God's gentlemen: A history of the Melanesian Mission, 1849-1942

Abstract

PREFACE On 26 January 1975, almost twelve months before British Solomon Islands Protectorate became an internally self-governing state, Church of Melanesia was inaugurated as an autonomous province in Anglican Communion. The purpose of this study is to examine process by which religion of the Church of England was extended to islands of southwest Pacific through agency of New Zealand-based Melanesian Mission. It begins with first Anglican missionary voyage in 1849 and concludes with Japanese invasion of the region in 1942, which remains a fundamental dividing-line in twentieth-century Melanesian history. To produce a full account beyond this date would necessarily involve use of church and official records that are not yet open to researchers. In the meantime, interested reader should consult Professor W.P. Morrell's summary of post-war events in diocese of Melanesia in his history of Anglican Church in New Zealand. Mission, with its ship Southern Cross, was among best-known of all Christian missions in South Pacific. It therefore invites attention, not only as a significant religious institution in the modern history of Pacific Islands but also as a case-study in British missionary movement of nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this book, I have focused on attitudes, objectives and achievements of Anglican missionaries; the distinctive doctrines and ethos of religion they taught; the problems they encountered in Melanesia and methods they colonial powers, secular Europeans and representatives of other Christian denominations; extent to which Anglican mission collectively reflected broader currents in Christian missionary theology and strategy. Consideration of these themes has involved an examination of varying Melanesian responses to Christianity, consequences of conversion and emergence of indigenous leadership in Church. However, book is primarily about missionaries; it is only indirectly concerned with the complex phenomenon of Melanesian Christianity. The Melanesian Mission formally defined its field of work as the Islands of Melanesia, though its actual operations were confined almost entirely to northern New Hebrides, Santa Cruz group and Solomon Islands. The term Melanesia is itself only a little older than Mission. It was first used in 1830s, to describe that region of south-west Pacific, extending from New Guinea to Fiji and New Caledonia, that is inhabited by people with dark skin and frizzy hair. The total population of those islands within Anglican sphere of influence was estimated at beginning of twentieth century to be anything between 100,000 and 150,000. It has not been my purpose to summarize diverse peoples and cultures of Melanesia, for there are already many adequate works on the area to which reader may refer…..

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