Presbyterian Church Research Articles

A History of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in the Eastern Region (1915 to 2022)

The study sought to trace the history of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) in the Eastern Region from 1915 to 2022. PCEA was introduced by the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM) in 1915. It has been in the Eastern Region (Tharaka Nithi and Meru counties) for over a century now and is one of the dominant denominations in the area. However, no systematic study has been done to trace its history. The history of the Methodist Church in Kenya, the Anglican Church, and the Catholic Church in the Eastern Region is well documented, but that of PCEA in the region is conspicuously missing. This gave the authors the impetus to carry out such a study. The study adopted a descriptive research design. Data was collected and analysed from 438 respondents, including 9 presbytery moderators, 53 church ministers, and 376 church members. The study established that PCEA was brought to the Eastern Region by the CSM. The first missionaries were Africans sent from Kikuyu and Tumutumu. They were later joined by Dr Clive Irvine in 1922. The mission station was established at Chogoria, where the church spread to other parts of the lower and upper Meru. The study concludes that PCEA is one of the dominant denominations in the Eastern Region. The study recommends that PCEA should come up with better methods of storing data to avoid it and preserve its heritage.

Diversity of Eucharistic Ritual in COVID-2019 Context

Discussing diversity in the celebration of the Eucharistic ritual in COVID-2019 contexts, this is a comparative study of CITAM (Christ is the Answer Ministries) Valley Road assembly and St. Andrew’s PCEA (Presbyterian Church of East Africa) in Nairobi, Kenya. COVID-2019 had a great impact on the order of worship in Christian churches across the world. Churches were closed down at times. Whereas CITAM Valley Road administered the Eucharist in the virtual space, St Andrew’s PCEA did not adopt virtual Eucharist and had to wait until the lockdown prohibiting church meetings was lifted. This ethnographic study was carried out in Nairobi County at CITAM Valley Road and St. Andrew’s PCEA over a period of six months from late 2021 to early 2022. The methodological approach taken by the researchers was a blend of ethnography and grounded theology. Data was collected through virtual ethnography, participant observation, interviews, and focus group discussions. Findings from the study demonstrated an emerging trend of administering the Eucharist digitally as the Church in Kenya navigated both continuity and change. The findings also revealed the fact that religious change advances not suddenly, or as a single complete change, but in specific expressions that are local and distinct. The researchers posit that in the PCEA, believers could not imagine themselves administering virtual Eucharist in their homes; in CITAM also some Christians felt that administering the Eucharist in the virtual space was different from when it was administered in the physical space.

Samuel A. Moffett’s Mission Trips to the Northern Region and Preparation for the Establishment of the Pyeongyang Mission Station of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

Samuel A. Moffett’s Mission Trips to the Northern Region and Preparation for the Establishment of the Pyeongyang Mission Station of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.

An Assessment of the Socio - political and Economic impact of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in the Eastern Region from 1915 to 2022

An Assessment of the Socio - political and Economic impact of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in the Eastern Region from 1915 to 2022

An Open Declaration [Openlike Verklaring] concerning the Presbyterian Church government system

The challenge posed by 18th-century rationalism to the 16th-century Reformed doctrine, initiated a trajectory in which Reformed churches assumed the responsibility of preserving the essence of the Reformation. The emergence of the Open Declaration [Openlike Verklaring] as a response to rationalism served as a call to unity and a reaffirmation of adherence to the Presbyterian Church government system established in 1618–1619. The objective of this study was to examine the significant contributions of the Open Declaration to Church Polity [Kerkreg] and the Reformed Churches of South Africa (RCSA)[Gereformeerde Kerke van Suid-Afrika (GKSA)] by focusing on three key elements: the declaration of faith and commitment; the acknowledgement of liturgical practices and ecclesiastical governance; and the plea for unity and ecclesiastical communion [Kerkverband]. Drawing on scholarly literature and relevant church documents, the analysis explores the role of the Open Declaration in shaping the identity and practices of the RCSA/GKSA within the broader context of Reformed church history. As a result of completing this study, it is discovered that the Open Declaration should be interrogated at local level and Article 48 should be read in the light of Article 29. Major assemblies should be understood from the local Church Council, Classis, regional Synod, and General Synod – not only Classis, regional Synod and General Synod.Contribution: The proposed shared understanding of the Open Declaration aims to foster a sense of unity among delegates, emphasising the importance of aligning and binding decisions made by the Church Council, Classis, Regional Synod, and General Synod during meetings. In conclusion, local churches should revisit the Public Declaration, engage in local church dialogues to promote ongoing cooperation, prioritise theological education and training to foster unity, upholding the 16th-century Reformational theology, celebrate Holy Communion in one church building, pursue Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), seeking biblical ways to address and resolve conflicts between local churches, and supplementing the mechanism provided by Article 31 of the Church Order.

An Assessment of the Socio - political and Economic impact of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in the Eastern Region from 1915 to 2022

The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) was brought to Kenya by the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM). The idea of the mission was initiated by the company directors of the Imperial British East African Company. The CSM had already settled in Central Kenya and established mission stations in Kikuyu and Tumutumu in 1901 and 1908 respectively. PCEA was established in the Eastern Region in 1915 by the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM). The Eastern Region was the third mission area to be established by the CSM. Their mission strategy was holistic in nature where they combined evangelism, education, medical and industrial work. Although the PCEA has been in Eastern region for more than a century, its impact has not been given much scholarly attention. This study was undertaken to in investigate the impact socio-political and economic of PCEA in the Eastern region since its inception in 1915. The study employed Descriptive survey research design. Questionnaires, oral interviews and document review were used to collect the data. The sample size for this study was 438 which included 9 presbytery moderators, 53 church ministers and 376 church members. From the 376 church members a category of 20 respondents who were identified through snow balling were engaged in oral interviews. The study established that PCEA has greatly impacted in the social, economic and political transformation in the Eastern Region over the last one century.

A History of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in the Eastern Region (1915 to 2022).

The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA)was established in the Eastern Region in 1915 by the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM). The first missionaries were Africans from Kikuyu and Tumutumu mission stations which had been established in 1901 and 1908 respectively. With the support of the SCM, these African missionaries evangelized their fellow Africans. Although PCEA has been in Eastern region ( Meru and Tharaka Nithi Counties) since 1915, and is one of the dominant denominations in this region with remarkable influence, no systematic study has been done on it. This gave the authors impetus to trace the history of PCEA in the Eastern region with the intention of preserving it. The study’s objective was to trace the history of PCEA in Eastern region from 1915 to 2022. The Descriptive Survey Research design was employed in this study. Data was collected using Questionnaires, oral interviews and document reviews. The Sample size was 438 respondents who included 9 Presbytery Moderators, 53 Church Ministers and 376 church members. From the 376 church members a category of 20 respondents who were identified through snow balling were engaged in oral interviews. The study established that PCEA was established by the CSM in Eastern region at a place called Chogoria in Maara Sub County and since then it has spread to all other areas within the region. It is now found in many parts of Meru and Tharaka Counties. The study established that in this region, PCEA has been involved in intensive evangelization and most of the mission work in this region is credited to the Africans themselves.

Have You Eaten?

Abstract Throughout history, empires have promised perpetual peace and justice for all; however, they have constantly bathed in blood while expanding their colonies and control. This paper intends to explore the theological concept of peacemaking from the experiences of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (uccp) and the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (prok), both of which suffered from U.S. (neo)colonialism. It also aims to study how we can live faithfully amidst the empire by decolonizing theology and the church. To achieve this, I will begin by reviewing the concept of peace as proclaimed by empires, from the Roman to the American, and contrast it with the biblical concept of peace. This will be followed by analyzing and evaluating the impact of the received colonial American Protestant cultures and the churches’ responses to the colonial gospel. The final part will propose peace as a way of peacemaking amid the empire. This paper suggests that the concept of peacemaking is essential to decolonizing theology, particularly the theology of sallim (life-giving).

What to Do after the Emancipation Proclamation? A Princeton Seminary Alumnus’s Views on Racial Issues and Slavery in Brazil and the United States (1852–1867)

Abstract This article reflects on how the concept of race and views on African Americans and Afro-Brazilians permeated the American Presbyterian missions that operated in the Brazilian empire in the nineteenth century. This analysis considers the writing and reading of Ashbel Green Simonton (1833–1867), a Princeton Seminary alum sent to Brazil as a missionary by the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA). In his missionary activity, Simonton founded the first Presbyterian Church and the first evangelical periodical in Brazil. Considering the intercessions between the racial theories stemming from natural history and nineteenth-century theological anthropologies, as well as the missionary’s interactions with the racial and slavery issues that permeated the American Civil War (1861–1865), this article analyzes Simonton’s journal (1852–1867), the books requested by Simonton at Princeton Theological Seminary (1856–1858), and the periodical Imprensa Evangélica (Evangelical Press, 1864–1867).

The Path of the Reformed Church in Elizabeth

The Hungarian Reformed Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey operated for about sixty years. The congregation was established by Hungarian immigrants to the United States of America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On 21 May 1914, the church became member of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The close-knit community had an active religious and social life and became an important meeting place for local Hungarians. The congregation, which had become financially independent, organized a number of charity events to finance their own expenses, missionary goals, and fundraising activities. It was also important for the congregation to cultivate its Hungarian roots. In the 1970s, it had to cease independent operation partly due to the assimilation of the second and third generations and partly because of urban planning due to the change in the social composition of the town. Rev. Bertalan Szathmáry, a pastor who had previously served in the Elizabeth congregation for several years, gathered the leaderless Newark congregants and founded a new congregation in Union. Keywords: Hungarian Reformed Church, Elizabeth (New Jersey, USA), Presbyterian Church

Comparative assessment of the effectiveness of situational leadership in theological seminaries of the Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasil-IPB: measuring leadership in the directors' self-perception

This article carried out a Comparative Assessment of the Effectiveness of Situational Leadership in Theological Seminaries of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil-IPB: Measurement of the directors' self-perception. This work also achieves its specific objectives by carrying out a bibliographical research on the topic of Leadership, specifically highlighting Situational Leadership, by Hersey and Blanchard (1986); Soon after, he applied the Situational Leadership form (flexibility and adaptability of styles), by Hersey and Blanchard (1986), by filling out the LEAD form – Leadership Effectiveness and Adaptability Description, together with the 10 directors of the IPB theological Presbyterian seminaries; Soon after, the data collected was tabulated using the Situational Leadership form LEAD – Leadership Effectiveness and Adaptability Description, by Hersey and Blanchard (1986), according to the appendix of this work. And finally, a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of Situational Leadership, by Hersey and Blanchard (1986), was carried out among the leaders of the Theological Seminaries of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil-IPB. The research developed on the Comparative Assessment of the Effectiveness of Situational Leadership in the Theological Seminars of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil-IPB, allowed the following conclusions: Regarding the instrument applied, the positioning of column I - Amplitude of Style, of the LEAD Instrument (Leadership) was identified. Effectiveness and Adaptability Description. The following conclusions were reached: the style most used by the directors of the IPB Presbyterian Seminars, in column I of Amplitude of Styles, was Style 2 (E2) that of Persuading with 72 points; The second style most used by directors of IPB Presbyterian Seminaries, in column I of Breadth of Styles was Style 3 (E3) of Sharing with 28 points; and the third most used style by directors of IPB Presbyterian Seminaries, in column I of Breadth of Styles, Style 1 (E1) was Determine with 15 points. As for the instrument applied, the positioning of column II - Style Adaptability, of the LEAD Instrument (Leadership Effectiveness and Adaptability Description) was identified. This monograph helped to answer the research question: what is the degree of Effectiveness of the Situational Leadership of the directors in the Theological Seminaries of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil-IPB, with the measurement of leadership in the directors' self-perception? Which concluded, proving the hypothesis, that the effectiveness of the directors of Presbyterian seminaries, who responded on a self-perception, that the overall effectiveness was average, divided into three groups, as described in the research. Also, that there are different levels of effectiveness of situational leadership spread across IPB seminars in the country. In other words, the Practice and Effectiveness of situational leadership in the 10 IPB seminars is not uniform and, sometimes, this is understood and accepted by the respective leaders.

A processual perspective on utopia as a lived social project: the case of a Ghanaian ‘Christian Town’

ABSTRACT How can we understand the concept of utopia when looking at a religious social utopia in practice? To unpack this question, the article retraces the motif of the ‘Christian Town’ or ‘Salem’ in the Apenkwa congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana through more than a century of narratives and practices. Drawing on historical and ethnographic data, the article demonstrates how the utopian religious ideal can function as a powerful symbol for the self-identification of a religious group in practice. It shows how this motif is perpetuated by actors across different cultural and religious backgrounds and over several generations. Most significantly, it shows that all this is quite independent of the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of the utopian social project itself. Based on these observations, the paper proposes to theorize utopia, in the case of lived social utopias, as both a vision and a process.

Political Education Initiatives by the Mizoram Presbyterian Church

Political education aims to guarantee that individuals possess political literacy and are well-informed. Nevertheless, there is considerable controversy regarding the primary emphasis of political education. There is a debate regarding whether education should prioritize teaching individuals about the functioning of government and politics or whether its main objective should be imparting ideals and principles. The Mizoram Presbyterian Church has undertaken numerous initiatives to educate persons through the Church, highlighting the involvement of God in politics since its inception. Providing knowledge and instruction to individuals on the true nature of politics, the biblical principles that guide political actions, how the political landscape of Mizoram has been shaped, and the specific flaws within Mizoram's political system.

The Three Careers of the Solemn League and Covenant: Presbyterianism and Scottish Religious Diversity, 1643–1800

Abstract This article examines the changing significance of the Solemn League and Covenant in the century and a half following its negotiation by the parliamentary regimes of England and Scotland in 1643. The Solemn League had three careers. Until the late 1640s, it was the basis for an Anglo-Scottish alliance. But by the 1660s, Scottish Presbyterians conceived of the Solemn League’s religious commitments as binding particularly in Scotland, rather than across the three Stuart kingdoms. Well into the eighteenth century, the Solemn League continued to constrain the attitudes and behaviour of large numbers of conscientious Scottish Presbyterians. In its third career, however, Scots understood the Solemn League more historically than constitutionally. They revered its seventeenth-century adherents, even as they criticised the Solemn League’s terms and objectives. Though previous scholars have explored each of the Solemn League’s three careers, the transitions between them are not well understood. This article reconstructs the ways in which Scots rethought the Solemn League from the late 1640s to the early 1660s, to explain how its first career gave way to its second. The article then analyses a series of mid- and late eighteenth-century debates about the Solemn League. The more historical and critical perspectives on the Solemn League associated with its third career emerged from disputes within the Church of Scotland and rivalry between its ministers and members of new dissenting Presbyterian Churches. By tracing changes in how the Solemn League was understood, therefore, the article comments on the growth of religious diversity in Scotland.

Innovation in the Inland: John Flynn’s Model Hospital in Alice Springs

ABSTRACT In 1920 Rev. John Flynn, Superintendent of the Presbyterian Church’s Australian Inland Mission, planned a model outback hospital for Alice Springs, its most remarkable feature to be an innovative ventilation system. Of the fourteen cottage hospitals established by the AIM before World War II, this was the first to be purpose-built. Flynn had an opportunity to create a building ideally suited to Central Australia’s climate and provide comfort for patients and staff. If successful, it was to become a model for future hospitals. For its design he sought the help of experts, including two architects, John Shedden Adam and Thomas Darling. When opened in 1926, it was not only climatically responsive but equipped with modern amenities, becoming the scene of one of Australia’s first successful outback radio experiments. This paper, based on Flynn’s writings and the AIM’s archives in the National Library of Australia, focuses on the building itself: evolution of its design; design changes during construction; the architects’ contribution; innovative features; place within the AIM’s network; and its success as a model hospital—aspects that have been overlooked previously. Now a museum known as Adelaide House, 1 it stands in central Alice Springs and remains largely intact, demonstrating Flynn’s intentions.

The Life and Work of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa: The Doctrinal Dimension of Baptism

The Life and Work of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa: The Doctrinal Dimension of Baptism

Reparations and the Ministry of Planetary Peace

AbstractThis article explores the historical roots and unfolding legacies of reparations denial as a continuation of the spiritual and socioeconomic planetary war perpetuated through the transatlantic slave trade. An examination of the social production of an anti‐reparations norm against Afro‐Americans in the United States seeks to uncover underlying fears of national destabilization and their relations to underexamined opportunities for functional solidarities across ethnicities, potentially offering a unique contribution to the pursuit of lasting global peace. The article proposes a twofold re‐examination. First, it insists on the rejection and reconception of religious concepts upholding and extending the socioeconomic relations of slavery and white supremacy through evasive political theological notions of human nature and historical time. Second, it advocates the formation of local, national, and international alliances dedicated to articulating, supporting, defending, and achieving reparations for distinct historical events as a means of repairing unique legacies of the transatlantic slave trade and Western colonialism for the common good, using an international ecumenical alliance for repair and reparations (AIRRE) developed by the Presbyterian Church's (USA) Center for the Repair of Historical Harms as an active example.

Historical Consideration of the Shrine Worship and the Process of Closing Mission Schools in Pyongyang: Focusing on Soongsil College, Soongsil School, and Soongui Girls’ School of the Northern Presbyterian Church

Historical Consideration of the Shrine Worship and the Process of Closing Mission Schools in Pyongyang: Focusing on Soongsil College, Soongsil School, and Soongui Girls’ School of the Northern Presbyterian Church

The ecclesiastical crisis of human sexuality: ‘Critical solidarity’, ‘critical distance’ or ‘critical engagement’

The issue of human sexuality has many negative implications in African society. These arose in a number of contexts – legal, religious, cultural and societal – and were significantly divisive. This article examines these responses in terms of critical solidarity, critical engagement and critical distance, and attempts to find a way of considering them in the perspective of achieving justice and solidarity. The focus is on one mainline denomination, the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA).Contribution: This article has implications that link subjects within the theological encyclopaedia of History of Christianity, Church Polity, Systematic Theology and Practical Theology, and other disciplines including Social Sciences such as Political Science.

Proto-Charismatism in Brazilian Protestantism: The Case of Miguel Vieira Ferreira and the Brazilian Evangelical Church

Abstract This article analyzes the history of the origin and development of the Brazilian Evangelical Church (Igreja Evangélica Brasileira)—an example of proto-charismatism in Brazilian Protestantism—founded on September 11, 1879, by Miguel Vieira Ferreira. This denomination arose from a schism of the Presbyterian Church of Brazil and had as its starting point the ecstatic experience of Dr. Miguel’s conversion. The present text screen is part of the broader discussion about the origins of the Protestant Charismatic/Pentecostal movements, claiming a certain originality since their appearance has no connection with the movements that were ongoing in either the United States or Europe. This event will be analyzed in the light of the concept of the “sacred savage” proposed by the French professor Roger Bastide.