Protestants and Papuans: a Sociological Study of the London Missionary Society, Methodist and Anglican Missions in Papua, 1871 to 1930

Abstract

This study surveys the activities, organisations, ideologies and cultural impact of the London Missionary Society, Methodist and Anglican missions in Papua from 1871 to 1930. Missionary activities in Papua were part of a world wide movement and were given shape in part by concerns in the "home" countries. In Papua missionary activities were modified by other western forces. Although missionaries preceded the establishment of colonial government in Papua by 12 years, they benefitted from the support and encouragement offered by administrators. In turn, especially in the early years, the missions had a powerful role in shaping a "protectionist" colonial policy towards indigenous land rights and labour. The innovations introduced by the missionaries and the ramifications of these were diverse. Missionaries strategies, however, can be reduced to a pattern, a "missionisation programme" of three phases. The pioneering phase is concerned with the establishment of rapport between the missionary and his prospective congregation. The Methodists had the most efficient organisation in Papua. Because they were able to enter their mission field in a great force, the Methodists quickly expanded throughout the Papuan Islands. The consolidation phase of a missionisation programme is primarily concerned with matters of conversion. The three societies, as part of their consolidation activities, set up schools and churches in the villages and attempted to draw converts into an ongoing Christian fellowship. In the early years each mission was more or less dependent upon South Sea Island missionaries to serve the villages. European missionaries worked from central stations, administrating the mission districts and providing higher educational services. The final phase of the programme is that of extension, the formation of self-supporting, self-propagating and self-governing churches in the missionised areas. As Papuans were educated at the mission stations they in turn became evangelists and, thus, began the cycle anew in unmissionised areas. Although missionisation programmes can conceivably be understood as historical periods, as used here the term refers to an ongoing spiralling process. Some villages did not move out of a pioneering phase for decades while others continually went through cycles of conversions, notably in millennarian movements. At the core, missionary acitvities are concerned with matters of religion. During the cycles missionaries and Papuans engaged in ongoing exchanges which led to the transformation of one and sometimes both parties. "Missionary situations" tended to center on either the village or the head stations, developing into very different kinds of social systems. For the missionary the end point sought in missionary situations was a perfect social order. In the Evangelical missions, the head station sometimes became a model for such an order. Missionisation is a kind of acculturation but its constitution and effects are diffuse. Most importantly, Christianity was taken up by Papuans as a way of comprehending changes occurring in village society and bringing them under control. In the process much of Papuan life took on a Christian colouring but maintained an orientation strongly influenced by traditional beliefs and concerns.