3. Introduction
3.1 Iringa under the Berlin Mission Society (1899-1919)
The Berlin Missionary Society (BMS) generally abbreviated as Berlin I, was an older society, and was founded by a few government officials and scholars in Germany in 1824. It was a non-denominational missionary society, with a longer period of experience in mission work and was better financed and with its "well established support in the Prussian Church of the Union".138 Patriotism and pietism in many aspects were some of the features of Berlin I. Their value system accommodated the love of their state and the safeguarding of the social
status quo
with missionary enthusiasm. 139 The constitutional creedal foundation of the society of 1824 expressed the conviction that:136 Marcia Wright, German Missions in Tanganyika 1891-1941: Lutherans and Moravians in the Southern Highlands (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), pp. 6-10.
137O. K. Kasumba, "Vyama vya Missioni baada ya Vita Kuu ya Pili", in Karne ya Kwanza ya Injili1891-1991 ("Mission Societies after the Second World War" in The First Century of the Gospel in the Southern Zone 1891-1991) (Dar es Salaam: Dar es Salaam University Press, 1991), p. 29-30.
138Marcia Wright, German Missions in Tanganyika, p. 14.
139Ibid.
The brotherly cooperation of evangelical Christians of all denominations, who have proclaimed the word of truth according to the Scriptures without human additions and discord regarding insignificant differences of opinion has won to Christianity many from the pagan people.140
This was a commitment which opened the way for participation in various other mission societies. The Berlin Mission Society had been involved in the formation of the Evangelical Mission Society, but because of the latter's abandonment of the symbolic books of the Lutheran Church, the Augsburg Confession141 and the Luther's small catechism, its nationalism, and its involvement in medical work instead of evangelism, the two had subsequently severed connections.142 In order to bring unity and solidarity among its missionaries, it was important for the society to develop a common base for its preparation and training of its missionaries and clergy. Thus, the Augsburg Confession was adopted as its fundamental statement of the faith.
When the BMS had to send missionaries to South Africa in 1859, they used the adapted statement of faith and directed them that:
All your preaching has to be on the Holy Scriptures, and we commit you to the teaching of the Old and New Testament according to the confession of the Lutheran Church, namely the unaltered Augsburg Confession and Luther's catechism, that according to these you teach the Gospel soundly, clearly and fully and that you organize everything according to the only rule and guideline of faith and Iife.143
140 S. von Sicard, " The Berlin Mission Society in the Southern Highlands" in African Theological Journal(Arusha: Makumira Publications, 1991), p. 224.
141The Augsburg Confession of 1530 is the first and oldest of a series of documents produced by the Reformation age and known as "Confessional Writings" or simply
"Confessions". Itwas presented at the Diet of Augsburg and it initiated an entirely new genre of theological and ecclesiastical literature. Itis a product of turbulent times during which it made not only ecclesiastical but also political history, it is the fundamental declaration of faith of the Lutheran Church. Itsets forth the distinctive Lutheran doctrines in twenty-one articles especially the idea of justification by grace through faith.
142Thomas Spear and Isaria N. Kimambo, (eds.), East African Expressions of Christianity(Oar es Salaam: Mkuki na Nyota, 1999), p. 69.
These directives are of particular importance to Iringa since among those commissioned at the time was Pastor Alexander Merensky, who was chosen by the BMS to lead a group of missionaries to go and preach the Word of God to Tanzania. He was chosen because of his twenty-two years of mission fieldwork and under his leadership the Transvaal Mission in South Africa among the Bapedi people developed and expanded. 144 The group of missionaries who left from Durban to go to Tanzania included three pastors: Alexander Merensky, Franke and Carl Nauhaus, as well as assistant pastors Christian Schumann and Christoph Bunk, and four brothers, namely Franke, Rohring, Krause and Thomas Nauhaus. In addition, two African gUides and interpreters accompanied them, namely Afrika and Nathanael.145
Soon after Paul Groschel, Martin Priebusch and Wilhem Neuberg joined them between 1891 and 1900. As Wright observed, "in describing the Berlin Mission, the word paternalism must come to the fore. Patriotism and pietism had been merged in the motives of the aristocratic young men who formed the first Committee of the Berlin Mission".146 This view can moreover be demonstrated and supported by their activities both in South Africa and later in the Southern Highlands. Wright goes on to say: "Their value system accommodated the glorification of the state and maintenance of the social
status quo
with a missionary zeal".147 It is not, therefore, surprising that members of the Berlin Mission expedition to the Southern Highlands became involved in colonial politics. For example, when Mkwawa, the chief of the Hehe, damaged German prestige and threatened to harden resistance, the question of what to do about the Hehe influenced policy considerations elsewhere in the Southern Highlands. Von Soden, therefore, sought to establish143 Von Sicard, "The Berlin Mission Society in the Southern Highlands", p. 227.
144 Marcia Wright, German Missions in Tanganyika, p. 17.
145The author would have liked to get their second names but the informants would not reveal.
146 Marcia Wright, German Missions in Tanganyika, pp. 13-14.
147Ibid. p. 14.
communications with German nationals in the area who were willing to help. This he found in the missionaries, the Berliners in particular. He sought political reports from missionaries behind Mkwawa's back and preferred to collaborate with them, urging pastors like Carl Nauhaus to make informal contacts with Mkwawa who was then still at large. In return for their services, he promised a free hand for their mission field in Uhehe.148