions." Regular meetings were held twice per year with annual dues set at fifty cents. By 1954, the updated constitution changed the name to "The Association of Professors of Missions." Membership was opened to professors of missions in the member institutions of the American Association of Theological Schools and by invitation. The meetings were also changed to once every two years. In 1964, the name again changed to "The Eastern Fellowship of Professors of Missions" to show its region, as the group was a faction of the national Association of Professors of Missions. The national group became closely allied with the American Association of Missiology beginning in 1972.