Donald Anderson McGavran (December 15, 1897 – July 10, 1990) was a missiologist and founding Dean of the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and is known for his work related to evangelism and religious conversion.
As supervisor of eighty missionaries and various medical and educational institutions, McGavran had become concerned that after several decades of work his mission had only about thirty small churches, all of which were experiencing little growth.
[7] In 1937 McGavran wrote a book called Founders of the India Church in which he turned the spotlight on humble Indians who began people movements.
In the formative years of his childhood, mission was held to be carrying out the Great Commission, winning the world for Christ, and saving lost humanity.
While attending Yale Divinity School, McGavran was introduced to the teachings of the influential Christian professor H. Richard Niebuhr.
As he became involved in education, social work, and evangelism in India, he gradually reverted to his earlier position that mission was about making disciples of Jesus Christ.
In 1958, McGavran resigned from his mission work and proposed to a number of American seminaries the possibility of starting a department focused on the subject of church growth.
Eventually in 1965, David Allan Hubbard invited McGavran to become the first dean of School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
[2] McGavran recruited a number of top missiologists and established the largest missions related faculty for any school in the world.