Guide to the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Standing Committee of Missions Records

The Presbyterian Church USA's first official action in missionary work occurred in 1789, at the first General Assembly. The GA appointed Samuel Smith and Francis Alison a committee of two to consider the situation of the frontier settlements and to devise a way to supply the spiritual and pastoral needs of the settlers. The committee suggested that each synod should, at the 1790 assembly, recommend two men for missionary service.

The 1802 General Assembly created a Standing Committee of Missions. Its members included Ebenezer Hazard and Ashbel Green. The Standing Committee oversaw missionary appointments, received letters from men on the field, and reported to the General Assembly each year. During the first several years, missionary work was confined to the American frontiers; Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and northern New York. Eventually this developed into missionary work overseas.

The creation of the Board of Foreign Missions in 1837 marked the culmination of a discussion covering a period of years as to whether missionary operations should be carried on by voluntary societies, or by the Church in its organized capacity. The Board oversaw missionary work overseas and in some parts of the United States, paying particular attention to the Chinese and Japanese populations in California, to the Jews, and to the Native Americans. In 1862 the Board was incorporated by the state of New York.