Gender, Power and Voice in South African Anglicanism: The Society of Women Missionaries’ Journal, 1913–1955

Abstract

ABSTRACT Compared with the Nonconformists, the anglican Church in South africa employed a surprisingly large number of single women missionaries in evangelistic, educational and medical work among blacks in the first half of the twentieth century. Looking at three watershed moments, this article offers a preliminary assessment of the organisation which they set up for mutual learning and support. It analyses the report of the founding conference of the Society of Women Missionaries in 1913 alongside copies of the SWM Journal from their 1937 zenith and 1955 closure. the women's assessment of their place in the gendered ecclesiastical hierarchy is explored first. Changing power relations among black and white churchwomen are then suggested by the growth of African female agency, while differences in interactions with white society are also glimpsed over time. Finally, the devastating impact of apartheid policy on mission work in the 1950s demonstrates how the adverse political context was further acting to silence the voice of women missionaries, necessitating fresh ways for Christian women to advance their faith in South africa.