Fredrik Franson

Fredrik Franson (June 17, 1852 – August 2, 1908) was a Swedish-born American evangelical theologian, founder of The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM), of Chicago, Illinois. He has been called "Moody's Swedish disciple".

Franson began preaching in Lutheran Ansgar and Mission Synod churches, as well as Baptist churches in the Midwest; however, the Lutheran Augustana Synod disapproved of his preaching, deeming it novel, unconventional, and a threat. In Norway, Franson founded free mission organizations in twelve cities. During this extensive ministry in Europe, he heard noted missionary statesman Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) challenge people to go to China with the gospel. From that encounter, Franson received a vision to form missions agencies in various European countries, and before he left the continent, six such organizations had come into being: Danish Mission Confederation, Swiss Alliance Mission, German Alliance Mission, Finnish Alliance Mission, Swedish Evangelical Mission in Japan, and Swedish Alliance Mission. All six agencies continue to send out missionaries to this day.

After arriving back in America, Franson continued to preach. His desire to motivate others for cross-cultural missions led him to form a training class in Brooklyn, New York. In 1890, he founded the Scandinavian Alliance Mission in Chicago, later known as The Evangelical Alliance Mission, also several missions in Sweden.

His first class on October 14, 1890, is recognized as the "birthday" of TEAM, although the early name for the agency was "The Scandinavian Alliance Mission." This name reflected Franson's vision to bring churches together into an alliance enabling even small congregations to have a part in sending out missionaries. Classes were also initiated in Chicago, Minneapolis and Omaha. Soon a formal board of directors came into being, and on January 17, 1891, the first band of 35 missionaries boarded a train for the West Coast and eventually China.

Photographs of these early missionaries depict a dedicated group of people who chose to live and dress as the Chinese did. Other groups soon joined the first recruits, and Franson fervently challenged still more to go. In order to get to China, the early missionaries had to pass through Japan, and that soon became a new field for the mission. In a similar manner, by 1892, a small group also went to Swaziland. In 1906 T. J. Bach and his wife left for Venezuela. Bach would later become TEAM's third general director. In 1897, Franson founded . The same year, he wrote Himlauret, in which he published his calculated date for the Second Coming of Christ.

Legacy

Franson's piety has led to him being described as a "Swedish Franciscan figure". The mission which Franson founded with one field and 50 missionaries has grown to well over 1000 missionaries in over 20 fields. His legacy was a group of dedicated people whose desire was to take the gospel to all people. Franson's two passions – evangelism and church planting – continue to be the focus of TEAM's worldwide ministry.