John Stuart

Scottish missionaries and the end of empire: the case of Nyasaland*

In 1960 Church of Scotland missionaries in the British colony of Nyasaland ostensibly fulfilled their commitment to transition from ‘mission’ to ‘Church’. This process of transition was, however, marked by ambiguity, much of which related to Nyasalands political status. Opinion within the missions and the Church of Scotland differed greatly as to whether (and for how long) colonial rule should continue. Controversy on the matter ranged beyond Nyasaland and Scotland, with missionary activities attracting the attention not only of colonial and imperial governments but of a range of unofficial but interested groups and religious organizations. This article examines one important aspect of the ambiguous missionary response to the ‘end of empire’ in British colonial Africa.

Beyond sovereignty?: Protestant missions, empire and transnationalism, 1890–1950

There have so far been few overt signs of intersection or overlap between the long-standing field of mission studies and the relatively new field of transnational studies. Missiology, the study of the theory and practice of Christian mission, is strongly informed by theology and has developed as a discipline at some remove from broader studies of mission history and of the relationship between missions, state and empire.1 For historians seeking to move beyond the concepts of ‘nation’ and ‘national’ histories, missions are likely to be problematic entities because of the perceived closeness of their links with the nation-state and with empire. As a result, they may be overlooked.2 That missionaries possessed nationalistic and imperialistic longings there can be no doubt; recent mission scholarship, especially of the ‘high imperial’ period from 1880 to 1914, makes this plain.3 But such longings were in the main untypical. In the longer term, as the historian of British Protestant missions and empire Andrew Porter has recently argued, Christian mission’s theological emphasis made it not only a solvent of imperial authority but also a stimulus to ‘anti-imperialism’, religious and secular.

The most improbable Diocese of the Anglican Communion : Mission, Church and Revolution in Lebombo, Mozambique, 1961-1976

The Anglican presence in Mozambique dates from the late nineteenth century. This article provides a historical overview, with reference to mission, church and diocese. It also examines ecclesiastical and other religious connections between Mozambique and the United Kingdom, South Africa and Portugal. Through focus on the career and writings of the English missionary-priest John Paul and on the episcopacy of the Portuguese-born bishop of Lebombo Daniel de Pina Cabral, the article furthermore examines Anglican affairs in Mozambique during the African struggle for liberation from Portuguese rule.