A Study of three women missionaries of the United Church of Canada, from the Maritime Provinces to Sichuan, China, 1933-1952

Abstract

Abstract (Summary) From 1897 to 1952, there were at least twenty-six women missionaries of the Methodist/United Church of Canada (hereafter, UCC) from the Maritime region sent to work in Sichuan (Szechwan) Province of China, where the West China Mission (hereafter, WCM) was founded in 1891 by the Methodist Church of Canada (hereafter, MCC). The women undertook preaching, teaching and medical duties there. From the Maritime Provinces to Sichuan is not only a lengthy geographic distance; there were also major differences between the two social and cultural situations. Sichuan was traditionally called "Shu". There is a famous verse describing the road to Sichuan: the road to Shu is as hard as the road to heaven. However, like missionaries of the previous generation, A. Jean L. Stewart, Katharine B. Hockin and Grace M. Webster set their feet on the hard road to Shu. Why did these women choose to become missionaries in that very remote corner of the world? What did they do there and what kind of interactions took place during their years of work?

In order to address the questions mentioned above, the thesis approaches the three women through their life stories. They were members of the second generation of women missionaries who were sent to overseas missions after the UCC was established in 1925.