The bicentenary of William Ward's death and the William Ward Project
March 7, 2023, marks the bicentenary of the death of William Ward (1769-1823), a Baptist missionary who, as a partner of William Carey, played a crucial role in the birth of modern missions. He was a great man and humble servant of Christ who would be much better known had he not labored in the shadow of Carey.
In his younger years, Ward was a political radical journalist who had learned the trade of a skilled printer. After his conversion and studies with John Fawcett of Hebden Bridge, Ward embraced a call to join William Carey and Joshua and Hannah Marshman as a missionary in India. Ward was responsible for printing the Bible in many languages of India, including Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi. He managed a printing enterprise that functioned on an industrial scale. Over seventy people, including Muslims and Hindus, worked together to produce their own paper and ink, fabricate type in various languages, and print an endless stream of books, dictionaries, tracts, newspapers, and Bibles.
Ward maintained his interest in social issues but made the preaching of the cross the focal point of his life. And he produced one of the first ethnographic investigations of India, a massive study initially published in four volumes. He also wrote a biography of Krishna Pal, the first Hindu convert baptized by the Serampore missionaries, and other works of a devotional nature.
His most enduring legacy might be the Serampore Form of Agreement (SFA). Composed by Ward in the autumn of 1805, the Serampore missionaries signed this covenant that fall. While some aspects of the SFA are dated, it remains one the most valuable missiological manuals ever produced, and its timeless principles are relevant for contemporary missions.
This year, in commemoration of Ward’s life, the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies will publish a biography of Ward by Samuel Masters (PhD SBTS) and a commentary on SFA. The Andrew Fuller Center will also hold a conference on Ward’s life and ministry in December of this year, DV.
