晚清美国监理会在苏州传教活动的若干特点及影响

Missionary Work's Character and Influences of American Methodist Episcopal Church in Suzhou during Late Qing Period

1870年,监理会在苏州开创了教会事业。在此后的几十年间,监理会在苏州的传教事业是成功的。这些年的成功归因于监理会亲和地方社会,由此赢得苏州社会各阶层的好感,也得到包括两江总首刘坤一、江苏巡抚恩寿、江苏巡抚鹿传麟等在内的地方官员的大力支持;归因于提高“自养”水平,努力不依赖母会的拨款;归因于“本色化”努力,传教之初就提出教会在华的领导权迟早得移交给华人。监理会的这些活动产生了有利于传教的影响。晚清美国监理会在苏州的传教活动对中国基督教区域传教史的研究有一定的典型意义。

In 1870, Methodist Episcopal Church began the missionary work in Suzhou and had done a successive work in the following tens of years. The reason of its success lies in these three aspects： first, the church kept a good relation with local society and got the support from local officials including Liu Kunyi as the General-governor of Liang Jiang Province, Enshou and Lu Chuanling as the governors of Jiangsu Province; second, it had the ability of self-raising, tried not to depend on the funding from headquarters; third, it insisted on ＂localization＂ and promised that the church＇s leadership in China would transfer to Chinese sooner or later. These activities had good impacts on the missionary works. Studying the American Methodist Episcopal Church＇s missionary work in Suzhou during the late Qing period has typical significance in Chinese missionary history research.