The missionary enterprise of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, American Southern Presbyterian Church) in Korea was initiated by the arrival of ‘seven pioneers’ in Korea in 1892. By a comity agreement between the three Presbyterian missions, the southwestern region of Korea, known as Honam or Jeolla province, was assigned to the American Southern Presbyterian Mission. Until 1940, when they were forced to end their mission work in Korea and to leave the country by the Japanese colonial administration, the American Southern Presbyterian missionaries contributed to the formation of indigenous Protestant Christianity in Honam by planting churches, and building hospitals and schools. They also encouraged the Korean converts to establish their own churches following the Nevius method which stressed the founding of threeself independent churches. In this thesis, I attempt to analyze the process of the formation of indigenous Protestantism in Honam according to the three themes of traditions, encounters, and transformations. Presbyterians in the South shared with other leading Southern Protestants such as Baptists and Methodists both the warm evangelistic impetus of evangelicalism and an appeal to the Bible to justify racism. In particular, ecumenical missionary movements originating from a series of evangelical revivals helped the Southern Presbyterian workers in foreign lands overcome their inherited identity as the adherents of a geographically, culturally, and theologically sectional organisation to become the advocates of a more pan-evangelical obligation. Southern Presbyterian Korea missionaries already shared many common elements of evangelical theology and middle-class values with other Protestant missionaries even before the initiation of their mission work in 1892. From 1892 onwards, in response to the example of their Northern Presbyterian counterparts in the Korea mission field in initiating a more amicable relationship with their Southern colleagues, their isolated Southern identity gradually began to dissolve. The dominance of the pietistic stream of evangelical Christianity in Honam resulted from the congruence between Southern Presbyterians’ missionary Christianity and the traditional worldview of Honam people. In addition, a series of events, such as the revivals in the 1910s, the March First Movement in 1919, the complete revision of the constitution of the Korean Presbyterian Church in 1922, and the devolution of church and school management administration were the primary landmarks in the successful founding of indigenous Honam Christianity. If mission history is in part about what happens to one Christian tradition when it crosses geographical and cultural frontiers, my primary contribution in this thesis is to show in what ways the evolving Southern Presbyterian tradition at home was further changed and transformed, and then indigenised, in the Honam context. The thesis concludes that the progressive weakening of Southern Presbyterian sectional identity, first in the United States and then in Korea, significantly facilitated the indigenisation of Christianity in Honam. Crucial in this process was the democratising impact of revivals and the implications of wider ecumenical relationships with representatives of other denominations and regions. Honam Presbyterianism today is not a replica of the American Presbyterian tradition in its traditional Southern form. However, it does display many of the same features as the broad pan-evangelicalism to which the Southern Presbyterian mission increasingly adhered.

By using three lenses of analysis not often used together, theology, space and gender, this dissertation explores the decisions, practices, and gender dynamics of one group of Protestant religious imperialists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Southern Presbyterian missionaries to Korea. The Southern Presbyterian's missionary theology drew not only from Presbyterian beliefs and doctrine, but also from more radical ideas outside the church. This more radical theology emphasized the importance of and expedient nature in achieving world evangelism. To advance world evangelism as quickly as possible, the missionaries' primary focus became converting Koreans to Christianity. Therefore, to convert Koreans, both Korean women and men, the Southern Presbyterians made two more changes, they created sex-segregated spaces to conform with Korean cultural expectations for spatial use and, secondly, used them for intimate, one-on-one evangelism, similar to the "inquiry room" styled evangelism of Dwight Moody. These decisions put American women to work in gender roles that mimicked those of men as primary evangelists, teachers, and tacit pastors to Korean women. These changes in theology, changes in spatial arrangements, and changes in gender roles characterized the Southern Presbyterian mission to Korea. Importantly, all three of these transformations, when implemented on the ground in Korea, did not contradict with one another, however, instead contributed to the success of the mission with each change supporting the others. While the Southern Presbyterians espoused a conservative evangelical theology, that included conservative social values, their mission theology, based in their belief that they could help usher in the second coming of Jesus, superseded the upholding of Southern gender norms for women. Further, missionaries' intimate evangelism in sex-segregated spaces allowed for evangelism of both Korean men and women in spaces and existing religious styles Koreans already considered as appropriate for religious or quasi-religious activities. By using three fields of analysis, connections between the rise of Christianity in Korea and missionary inner social dynamics can be seen. Specifically, the analysis sheds light on the significant role a group of evangelizers dedicated to certain theological beliefs not only shape a mission's endeavors but also the lives of the missionaries themselves. Theses lenses of analysis also show that much similarity existed between existing Korean spatial religious practices and the spatial evangelistic methods used by the missionaries. Also, changes within missionary gender roles can be explained which exposes the central work of evangelism done by not only single female missionaries, but married ones as well. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation explores the work of one group of Protestant religious imperialists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Southern Presbyterian missionaries to Korea, by looking at the missionaries' Christian beliefs, the ways in which the missionaries built their homes and buildings and used them for evangelism, and the jobs they performed on the mission field. The Southern Presbyterian missionaries' Christian beliefs drew not only from the Southern Presbyterian denomination's beliefs and doctrine, but also from more radically evangelical ideas outside the church. This more radical theology emphasized the importance of evangelizing every area of the world to bring the second coming of Jesus. Therefore, the missionaries prime and most important focus was on converting Koreans to Christianity. To accomplish their goal of converting both Korean women and men, the Southern Presbyterians made two more changes, they created spaces where men missionaries would met only with Korean men, and women missionaries would only meet with Korean women. Secondly, they used their created spaces for intimate, one-on-one evangelism. This put American women to work in jobs that mimicked those of men as primary evangelists, teachers, and tacit pastors to Korean women. These changes in beliefs, changes in spatial arrangements, and changes in the jobs men and women did characterized the Southern Presbyterian mission to Korea. By looking at the beliefs, the ways which they organized and used space, and the jobs they did on the mission field, connections between the rise of Christianity in Korea and missionary everyday decisions, life, and jobs can be seen. Specifically, the dissertation sheds light on the significant role a group of evangelizers dedicated to certain theological beliefs not only shape a mission's endeavors but also change the lives of the missionaries themselves. By looking at these factors, this dissertation also shows that much similarity existed between existing Korean spatial religious practices and the spatial evangelistic methods used by the missionaries. Also, changes within missionary gender roles can be explained which exposes the central work of evangelism done by not only single female missionaries, but married ones as well.