Conversion and Church formation in tuvalu∗

Abstract

Islands and formed part of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony. The formal colonial connection began in 1892 when a British protectorate was declared. With the assumption of British rule a powerful new element impinged on this tiny island world which altered existing relationships between Tuvaluans and foreigners, gradually giving Tuvalu the basis for a wider sphere of participation with the outside world. An equally important influence has been Christianity, which affected the affairs of each island at every level, and whose introduction predates that of colonialism proper by three decades. The London Missionary Society (LMS) took over Tuvalu by degrees, from its early successes in the mid 1860s until pagan resistance in the three northernmost islands was broken a decade later. The archipelago has remained a Protestant stronghold ever since, despite the recent incursions by Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witness, Bahai, and Mormons, and the reintroduction of Catholicism. Today the Tuvalu Church (the local successor of the LMS) is an autonomous body affiliated to the Council for World Mission.