Former United Methodist missionary Dr. Gerald Anderson delivers an address entitled, “Why [the United Methodist Church] Needs a Second Mission Agency” to two groups of clergy in Dallas. A group of 34 meet in St. Louis to lay the groundwork for the Mission Society.
1984
On January 6, 1984, The Mission Society for United Methodist incorporates.
1985
The Mission Society commissions its first 10 missionaries, just 16 months after its opening.
The Mission Society fields in Ghana, Colombia, and New Zealand open.
New missionaries approved - 20
1986
The Mission Society networks with other missionary agencies to reach unreached peoples. Today, more than 30 cooperative agreements exist between the Mission Society and other agencies.
The Mission Society field in Costa Rica opens.
New missionaries approved - 9
1987
The Mission Society field in Ghana opens.
New missionaries approved - 19
1988
The Mission Society field in Paraguay opens in partnership with Brazilian Methodists.
The Mission Society field in the Philippines opens.
New missionaries approved - 9
1989
The Evangelical Methodist Seminary of Costa Rica is born in partnership with the Mission Society.
New missionaries approved - 9
1990
The Mission Society field in Papua New Guinea opens.
New missionaries approved - 25
1991
Ankaase Methodist Faith Healing Hospital opens in Ankaase, Ghana.
Julia McLean Williams becomes the second president of The Mission Society.
New missionaries approved - 15
1992
The Mission Society fields in Japan and Tanzania open.
Get Ready, a youth mission program, is launched to organize short-term mission trips.
New missionaries approved - 9
1993
The Mission Society fields in Guinea, Haiti, and China.
The Mission Society sends five missionaries to Kazakhstan. That same year, six cell groups were planted and a church was born.
New missionaries approved - 19
1994
The Mission Society sends its first Co-Missioners to Russia. CoMission was an unprecedented joint effort of more than 80 Christian organizations formed to teach ethics in Russia’s public schools (by invitation from Russian officials) to provide support in the rebuilding of the Russian nation.
The Mission Society field in France opens.
Dr. Al Vom Steeg becomes the third president of The Mission Society.
New missionaries approved - 35
1995
The Mobile Medical Clinic is delivered to Kazakhstan to provide medical care to remote villages surrounding Karaganda.
The Mission Society partners with the Fairfax District in Virginia to plant a Hispanic church in Washington, D.C.
The Mission Society field in India opens.
New missionaries approved - 17
1996
In rural Tennessee, the first WOW Week is conducted, a cross-cultural mission event for youth.
The Mission Society joins CoMission II to establish a platform for church-planting in Russia.
The Bible Institute is formed in Paraguay.
The first ministry team is sent to Peru to conduct a pastor’s conference in Huancayo.
New missionaries approved - 10
1997
The Living Vine Church in Kazakhstan commissions its first missionary.
The Mission Society field in Peru opens.
New missionaries approved - 18
1998
The Mission Society conducts training for 70 district superintendents and all seven bishops of the Methodist Church of India.
New missionaries approved - 21
1999
The International Leadership Institute (ILI) is launched for the purpose of training national leaders.
A second Mission Society field opens in Ukraine.
The “Missionary Kid” program begins.
New missionaries approved - 26
2000
ILI gathers more than 100 missionary leaders from 20 nations for leadership training.
The Mission Society partners with Global Focus, Inc., to help local churches be strategic in their global outreach.
Rev. Dr. Phil Granger becomes the fourth president of The Mission Society.
New missionaries approved - 14
2001
The Mission Society field opens in Hungary.
The Mission Society begins sending campus missionaries to work with Wesley Foundations across the nation.
The first Mission Society-sponsored Global Focus Leadership Seminar is conducted in Marietta, Georgia.
New missionaries approved - 21
2002
Community Health Evangelism (CHE) program is implemented on the field in Ghana.
New missionaries approved - 16
2003
World Parish Ministries (now the Church Ministry department of The Mission Society) goes international when it provides Global Vision Seminars in Ghana.
New missionaries approved - 23
2004
The Mission Society fields open in Nicaragua and Kenya.
Twelve Global Outreach Seminars were held.
New missionaries approved - 28
2005
The Mission Society fields open in Venezuela, Honduras, and Ecuador.
Twenty-two Global Outreach Seminars were held, including one international seminar.
New missionaries approved - 30
2006
The Mission Society fields open in Brazil, Israel, and Bolivia.
Nineteen Global Outreach Seminars were held, including three international seminars.
New missionaries approved - 27
2007
Twenty-seven Global Outreach Seminars were held, including five international seminars.
The Mission Society opened new fields in Malaysia and Zambia.
New missionaries approved - 32
2008
"Horizon Mission Visioning" initiative takes place in Prague.
International Mission Mobilization Conferences held in Ghana, Brazil, Mexico, and Kenya.
Thirty-six Global Outreach Seminars conducted in the U.S. and six internationally.
The Mission Society opened a new field in Thailand.
New missionaries approved - 26
2009
The Mission Society celebrates its 25th anniversary on September 11, 2009 at Norcross First United Methodist Church.
Rev. Dick McClain becomes the fifth president of The Mission Society.
The Mission Society opens new fields in Germany, Namibia, the Philippines, Senegal, and South Africa.
New missionaries approved - 27
2010
The Mission Society drafted and adopted new mission and vision statements and five core strategies.
Mission Society representatives attended the Tokyo 2010 Global Mission Consultation.
The Mission Society began initial research, exploring opening a field in one of the most unengaged Muslim people groups in Asia.
First Mission Society missionaries to Namibia were deployed.
Representatives from The Mission Society attended the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Cape Town, South Africa, where more than 4,000 leaders from 198 countries met to discuss issues facing the global missions movement.
The Mission Society established a department of international mobilization to direct even more attention to the task of enabling churches in traditionally mission-receiving parts of the world to be mission senders.
