The West Indies became a self-governing province in 1883 because of the Church of England missions in territories that became British colonies.

[clarification needed] It is made up of two mainland dioceses and six island dioceses, including Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, the Bahamas, the North-Eastern Caribbean and Aruba, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands.

The island locations and scattered settlements make pastoral care difficult and costly.

The society was established in 1861 as a subsidiary of the church, intended to target those sections of Jamaica's "hard to reach" population.

For many years the mission stations established and maintained by the society provided the only means of reaching the masses of the population with Christianity and basic education.