John Cameron Lowrie | |
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| Born | December 16, 1808 |
| Died | June 7, 1900 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Missionary |
| Known for | Missionary |
John Cameron Lowrie [1] [2] (1808-1900) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian missionary who spent 43 years serving in India. He was instrumental in establishing and developing mission stations, schools, and hospitals in the Indian subcontinent.
Lowrie was born on November 14, 1808, in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, to John and Janet Lowrie. His father was a textile manufacturer. The family immigrated to the United States when Lowrie was 10 years old, settling in Philadelphia.
Lowrie attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1829 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. During his college years, he became deeply committed to Christianity and decided to pursue a career in ministry.
He then studied theology at the Princeton Theological Seminary, earning his Doctor of Divinity degree in 1833. At Princeton, Lowrie developed a strong interest in foreign missions.
In 1834, Lowrie was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and joined the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). He arrived in India on November 23, 1835, and began his missionary work in the Allahabad region. Lowrie's initial focus was on evangelism, education, and medical care. He established several mission stations, schools, and hospitals, including :
Lowrie married Margaret Mitchell in 1835, and they had six children together, Janet (1837-1915), John (1839-1863), Margaret (1841-1923), William (1843-1885), James (1845-1917), Robert (1847-1931). Margaret died in 1864, and Lowrie remarried to Emily J. Wilson in 1866. Lowrie retired from active missionary work in 1877 but continued to support the ABCFM. He returned to the United States in 1880 and settled in Philadelphia. John Cameron Lowrie passed away on June 23, 1900, at his home in Philadelphia.
In 1846, Lowrie along with William Reed arrived in Punjab, which had recently been annexed by the British East India Company. Lowrie played a crucial role in converting Punjab's first Muslim convert to Christianity, Shaikh Ibrahim, in 1853. He established the Lahore Mission in 1849, which became a hub for missionary activities in the region. Lowrie met with Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the ruler of Punjab, in 1840 for missionary work in the region. The Ludhiana Mission was established in November 1834 by John Lorrie. [3]
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was among the first American Christian missionary organizations. It was created in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College. In the 19th century it was the largest and most important of American missionary organizations and consisted of participants from Protestant Reformed traditions such as Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and German Reformed churches.
The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was a Presbyterian denomination existing from 1789 to 1958. In that year, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The new church was named the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. It was a predecessor to the contemporary Presbyterian Church (USA).
Robert Elliott Speer was an American Presbyterian religious leader and an authority on missions.
The Haystack Prayer Meeting, held in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in August 1806, is viewed by many scholars as the seminal event for the development of American Protestant missions in the subsequent decades and century. Missions are still supported today by American churches.
Protestants in India are a minority and a sub-section of Christians in India and also to a certain extent the Christians in Pakistan before the Partition of India, that adhere to some or all of the doctrines of Protestantism. Protestants in India are a small minority in a predominantly Hindu majority country, but form majorities in the north-eastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland. They are also significant minorities in Punjab region, Konkan region, Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, with various communities in east coast and northern states. Protestants can trace their origins back to the Protestant Revolution of the 16th century. There are an estimated 20 million Protestants and 16 million Pentecostals in India.
Hunter Corbett D.D. was a pioneer American missionary to Chefoo, Shandong China, he served with the American Presbyterian Mission. He was a fervent advocate of the missionary enterprise.
Charles William Forman (1821–1894) was an American Presbyterian minister, missionary and the founder of Forman Christian College, a private university in then Lahore, colonial India.
James Caruthers Rhea Ewing, was a prominent American Presbyterian missionary, educationist, theologian, and author who worked in India.
The Presbyterian Church of Pakistan is the second largest Protestants denomination in Pakistan. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of United Presbyterian Church of Pakistan (1855–1993) and Council of Churches of Lahore.
Rev. Elwood Morris Wherry (1843–1927) was an American Presbyterian missionary to India where he spent forty years of his life. He was keenly interested in "Muslim controversy", or apologetics, making contributions to Christian-Muslim relations as an Islamic scholar and Christian ecumenist.
Christians form 0.7% of the total population numbering around 120,000 in Punjab, India as per as the 2021 census. Many converts to Christianity keep their original identity to exploit the benefits of reservation. John Lowrie and William Reed were missionaries who went there in 1834. The Diocese of Amritsar of the Church of North India has its seat in Punjab as does the Roman Catholic diocese of Jalandhar. There are thousands of settlements with a Christian congregation.From 2018 to 2024 the Christian population of the Punjab,India decreased by 44%.
Samuel Nott was one of the pioneers of American foreign missions. He was one of the first five foreign missionaries under American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to India, and established Bombay Mission station, the first Americans overseas mission station at Bombay, then-headquarters of the Bombay Presidency.
Levi Spaulding was a missionary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to Ceylon, and led a team of American missionaries to choose the American Madura Mission site for the Tamil people of South India.
Henry Richard Hoisington was an American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions missionary to Ceylon and was one of the first three missionaries who established mission station at Madura, commencing American Madura Mission in South India as an offshoot of the Jaffna Mission in Ceylon, also known as Ceylon Mission.
Gordon Hall was one of the first two American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions missionaries to Bombay, then-headquarters of Bombay Presidency. He was instrumental in establishing Bombay Missionary Union, and he was the founder of the Bombay Mission or American Marathi Mission, the first American overseas mission station in the world at Bombay.
Edwin Stevens was an American Congregationalist chaplain and a Protestant missionary to Qing China who is primarily remembered for his unintentional influence on Hong Xiuquan.
William Speer (1822–1904) was an American pioneer Presbyterian missionary and author. He was missionary to the Chinese in Canton (1847–1850), where he helped establish the first Presbytery in Canton, and to the Chinese in California (1852–1857), where he founded the first Chinese Protestant church outside of China and became a strong advocate for the Chinese in California. Later (1865–1876) he served in Pennsylvania as the Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Education.
Kali Charan Chatterjee D. D. (1839–1916), also spelt as Kali Charan Chatterji or K.C. Chatterjea, was a Bengali Christian missionary who worked with the American Presbyterian Mission in Hoshiarpur, Punjab and served as the first moderator of the Presbyterian Church in India upon its formation in 1904.
Eliphalet Wheeler Gilbert was an American Presbyterian minister who served as the first and third president of Delaware College from 1834 to 1835 and from 1840 to 1847.
The Ludhiana Mission Press, archaically spelt as Lodhiana Mission Press and also known as the American Missionary Press, Ludhiana, was a press of the Ludhiana Mission established by Presbyterian missionaries in Ludhiana in 1835. It was the main source for Christian literature in the northwest provinces.
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