Under the Mulberry Tree

This volume presents a fresh study of Andrew Fuller’s close friendship with and mentoring of Christopher Anderson through forty letters of correspondence. Fuller’s correspondence with Anderson provides a helpful example of what it looks like for an older, more experienced minister to mentor someone early in his ministry. Although Fuller was older in the faith—twenty-eight years older—and it is evident that Anderson looked to him for guidance and wisdom as a mentor, there is still a shared friendship and mutual respect. Fuller treats Anderson as a co-labourer and friend. Much of the content of these letters has to do with providing updates on their everyday lives: everything from travel plans, ministry updates, the state of their souls, news of other ministers, Scripture verses, what they are reading and thinking about, and business updates regarding the ministries they were partnered in (Baptist Missionary Society, the Bible Society, the Baptist Magazine, etc.). They also shared their fears, struggles, and hardships, and gave one another warnings, encouragement, and counsel.