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This is our STAGING platform for testing and building our website. Visit perspectives.org for our live site.
The birth of the Perspectives movement has roots in the Urbana ’73 Student Missions Conference. During that remarkable event, 28% of attendees indicated, in writing, their earnest desire to commit their lives to missions. Conference leaders were thrilled and humbled at the work of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by the increase from the 8% who signed a decision card at the previous Urbana ’70. By 1976, commitments had increased to 50%.
After Urbana ‘73, Dr. Ralph Winter was convinced that strategic and purposeful decisions to join God in His Global Purpose are made when students are well informed. A professor at the School of World Mission at Fuller Seminary at the time, Dr. Winter developed a biblically robust course complemented by historical, cultural, and sociological research data.
The first class, called The Summer Institute of International Studies (SIIS), was launched in Wheaton, Illinois, the summer following Urbana ’73. The course provided an overview of God’s Global Purpose from Biblical, Historical, Cultural, and Strategic perspectives. Over nine weeks, a series of guest professors spent a week with the students, sharing meals and discussing their passion for the advance of God’s Kingdom
The Summer Institute course proved remarkably effective. In 1976, the U.S. Center for World Mission (now Frontier Ventures) was founded in Pasadena, California, helping support the expanding course and championing a focus on unreached peoples—cultural and linguistic communities without access to the gospel. This people-group vision reshaped global mission strategy and priorities. After four summer offerings, the course was refined and expanded into both a semester-long format and a month-long summer intensive.
With a vision to reach even more students, classes began to be offered beyond the USCWM campus in Pasadena. The first extension course was held at Penn State University and proved remarkably successful. Many alumni went on to mobilize others, serve with mission agencies, and even found new mission organizations.
The first textbook, titled Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, was published alongside a multi-lesson study guide, together forming the core curriculum of the course. The Perspectives Reader has since become the most widely-used textbook for missions courses in colleges and seminaries. With this publication, the name “Perspectives Study Program” began to be used rather than “Summer Institute of International Studies.”
As Perspectives grew, the need for additional Course Coordinators became clear. In response, a training workshop—now known as the Coordinating Team Workshop—was developed to equip Coordinators to launch and facilitate ongoing extension courses.
The vision of Perspectives began to expand beyond college students. As the course was hosted in local churches, its breadth and accessibility increased. Its influence extended to pastors and ministry leaders across many denominations and organizations.
Early forays into New Zealand and the Spanish-speaking world signaled a growing international hunger for the course. As demand increased, translation and contextualization efforts became priorities, and national programs began emerging across the globe. Today, Perspectives is active in more than 40 countries in both emerging and established programs. Within this global movement, Perspectives USA participates as one national program among many, serving as an equal partner.
The second edition of the curriculum was released in 1992. With the publication of the third edition in 1999, a deeper clarity emerged. During the development of the accompanying Study Guide, editor Steve Hawthorne and the curriculum team recognized that the course reflected more than a cutting-edge missions anthology—it embodied a coherent and timeless paradigm. This paradigm centered on a God actively accomplishing His global purpose, reframing participation in mission from mere task completion to passionate co-laboring for Christ’s glory among all peoples.
The number of simultaneous Perspectives Courses in one year exceeds 100 for the first time.
The number of Perspectives alumni reaches 50,000.
Fresh clarity about the content of the Perspectives course marked a turning point. As enrollment and classes multiplied, organizational development became essential. Under the leadership of Steve Shadrach, Director of Mobilization at the USCWM, and Dave Flynn, Perspectives National Director, the ministry strengthened its national staff and Regional Director community, developed a Coordinator Workshop manual, built a web-based presence for class information and registration, and launched the first online Perspectives classes.
A new Perspectives.org website launched with expanded digital tools and resources for students, instructors, coordinators, and alumni. Around the same time (2009), the fourth edition of the Perspectives Reader was published, featuring more than 60 new articles while maintaining the continuity of the classic paradigm. Together, these developments marked a season of renewed growth for the movement.
James Mason became the CEO and Perspectives USA entered a season of organizational strengthening and strategic expansion. Vision and values were clarified, national and regional structures were strengthened, staff teams expanded, and long-deferred technology upgrades were implemented. All 15 lessons were produced on video helping to expand online class delivery. The staff built and strengthened alumni initiatives and financial development broadened beyond tuition-based funding. Regions increased from 12 to 22 and dozens of new Area Team Leaders were recruited to increase mobilization efforts in local communities. The program also began launching and multiplying Spanish classes and laying the foundations to be a multi-lingual program with a vision to mobilize believers in new demographics and languages.
Perspectives leaders began working with Frontier Ventures (formerly the U.S. Center for World Mission) to pursue incorporation of Perspectives USA as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to assure long-term strength and effectiveness in mobilization.
Perspectives USA partnered with Perspectives Global to host a historic global gathering in Chicago celebrating 50 years of the movement. Hundreds attended, including leaders from more than 40 countries—honoring the course’s roots while affirming its truly global future.
With a strengthened organization, an expanding team, dozens of organizational partners, and a dynamic fifth edition of the Perspectives Reader and Study Guide (launching in Fall 2026), Perspectives USA looks toward the future with renewed hope and vision. The US program continues to awaken new generations of believers to God’s global purpose and serves as a vital contributor of a worldwide Perspectives movement.