The International Mission Board (or IMB, formerly the Foreign Mission Board) is a
Christian missionary
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
society affiliated with the
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...
(SBC). The headquarters is in
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
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,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
History
Thousands of small Southern Baptist churches dotted the landscape throughout the United States in the mid-19th century. Recognizing that many churches working together in missions could accomplish more than any one, the ''Board of Foreign Missions'' was established on May 10, 1845 (the same date the Southern Baptist Convention was formed) and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Created as a missionary sending organization funded through the cooperative efforts of SBC churches, they chose
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
as their first mission field and on September 1, 1845, the board appointed their first missionaries, Samuel C. Clopton and George Pearcy.
In January 1849 the board began ''The Commission'' magazine to keep constituents informed of the mission work being carried out. Monthly circulation of the periodical reached 7,000 by April 1850. It eventually became an online magazine with an occasional print issue. Their first publication, ''Southern Baptist Missionary Journal'' is defunct.
![Lottie Moon-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Lottie_Moon-1.jpg)
On July 7, 1873, the board appointed its most famous missionary,
Charlotte D. "Lottie" Moon, to China. Lottie served many years among the Chinese and after giving her life to foreign missions. In 1888, the annual fund-raising effort, ''The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering'' sponsored by the
Woman's Missionary Union
Woman's Missionary Union (WMU) is an auxiliary of the Southern Baptist Convention that was founded in 1888. It is the largest Protestant missions organization for women in the world.
History Origins
During the meeting of the Southern Bap ...
is established and latter take her name. By December 1950 the Board had appointed a record-breaking 111 missionaries in that year alone.
In July 1964 the Board began a new effort to send single missionaries called the Journeyman Program. Today the Journeyman Program sends out hundreds of singles and married couples under 30 years of age each year for a two-year term throughout the world. In February 1989 the International Service Corps program was introduced to facilitate short-term missions for projects lasting from 4 to 24 months with a possible 12-month extension.
In 1997 the ''Foreign Mission Board'' voted to change its name to the ''International Mission Board'' which it is known by today. The International Mission Board celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2020 and in 2022 it has 3,552 missionaries.
Controversies
In 2005, the International Mission Board won a judgement against Benton Gray Harvey for $359,499.62 for embezzlement while he was an accountant for the IMB in Istanbul, Turkey. The incident was investigated by a trustee only after a whistleblower on the "Turkey Team" notified staff at a SBC seminary about the situation in 2003.
In 2005 Tony Cupit of the
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance (BWA) is the largest international Baptist organization with an estimated 51 million people in 2022 with 246 member bodies in 128 countries and territories. A voluntary association of Baptist churches, the BWA account ...
accused IMB of conveying “a very false picture” by manipulating baptism statistics, such as by claiming all as the work of their missionaries without acknowledging local preachers and non-visited churches as adding to the total number.
In June 2006, Enid, Oklahoma pastor and IMB trustee Wade Burleson voiced concerns about IMB, including: "The suppression of dissent by trustees in the minority through various means by those in the majority.” He voiced his concerns after the board recommended he be removed after posting criticism on his blog about the board's new policies on baptism and
speaking in tongues
Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...
. The decision was later rescinded internally after Burleson agreed to a new set of guidelines stating trustees may only speak in "positive and supportive terms."
In 2018, author
Anne Marie Miller
Anne Marie Miller is an American nurse, public speaker and author who writes on topics such as faith, sexuality, and psychology and is pursuing a degree in advanced practice psychiatric nursing.
Miller is presently a licensed registered nurse a ...
publicly disclosed in a report by the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company.
History
In May 1905, Amon G. Carter acc ...
how the IMB covered up abuse by one of their missionaries, Mark Edwin Aderholt. Miller disclosed the abuse to the IMB in 2007 and they determined it was "more likely than not" that Aderholt sexually abused Miller when she was a minor. They allowed Aderholt to resign and did not inform future employers of this accusation. Miller reported the abuse to authorities in early 2018 and Aderholt was arrested in July 2018 and indicted on four felony sex crimes in December 2018. Shortly after his arrest, the IMB apologized and initiated an external examination of Miller's case and all other sexual abuse cases. On June 2, 2019, the
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...
uncovered a pattern of abuse covered up by the IMB. The third party examination by Minnesota firm
Gray Plant Mooty Gray Plant Mooty (Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett, P.A.) was the oldest continuing law practice in Minneapolis with offices in Minneapolis, MN, St. Cloud, MN, Fargo, ND and Washington, D.C.
History
Gray Plant Mooty was founded in Minneapolis in ...
revealed serious faults with IMB's "zero tolerance" sexual abuse policy. Gray Plant Mooty "identified a number of significant concerns with IMB’s handling of past cases" and that the "IMB’s current policies and procedures fall short of contemporary best practice standards." The IMB issued a statement saying they are implementing the recommendations of Gray Plant Mooty, though at the 2019 Southern Baptist Church Annual Convention, new president
Paul Chitwood
Paul Chitwood (born 1970) is an American Baptist minister who is the 13th and current president of the International Mission Board, serving since 2018. He was previously executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention (2011–2018) and ...
did not mention the report or findings, and a motion made by former IMB trustee Wade Burleson to make the report public was denied by legal counsel saying it was "out of order."
See also
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Send Relief
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North American Mission Board
The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is the domestic missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It is involved in Southern Baptist church planting and revitalization, coordinating one of the United States's largest disaster relie ...
Notes
External links
Official website of the International Mission Board
Southern Baptist Convention
Religious organizations established in 1845
Baptist organizations established in the 19th century
Baptist missionary societies
1845 establishments in the United States