The Agents of the global spread of Presbyterian Christianity were also contributors to a mixed legacy of association with mission and colonialism, but it is better to see mission as arising out of a complex of events and relationships in which particular events and particular effects can be evaluated, than to seek to portray it as either a good thing with some bad effects, or a bad thing with some good effects.
Merchants, Migrants and Missionaries, may seem a mundane way of describing how a church spread. Yet even while it reminds us that there were more than missionaries involved as agents of the spread of Christianity, the range of people and their roles, the complex social, economic, political, trade and communication issues involved is still likely to be underestimated.
What roles would describe the individuals, families and communities of Presbyterians who came to New Zealand and grew their church here? It would be interesting to do an analysis of the relative numbers of farmers, labourers, business people, school teachers, family members, and ministers.