A History of the Relationship between the Christian and Missionary Alliance and Vietnam Evangelical Church

Abstract

Protestantism was introduced into Vietnam by the missionaries of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) with the first missionary headquarters in Da Nang (Tourane) for over 100 years. In 1927, the missionary established the French Protestant Church of the East that was the forerunner of the Vietnamese Evangelical Church. The historical relationship between the two organizations from the beginning until 1975, the missionaries withdrew from Vietnam, directly affected the process of evangelizing and left a deep imprint to the Protestant community in Vietnam. Researching on this special relationship helps to clarify many issues related to the missionary history and to have a better understanding of the doctrine characteristics, church organization, ritual and lifestyle of the Vietnam Protestant community. Basing on the historical data and using the method of historical and religious studies, it examines and analyses the relationship between those two organizations from the beginning to 1975. However, due to limited sources of bibliography, documentation and an article scale, it certainly could not mention every issue.