Heroes on Mission: William Carey

Missions Conference 2025 | Week 1

William Carey is widely regarded as the "father of modern missions." On October 5, 1783, Carey was baptized by English Baptist minister John Ryland. He would go on to become a Baptist lay preacher in 1786 before taking on the pastorate of a church in Northamptonshire. Carey became convinced that the Great Commission did not apply only to the apostles but to every believer, even now. He reflected this position in a pamphlet to the Northamptonshire Baptist Association in 1791, arguing that their Calvinist theology should not relieve Christians of their evangelistic responsibility. The following year, on May 31, 1792, he spoke again to the Northamptonshire Baptist Association with a famous call to missions: "Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God." The very next year, he set sail to Calcutta, India, along with medical doctor John Thomas.

A tireless worker, Carey was self-supporting, and by 1795, he had already planted a church. His greatest work, however, took place after moving to Serampore in 1799. There, he became associated with what is known as the "Serampore Trio." Along with printer William Ward and educator Joshua Marshman, these three men did prolific work for God's kingdom, including the establishment of an Indian newspaper, the production of grammars in multiple languages, and their crowning achievement, foreshadowing even greater work to come: the translation of the Bible into Bengali. By the end of his ministry, Carey contributed to the translation of the Bible into 34 languages. It is estimated that a third of new translations of the Bible into different Indian languages between 1800 and 1830 were produced under Carey's supervision.

In addition to all this, Carey also contributed to the founding of Serampore College in 1818. As a humanitarian, Carey lobbied against the local practice of sati, the required death of a widow, intended as a final symbolic act of devotion, upon the funeral pyre of her husband. He was successful in his efforts, and this practice was abolished in 1829.

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