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The Transition from the Africa Inland Mission to the Africa Inland Church in Kenya, 1939-1975

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The Transition from the Africa Inland Mission to the Africa Inland Church in Kenya, 1939-1975 The Transition from the Africa Inland Mission to the Africa Inland Church in Kenya, 1939-1975 F. Lionel Young III Faculty of Arts and Humanities Department of History and Politics University of Stirling A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervised by Professor David W. Bebbington 1 March 2017 Abstract This thesis examines the relationship between the Africa Inland Mission (AIM) and the Africa Inland Church (AIC) in Kenya between 1939 and 1975. AIM began laying plans for an African denomination in Kenya in 1939 and established the Africa Inland Church in 1943. The mission did not clearly define the nature of its relationship with the church it founded. The arrangement was informal, and evolved over time. In addition, the relationship between the AIM and the AIC between 1939 and 1975 was often troubled. African independent churches were formed in the 1940s because of dissatisfaction over AIM policies. The mission opposed devolution in the 1950s, even when other mission societies were following this policy in preparation for independence in Kenya. AIM continued to resist a mission church merger in the 1960s and did not hand over properties and powers to the church until 1971. The study will focus on how the mission’s relationship with the church it founded evolved during this period. It will consider how mission principles and policies created tension in the relationship with the church it founded. First, it will examine how mission policy contributed to significant schisms in the 1940s, giving rise to African independent churches. Second, it will look at how AIM interpreted and responded to post-war religious, political and social changes in Kenya. Third, it will explore the reasons for AIM’s rejection of a proposed mission-church merger in the late 1950s. Fourth, this study will investigate mission motives for resisting increased African pressure for devolution after independence in Kenya. Fifth, it will consider what happened to the mission and the church in the aftermath of a mission-church merger in 1971. i I, F. Lionel Young III, declare that this thesis has been completed by me and that the work that it embodies is my creation and has not been included in another thesis. F. Lionel Young III, 1 March 2017 ii Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….i Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… iv List of Maps …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..vi Abbreviations ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………vii Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1 The Africa Inland Mission, the Birth of the Africa Inland Church and the ‘Educational Wars’ in Kenya, 1939-1947 …………………………………………………………. 55 The Africa Inland Mission in a Rapidly Changing World: Modernism, Revival, Mau Mau and the Advance of Western Civilization, 1948-1954 …………………………………….. 98 The Africa Inland Mission, the Africa Inland Church and the ‘Winds of Change’, 1955-1963 ……………………………………………………………………………... 140 The Africa Inland Church ‘Take Over’ of the Africa Inland Mission, 1964-1971 ……………………………………………………………………………… 179 The Dominance of the Africa Inland Church and the Rise of ‘Africa’s Evangelicals’, 1972-1975 ……………………………………………………………………………… 214 Conclusion ..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 250 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 273 iii Acknowledgements There are a number of people that I would like to thank for the gracious assistance I received on this project. My advisor and mentor, David W. Bebbington, Professor of History at the University of Stirling, has provided able guidance throughout the course of this study. His expertise on global Evangelicalism was invaluable for this project. Phia Steyn at the University of Stirling provided significant help on the African side. Staff members at the Billy Graham Center Archives in Wheaton offered knowledgeable assistance throughout my research, especially Keith Call, Bob Schuster, and Katherine Graber. Members of the Henry Martyn Centre in Cambridge (now the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide), especially Emma Wild-Wood and Jesse Zink, were gracious with their time. Staff members at the Oxford Centre for Missions Studies (OCMS) were very cooperative, offering a place to consult hard-to-find secondary works on mission studies. Ben Knighton, tutor in African studies at OCMS, provided expert advice during my stay in Oxford. Tom Houston, who pastored Nairobi Baptist Church in the 1960s (and was a friend to several AIM missionaries), spent several days with me at OCMS to talk about the project. The African Inland Mission International Archives in Nottingham, closed to persons outside the mission community, were made available for research through the kind permission of Andrew Chard, the European director of the mission. I was granted unfettered access to mission records, and the AIM staff welcomed me with English hospitality during several extended stays. Many of the records of the AIM in Nairobi are difficult to access as they are dispersed in colonial papers in the Kenya National Archives (KNA). Richard Ambani, who began working as an archivist at KNA in 1964, though now retired, happily gave his time to assist with finding sources on the mission. Several retired iv AIM missionaries who served in leadership positions with AIM in the 1960s and 1970s provided oral interviews at the Africa Inland Mission Retirement Center in Minneola, Florida. Richard Gehman, Roy Entwistle, Roger Coon, Dorothy Hildebrandt and Jonathan Hildebrandt shared invaluable information that has been used in the thesis. The Lilly Foundation provided generous funding through their Clergy Renewal Program, allowing me to do important research during stays in Cambridge and Nottingham in 2012. The elders and congregation I serve at Calvary Church in Valparaiso, Indiana, have approvingly allowed me to work as both pastor and scholar. This project would not have been possible without their support. I want to give personal thanks to Tony and Rosas Mitchell who provided accommodations for me during extended stays in Scotland. My executive assistant, Emily Johannes, manages the constant demands on my time so that I can do the work I feel most called to do. Tracy Hillwig and Gabe Johannes provided technical assistance. Tim Peters created the maps for the thesis. My wife Stacy has been extremely supportive during the many days and weeks I have spent away from home and has been a constant source of encouragement during the entire project. I hope this work will contribute to a better understanding of the history of missions as well as the remarkable growth of the Christian faith in the non-Western world. F. Lionel Young Nairobi, Kenya February 2017 v List of Maps Map 1 Climate Map of Kenya …………………………………………………………………….…………………………… 25 Map 2 Main Ethnic Groups of Kenya …………………………………….………………………………………………… 27 Map 3 Map of Stations and Main Stations in Kenya and Other AIM Fields …………………….………….. 29 vi Abbreviations AACC All-Africa Conference of Churches ABCS African Brotherhood Church and Schools ACCS African Christian Church and Schools AEAM Association of Evangelicals in Africa and Madagascar AEO Africa Evangelical Office AHC American Home Council (of the Africa Inland Mission) AIC Africa Inland Church AIM Africa Inland Mission AIPC Africa Independent Pentecostal Church AOC Africa Orthodox Church BGC Billy Graham Center BHS British Home Council (of the Africa Inland Mission) CAM Central American Mission CIM China Inland Mission CNEC Christian Nationals Evangelism Commission CCC Central Church Council (of the Africa Inland Church) CCK Christian Council of Kenya CFC Central Field Council CMS Church Missionary Society CSM Church of Scotland Mission ECWA Evangelical Churches of West Africa EFMA Evangelical Foreign Mission Association vii GFF Gospel Furthering Fellowship GNCA Good News Church of Africa KAU Kenya African Union KANU Kenya African National Union KFC Kenya Field Council KNA Kenya National Archives NAE National Association of Evangelicals IC International Council (of the Africa Inland Mission) ICCC International Council of Christian Churches ICOWE International Congress on World Evangelism IMC International Missionary Council NCCK National Council of Churches of Kenya PMC Philadelphia Missionary Council RVA Rift Valley Academy SIM Sudan Interior Mission SAGM South Africa General Mission STC Scott Theological College SVM Student Volunteer Movement WEF World Evangelical Fellowship WCC World Council of Churches viii ‘In humble dependence upon our God we have moved steadily forward, no doubt in our blindness making mistakes, for we are still human.’ --Peter Cameron Scott (1867-1896) ix 1 Introduction The Africa Inland Mission (AIM) was founded in 1895 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1943 AIM formally established the Africa Inland Church (AIC) in Kenya and in 1962- 1966 it helped create the Association of Evangelicals in Africa and Madagascar (AEAM). The AIC became one of the largest Protestant denominations in Kenya, and the AEAM was dedicated to the diffusion of Evangelicalism throughout the African continent.1 Several Evangelical notables were members of the AIM mission community, including Arthur T. Pierson (1837-1911)2, Reuben A. Torrey (1856-1928)3, Charles E. Hurlburt (1860-1936)4, 1 David B. Barrett, Schism and Renewal in Africa: An Analysis of Six Thousand Religious Movements (Oxford: 2 R. N. Shuff, ‘Pierson, Arthur Tappan’, in Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, Timothy Larsen, David Bebbington and Mark Noll, eds. (Leicester,
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