Zendinggenootschappen

Zendinggenootschappen are voluntary associations within Protestant churches that organized and supported Christian missionary work abroad. They emerged from evangelical, revival, and pietistic currents and developed especially in the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking areas from the early modern period onward. Their central aim was to advance the Christian faith by sending missionaries, translating and distributing religious literature, and supporting church planting, education, and medical missions in foreign regions.

The governance of zendinggenootschappen was typically handled by a committee or board, often with regional chapters or congregational ties. Members and benefactors financed activities through subscriptions, donations, legacies, and fundraising campaigns. Core activities included recruiting and training missionaries, arranging travel and logistics, and producing publications or field reports to inform supporters about progress and needs.

In practice, zendinggenootschappen operated in close cooperation with church authorities and, in many cases, with foreign mission partner churches or denominations. They contributed to the establishment of mission stations, schools, hospitals, and printing or publishing activities, and they played a role in the educational and theological dimensions of missions as well as in community development in mission fields.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, many zendinggenootschappen were integrated into larger national or ecumenical mission organizations, or their functions were absorbed by church synods and denominational mission boards. Today the term is primarily used in historical contexts to describe these diverse networks of fundraising and missionary activity.