Canadian by birth, Glover spent most of his life in China and the United States. A graduate of the University of Toronto, New York Missionary Training College, and New York University Medical College (M.D.), he was appointed a medical missionary to China in 1894 by the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He lived through the Boxer rebellion, when many missionaries were killed and others were forced to flee the country. In response to the crescendo of calls to quit China, Glover wrote a stirring defense of missionary efforts there entitled “Shall Suffering and Danger Halt Our Missionary Work?” His service with the C&MA in China continued until 1913.
During his years in China he was ordained, married Caroline Robbins Prentice, and founded two educational institutions. In 1913 he was appointed C&MA foreign missions secretary. In 1921 Moody Bible Institute recruited him to serve as director of missionary studies, a position he occupied until 1926, during which time he wrote the Progress of World-Wide Missions (1924), one of the most widely used mission histories ever written; it was translated into multiple languages. In 1926 he became a missionary administrator for the China Inland Mission (CIM), serving as assistant home director (1926-1929) and as home director (1930-1943). He retired in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1943.
Attribution
This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright (c) 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of The Gale Group; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. All rights reserved.
Sources
- Obit., New York Times, March 25, 1947, 25:5.