This week in Christian history: GK Chesterton converts to Catholicism, Robert Morrison dies, AME Zion Church gets first bishop

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, July 30, 2023

Robert Morrison dies – Aug. 1, 1834

A painting of Robert Morrison (1782-1834), a British minister who, in 1804, became the first Protestant missionary in China. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when Robert Morrison, a pioneering British missionary who is credited with making the first Chinese converts to Protestant Christianity, died from a combination of exhaustion and illness.

Born in Morpeth, England in 1782, Morrison arrived in China in 1807 for the purpose of being a missionary. His efforts initially faced major opposition from local authorities and the Catholic Church.

In 1814, Morrison baptized the first known Chinese Protestant convert, and is credited with laying the foundation for future evangelism efforts with his Chinese translation of the Bible and helping to found the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca.

“The Lord used Morrison as a pioneer, paving a way that would bring many missionaries to the people of China,” explained Ligonier Ministries.

“Morrison’s wife, Mary, died in 1821. In 1824, he married Eliza Armstrong, with whom he had five more children … He was buried next to his first wife, Mary, and infant son, James, at the Protestant cemetery in Macao. His grave can still be visited today.”