Missionary Notices 'relating principally to the Foreign Missions first established by the Rev. John Wesley, MA, the Rev. Dr Coke and others...' and first published in 1816, was intended to furnish 'regular and early communications of Missionary intelligence' without supplanting the fuller versions found in the Methodist Magazine. It included verbatim extracts from missionaries' correspondence and journals, and extensive reporting of WMMS Annual Meetings and committees. Other features included missionaries' travel, auxiliary branches, subscriptions and, from 1820, limited numbers of illustrations. It was succeeded by The Foreign Field in 1904. Meanwhile, Work and Workers in the Mission Field, edited by F.W. Macdonald and intended for a wider readership, was published from 1892 to 1904. The UM counterpart was the Missionary Echo (from 1894) and there were Monthly Notices (later, Records) of the PM Missionary Society, continued as The Record, then The Herald and finally Advance (from 1923).

After Methodist Union all four were merged into The Kingdom Overseas as the magazine of the MMS. Under the editorship of F. Deaville Walker, the number and quality of the illustrations and the special contributions from missionaries made a wide appeal. Wartime paper restrictions changed the format, but the magazine survived until 1970, when NOW magazine appeared. Under the editorship of C.J. Davey NOW was to be even more topical and universal in its treatment of the whole mission of the Church. After 1992 Connect magazine, edited until 1999 by Jan Sutch Pickard, assumed these and other responsibilities.

Entry written by: MJF
Category: Publication
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