Africa was not evangelized by the European (and American) churches, but by the European (and American) mission societies, a process that thoroughly changed the religious geography of Africa. This book traces the origin of this change to William Carey, who proposed in 1792 to make the mission society as a voluntary association the "Means" to propagate the Gospel. The mission societies did what the churches could not have done. In this seminal paper Andrew Walls explores this often forgotten feature of missionary history.