Frank Buchman (1873-1961: ODNB), American evangelist; Lutheran minister in the USA, 1902-22; committed to inner conversion and spiritual 'life-changing', and on visits to England developed the technique of 'house parties' (religious retreats) to inculcate the four 'absolutes' of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love; founded First Century Christian Fellowship, 1922, which became influential in the University of Oxford, leading to the movement becoming known from 1929 as the Oxford Group; this became prominent in Britain during the 1930s, appealing to some churchmen, politicians and other public figures, and developed as an international movement; renamed Moral Re-Armament (MRA) in 1938; Henson became a leading critic, disliking its departures from doctrinal rigour and its emotionalism, publishing The Oxford Groups and a selected edition The Group movement, both in 1933. See also references in Volumes 53, 54, 55, 56, 69, 72, 76, 77, 84.

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• 11 Nov 1928