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]
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]
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.
Media related to James Whitford Bashford at Wikimedia Commons
