Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries · Delegate Authority · Part 1 of 3
William Carey: The Shoemaker
A village shoemaker with no degree argued that ordinary Christians were responsible for the whole world, and then went.
William Carey, a series in three parts. Part 1: The Shoemaker · Part 2: The Team · Part 3: The Long Work
The moment
William Carey was born on August 17, 1761, in the village of Paulerspury in Northamptonshire. At fourteen he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. He had little schooling and taught himself languages while he worked.
He became a Baptist pastor in Leicester, still poor, still largely self-taught. Many in his circle believed that if God wanted the nations converted, God would do so without their help.
What he did
He made the case in writing. On May 12, 1792, he published a short book with a long title, known as the Enquiry. The work argued, with facts and tables about the peoples of the world, that Christians were obliged to use practical means to carry the gospel abroad.
He put the argument in one line. On May 31 he preached to a gathering of Baptist ministers. The message is remembered by its two points: expect great things, attempt great things.
He pressed for a decision. On October 2, 1792, a small group of pastors founded what became the Baptist Missionary Society. The society was a voluntary association of ordinary churches, not an arm of the state or a bishop.
He went himself. On June 13, 1793, he sailed from Dover with his family. They reached India on November 11, without the permits the British East India Company required.
What leaders can take from this part
Credentials are not the qualification. A shoemaker with a self-made education did what better-placed people had not attempted.
Do the homework. The Enquiry persuaded because of its evidence. He answered objections one by one and showed what could be done.
Give people a sentence they can carry. A whole strategy was compressed into six words that people still repeat.
Do not ask others to do what you will not. He proposed the mission and then became the first to go.
Try this week
- Take a change you want and write the case on two pages, with facts and with answers to the three strongest objections.
- Reduce your team’s main goal to one sentence a new hire would remember.
- Volunteer for the hardest part of something you have asked others to do.
Sources
Consulted
Galli, Mark. “William Carey: Christian History Timeline.” Christian History, no. 36 (1992). https://christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-36/william-carey-christian-history-timeline.html.
Smith, A. Christopher. “Carey, William.” In Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, edited by Gerald H. Anderson, 115. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998. Reproduced by Boston University School of Theology, History of Missiology. https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/c-d/carey-william-1761-1834.
Wright, Vinita Hampton. “The Rest of the Serampore Trio.” Christian History, no. 36 (1992). https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/rest-of-the-serampore-trio.
Further reading
Carey, William. An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. Leicester: Ann Ireland, 1792.
George, Timothy. Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey. Birmingham, AL: New Hope, 1991.
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