The Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Church of England, Justin Welby has apologised for the church's mistreatment of Africa's first bishop, Samuel Ajayi Crowther.
Archbishop
Welby preaching at a ‘thanksgiving and repentance’ service marking the
150th anniversary of Bishop Crowther’s ordination, said: "This is a
service of thanksgiving and repentance. Thanksgiving for the
extraordinary life, which we commemorate [and] repentance, shame and
sorrow for Anglicans who are reminded of the sin of many of their
ancestors."
“We
in the Church of England need to say sorry that someone was properly
and rightly consecrated Bishop and then betrayed and let down and
undermined. It was wrong.”
play
The
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby preaches in a service at Holy
Sepulchre Church, Grafton on August 14, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand.
(Fiona Goodall /Getty Images)
Regarded
as the father of Anglicanism in Nigeria, Bishop Crowther, who was born
as Ajayi in western Nigeria in 1807, is credited with bringing many
Nigerians to Christ. So great was his impact that he was ordained the
first African Anglican bishop in 1864, despite great protest.
A
former slave, Bishop Crowther became a great linguist, translator,
scholar and mission teacher. He is also credited with producing the
Yoruba Bible and greatly influenced how government’s improved their view
of Africa in the 1800s.
But
despite his passion and high achievements, Bishop Crowther’s mission
was undermined and dismantled in the 1880s by racist white Europeans,
including some of his fellow missionaries.
According
to reports compiled by historians, prejudiced fellow Anglican
missionaries wrongly questioned the moral values and competency of
Bishop Crowther and his African staff - and systematically dismantled
his mission and undermined his work. In the end, he resigned.
Researchers at the Boston University’s School of Theology in the US wrote: “Mission
policy, racial attitudes and evangelical spirituality had taken new
directions, and new sources of European missionaries were now available.
By degrees, Crowther’s mission was dismantled: by financial controls,
by young Europeans taking over, by dismissing, suspending or
transferring the African staff. Crowther, desolated, died of a stroke.”
Bishop Crowther was replaced by a white bishop.
Archbishop Welby speaking of Bishop Crowther continued : “In
spite of immense hardship and despite the racism of many whites, he
evangelised so effectively that he was eventually ordained Bishop, over
much protest. He led his missionary diocese brilliantly, but was in the
end falsely accused and had to resign, not long before his death.”
“Crowther
did not make himself grand. He lived out the commands of the words he
took at his consecration. And from his time forward, God has
demonstrated his grace through that ministry. Today well over 70 million
Christians in Nigeria are his spiritual heirs.
“Today
we honour him and in so doing The Lord Jesus Christ whom he served. We
are sorry for his suffering at the hands of Anglicans in this country.
Learning from their foolishness and from his heroism, we seek to be a
church that does not again exclude those whom God is calling. We seek
new apostles, and the grace to recognise them when they come.”
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