Barrett, David B.

David B. Barrett (August 30, 1927, Llandudno – August 4, 2011) was a British visiting professor at Columbia University, an Anglican priest, and research secretary for the Anglican Consultative Council. Barrett graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1945 with a bachelor's, and in 1952 with a master's in aeronautics. He received a Bachelor of Divinity in 1954 and became a missionary with the Church Missionary Society (Anglican) in 1956–57. He arrived in Nyanza Province in Western Kenya in 1957. Over the course of 14 years he traveled to 212 of 223 countries and corresponded with Christians all over the world in search of the most up-to-date statistics on Christianity and world religions. His research resulted in the first edition of the World Christian Encyclopedia in 1982. From 1985 until 1993, Barrett was a research consultant for the International Mission Board (then called the Foreign Mission Board) of the Southern Baptist Convention.