The Church Missionary Society “Mission of Help” to the Syrian Church of Travancore in the nineteenth century provides much instructive food for thought concerning debates that continue in mission up to the present day. In particular, the episode shows that the links between mission and empire cannot be reduced to seeing mission as a mere handmaiden to imperial concerns, although empire certainly provided a context to missionary endeavor throughout the imperial period. In this specific instance it was the forceful personality of Colonel John Munro who ensured that the Mission of Help became more intertwined with empire than might otherwise have been the case. Another effect of this imperial context for the Mission of Help was that the nature and scope of mission inevitably ended up being broadened to include aspects of societal transformation. It is shown that Benjamin Bailey was not primarily motivated by such concerns, yet was not unconcerned about them. Bailey’s thinking through of these tensions perhaps provide a way to think today about the links between the “Great Commission,” the “Great Commandment,” and cultural transformation.

教会宣教协会在19世纪对叙利亚特拉万科教会的“帮助”，为有关传教活动一直持续到今天提供了许多有益的思考。特别是，这一集表明，传教与帝国之间的联系不能被简化为将传教看作是帝国问题的唯一使者，尽管帝国无疑在整个帝国时期为传教事业提供了背景。在这种特定情况下，约翰·芒罗上校的坚强个性确保了“帮助团”与帝国的交织比其他情况更加紧密。这种帝国主义背景对援助团的另一个影响是，特派团的性质和范围不可避免地最终扩大到包括社会变革的各个方面。事实表明，本杰明·贝利并不是主要出于此类担忧，但并非并非出于担忧。贝利对这些紧张局势的思考也许为今天思考“大委员会”，“大诫命”与文化转型之间的联系提供了一种方式。