REVIEWS
Wilbert R. Shenk
"The Basel Mission was one of the outstanding mission agencies founded during the 'great century.' It helped define what a missionary society is and does. Although results in the early years were disappointing, the mission persisted and eventually was rewarded with accelerating growth in what became the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. The institutionalization of the mission agency has long been neglected in mission studies. In Missionary Zeal and Institutional Control Jon Miller provides us with a comprehensive and balanced study. It is finely textured and gracefully written. Using his expertise as a sociologist and writing with an evident appreciation for history, Miller explores a range of cultural themes that are essential to an adequate understanding of the way missionaries did their work in West Africa in the nineteenth century. He shows that while the mission organization could be at cross-purposes with its own goals, at its best it facilitated missionary action. This book throws much-needed light on the role of organizational structures and policies in the modern mission movement."
Mark Chaves
"This insightful sociological case study of the Basel Mission offers a compelling account of social class dynamics within a missionary organization and the practical challenge of maintaining discipline while simultaneously encouraging creative work in the mission field. But that's not all. More than a book only about missionaries or religion in colonial West Africa, Missionary Zeal and Institutional Control also teaches us much about individual commitment to organizations, intraorganizational conflict, and organizational persistence in the face of adversity. "