James Whitford Bashford

James Whitford Bashford
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Born	May 29, 1849 Fayette, Wisconsin
Died	March 18, 1919(1919-03-18) (aged 69) Pasadena, California

James Whitford Bashford (traditional Chinese: 柏錫福; simplified Chinese: 柏锡福; pinyin: Bó Xīfú; Foochow Romanized: Báik Sék-hók; May 29, 1849 – March 18, 1919) was a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States and the first bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in China.

Life

Bashford was born on May 29, 1849, in Fayette, Wisconsin. He received his A.B. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1873, and in 1876 graduated from the School of Theology of Boston University. He was awarded the Ph.D. from Boston University in 1881. In 1878 he married Jane M. Field. Before he was elected the fourth president of Ohio Wesleyan University in 1889 he served as a pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in several places, including Boston, Massachusetts, Portland, Maine and Buffalo, New York. In 1904, Bashford was elected bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.^[1]

In 1904 Bashford was assigned to the mission field in China at his own request at age 55. On October 20 he arrived in Fuzhou,^[2] and in the same year he went to Shanghai where he became the first resident bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in China. From the summer of 1908 onwards, Bashford served in Beijing until he left China in the summer of 1918. He died in Pasadena, California, March 18, 1919.^[1]

Religious work and influence

Bashford was a deep believer in the Social Gospel, which viewed the Christian mission as bringing about social change, but he saw this mission in religious terms. In 1918, as the conflict in Europe continued, he issued a statement saying that the war would be followed by a conflict of the white race on one side and the yellow and black races on the other, unless the Christian Church spread its missionary work on a vast scale in Asia and Africa.^[3]

Bashford Hall, a residence for first year students on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University, is named in his honor.^[4]

Selected works

Bashford, James Whitford (1906). "China and Methodism" (PDF). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) Duke Divinity Archive.
Bashford, James Whitford (1907). God's Missionary Plan for the World. Eaton & Mains.
Bashford, James Whitford (1907). China Centennial Documents. Vol. 1. Board of foreign missions of the Methodist Episcopal church, Chinese centennial commission.. Includes pamphlets and writings.
Bashford, J. W. (1916). China: An Interpretation. New York, Cincinnati: Abingdon Press.

References and further reading

Grose, George Richmond (1922). James W. Bashford, Pastor, Educator, Bishop (PDF). New York; Cincinnati: The Methodist Book concern.
Israel, Jerry (1975). "The Missionary Catalyst: Bishop James W. Bashford and the Social Gospel in China". Methodist History. hdl:10516/3036.

Notes

^ ^a ^b Grose (1922), p. 247-48.
^ Feng, Zhu (2002): A Comparative Study of Hwa Nan Women's College and Ginling Women's College ISBN 978-7-5334-3398-7
^ Fears Race War Next; Bishop Bashford Of China Urges Extension Of Christian Missions. The New York Times 25 February 1918
^ Ohio Wesleyan University

External links

Media related to James Whitford Bashford at Wikimedia Commons

Protestant missionaries in Fuzhou

Carl Joseph Fast

Independent

Margaret E. Barber

v t e Protestant missions to China
Background	Protestantism in China Protestantism in Sichuan Chinese history Missions timeline Christianity in China Nestorians Jesuits Protestant missions in China 1807–1953
People	David Howard Adeney Mary Ann Aldersey Roland Allen Thomas J. Arnold Gladys Aylward Joseph Beech John Birch William Jones Boone Pearl S. Buck John Burdon Thomas Cochrane Hunter Corbett Jonathan Goforth Frederick Graves Karl Gützlaff Francis Hanson Laura Askew Haygood Elizabeth G. K. Hewat Jennie V. Hughes Robert A. Jaffray Carl C. Jeremiassen Griffith John Walter Judd James Legge Eric Liddell Robert Samuel Maclay Lottie Moon Robert Morrison George Moule Gideon Nye David Paton Karl Ludvig Reichelt Timothy Richard Issachar Jacox Roberts Charles Scott Cambridge Seven George Smith Vincent John Stanton John and Betty Stam John Leighton Stuart Elwood Gardner Tewksbury Hudson Taylor Thomas Torrance William C. White (more missionaries)
Missionary agencies	American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions American Methodist Episcopal Mission Canadian Methodist Mission China Inland Mission Church Mission Society London Missionary Society National Christian Council US Presbyterian Mission Protestant Episcopal Church Mission List of Protestant missionary societies in China (1807–1953)
Colleges and universities	United Board University of Shanghai Cheeloo University Ginling College University of Nanking Soochow University Yenching University St. John's University Hangchow University Fukien Christian University Lingnan University College of Yale-in-China Huachung University West China Union University Peking Union Medical College Methodist Episcopal Church Hwa Nan College English Presbyterian Mission Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association Reformed Church in the United States
Impact	Bible translations into Chinese Medical missions in China Manchurian revival Chinese Christian colleges Chinese hymnody Chinese Roman Type Minnan Roman Type Foochow Roman Type Anti-footbinding Anti-opium
Pivotal events	Taiping Rebellion First Opium War Second Opium War Unequal treaty Yangzhou riot Tianjin Massacre Kucheng Massacre Boxer Crisis 1911 Revolution Chinese Civil War Second Sino-Japanese War People's Republic
Publications	The Chinese Repository Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal The Christian Occupation of China Journal of the West China Border Research Society The West China Missionary News

v t e Presidents of Ohio Wesleyan University
Thomson (1842–1860) Merrick (1860–1873) Payne (1876–1888) Bashford (1889–1904) Welch (1905–1916) Hoffman (1916–1928) Soper (1928–1938) Burgstahler (1939–1947) Flemming (1948–1953, 1957–1958) Lockmiller (1959–1961) Smith (1962–1968) Wenzlau (1969–1982) Warren (1984–1993) Courtice (1994–2004) Huddleston (2004–2007) Jones (2008–2023) vandenBerg (2023–present)
Ohio Wesleyan Female College presidents, from 1853 founding to 1877 merger with OWU: Faville (1853–1855) Burt (1868–1870) Richardson (1873–1877)

Presidents of Ohio Wesleyan University