The Lord's Mission.

At the heart of evangelical Protestantism was the desire to spread God's word. In the early national period Americans did this in many ways, from praying with their families before meals, to attending church services and urging their neighbors to come also, to speaking out at revival meetings and inspiring others to do the same. One special form of evangelization that took shape during this period was missionary work. This was an organized outreach to non-Christians in the hope of converting them to Christianity. This work had been going on since the earliest European settlements of America. All of the first colonizing efforts had invoked the need of bringing Christ to the Indians. Later, English and Scottish missionary societies sent ministers from Europe and supported efforts to educate the Indians to assume ministerial roles themselves. Catholics as well had pursued...