Island Ministers : indigenous leadership in nineteenth century Pacific Islands Christianity

Abstract

Foreign missionaries brought Christianity to the Pacific Islands, but in the nineteenth century hundreds of indigenous Christian teachers, evangelists, pastors and priests helped to spread the new religion across the ocean and consolidate the church on every island. Island Ministers concentrates on uncovering the contribution of Pacific Islanders themselves to this story. Presented in narrative form and moving across the Pacific from east to west, the history follows the chronological movement of Christianity across Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. Acknowledging the hidden lives of the women who worked alongside their husbands in various forms of Christian ministry, the narrative focuses with great humanity on the stories of those indigenous men who worked in Pacific communities as missionaries or pastoral carers and, where possible, uses their voices to tell of their experiences. The author explores the extent to which the role of minister in this almost universally Christian region is rooted in traditional Pacific culture and society. This monograph makes an outstanding contribution to the history of the Pacific Islands, and to the study of Christianity more generally. Show more