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Annie Walker Armstrong (1850—1938) was an American educator and lay leader in the women’s missionary movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A groundbreaking visionary, Annie created the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), an auxiliary arm of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). She was also instrumental in establishing the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which has raised billions of dollars for world missions among Southern Baptists since its commencement in 1888.
“Miss Annie,” as she was called, was the fourth of five children born to James Dunn and Mary Elizabeth Walker Armstrong of Baltimore, Maryland. Her father was a wealthy businessman who died when Annie was two; her mother was a devoted Baptist who raised her children to be active in church life.
One Sunday, amid the unrest of the Civil War, Annie heard her pastor speak of the peace Jesus Christ offers during times of trouble. Wanting to experience that peace, Annie dedicated her life to Christ and was baptized into the Seventh Baptist Church of Baltimore. She was nineteen years old. A year later, she joined 117 others in planting Eutaw Place Baptist Church (now Woodbrook Baptist Church), where she taught children’s classes (toddlers to age 12) for the next fifty years. Her pastor, Dr. Richard Fuller, was a passionate preacher who helped shape Annie’s faith and steadfast commitment to outreach and missions. He was also one of the founders of the Southern Baptist Convention and served as its third president.
Annie Armstrong was tireless in her devotion to Christ and others. She and her sister Alice, both unmarried, became deeply involved in the Protestant movement to establish women’s missionary societies to support and send missionaries (especially single women) to the foreign field. Eventually, after seeing and hearing about the impoverished conditions of so many in her own country, Annie also set her heart on helping them. Through various shelters, missions, and outreaches, she provided aid and support to women, mothers, orphans, Native Americans, African Americans, and Jewish, Chinese, and Italian immigrants. Over seven decades, she advocated for the poor, sick, addicted, marginalized, and underprivileged in her community, the nation, and the world.
Annie’s work in raising money to build a school for indigent children in the Oklahoma Territory eventually led to the establishment of the Woman’s Baptist Home Mission Society of Maryland in 1882. She served as the society’s first president, leading the group to raise support for foreign missions, American frontier missions, and multiple local outreaches in Baltimore. By 1888, Annie Armstrong headed the formation of the WMU, helping to write its constitution and serving as its first executive director, or “corresponding secretary,” as the position was then titled.
In her leadership role, Annie fought to gain the support of the all-male SBC leadership. The battle involved controversy and conflict, but she felt strongly that God had ordained the society’s mission and that the best way to achieve their goals was to operate under the umbrella of her denomination.
Annie Armstrong worked unflaggingly, writing tens of thousands of letters to pastors and church leaders each year requesting their support. She was responsible for raising support for the first two Black female Baptist missionaries and procuring relief funds for Lottie Moon, the pioneer missionary in China who had served for 11 years without furlough. Annie traveled long distances by train and stagecoach to fulfill her ministry and even volunteered at a local shelter for underprivileged children. All the while, she refused to accept any payment for her efforts.
In 1906, Annie Armstrong stepped down from her leadership position with WMU amid ongoing opposition from SBC leaders. Still, she never stopped reaching out to the needy of her community. In 1934, the WMU honored Annie’s lifetime of sacrifice and service by renaming their annual Easter offering the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for Home Missions. These funds directly assist Southern Baptist missionaries in church planting and benevolence ministries in the United States and Canada.
Perhaps more than any other person in Southern Baptist history, Annie Armstrong furthered the cause of home and foreign missions. She died at age 88 on December 20, 1938, the same year the WMU celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. In the words of her pastor, Annie was a “dreamer in action, . . . one who dreamed her dreams and then made her dreams come true” (https://voices.lifeway.com/discipleship-evangelism/who-is-annie-armstrong/, accessed 10/15/24). Armstrong’s determination was unyielding. She did not consider herself especially gifted, but she single-mindedly set to serving the Lord with the very best of her strength and ability.
Here are two inspiring quotes from Annie Armstrong:
“What a glorious thing it is to be a co-worker with God in winning the world for Christ.” (https://www.anniearmstrong.com/who-is-annie/, accessed 10/15/24)
“The future lies all before us . . . shall it only be a slight advance upon what we usually do? Ought it not to abound, a leap forward, to altitudes of endeavor and success undreamed of before?” (https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/educ/exhibits/womenshallfame/html/armstrong.html, accessed 10/23/24).
