Similarly, the history of the church in Tanzania grew due to the involvement of the local people. 16John McCracken, Politics and Christianity in Malawi The impact of the Livingstonia Mission in the Northern Province (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), p.
Motivations for the study
One wonders why the native agents, who, as I understand, have been the backbone of the whole missionary work among their people, have been neglected. In 1999, I participated in the Iringa diocese's centenary celebration, which took place in Pomerania, one of the first Berlin mission stations.
Objective of the thesis
Third, writers of the history of Christianity in Africa, the majority of whom are Europeans, have depicted in a number of ways that missionary work in Africa was done by missionaries from Europe and America. 24 Any African person whose birth took place on African soil is considered indigenous.
Statement of the problem
Literature review
33 Wilson Niwagila, From the catacomb to a self-governing church: Case studies of the African initiative and participation of the foreign missions in mission history. Apart from Niwagila's case study in the North-West Diocese, no thesis in Tanzania has yet tackled the issue of the contribution of indigenous agents to missionary work.
Sources
40 Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past: Oral History (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. Bird defines oral history as "tape recordings of people's memories or recollections of the past".41.
Theoretical framework
Hidden Transcripts is about dominance defined as a tool used by the dominant and resistance as a weapon of the weak. 49James Blaut, The Colonizer Model of the World: Geographic Diffusionism and Eurocentric History (New York: The Guilford Press, 1995).
A synopsis of the contents
Chapter six examines four case studies of indigenous clergy in the Diocese of Iringa. We will now look at the historical background of the Iringa Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania.
Introduction
German colonial rule (1884-1918)
While the uprising in the cotton region began in July 1905, it was not until September 1905 that the people of Iringa, encouraged by the emissaries of Chabruma and Matumbi, challenged the supremacy of the Germans. It was in East Africa where most of the fighting took place and Tanganyika was the battlefield.
British Colonial Rule (1919-1961)
The chiefs and the majority of the Hehe, who did not like the Germans, were happy to see the Germans leave. The immediate victims of the change were those who had worked for the Germans during the war, in offices and on the plantations.
The movement towards political independence in Tanganyika (192S-1961)
A growing concern about social and economic inequality in Tanganyika was the basis of the African political parties in Tanganyika that fought against colonialism. However, the TAA was the most important forerunner of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU).
Conclusion
Introduction
Iringa under the Berlin Mission Society (1899-1919)
Their value system maintained with missionary enthusiasm the love for their state and the protection of the social status quo. Patriotism and pietism were united in the motives of the aristocratic young men who formed the first Committee of the Berlin Mission.146 This view, moreover, can be demonstrated and supported by their activities both in South Africa and later in the Southern Highlands. further saying, “Their value system made room with missionary zeal for the glorification of the state and the maintenance of the social status quo.”147 It is therefore not surprising that members of the Berlin missionary expedition to the Southern Highlands became involved in colonial issues. 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 affected political considerations elsewhere in the southern highlands.
The establishment of mission stations
Although the headquarters of the missionaries were moved to another place, the missionary work in the earlier stations made good progress because of the native teachers. However, the Beni were more educated compared to the Hehe people due to the fact that all the major mission stations and schools were opened and built in the Ubene area. During the construction of the Pommern station, Oelke worked hand in hand with the locals.
The following section deals with the arrival of the Scottish mission, which came to take over the stations of the Berlin mission.
The arrival of the Scottish Mission from Malawi
During another tour, in 1920, Pastor Anderson noted that the conditions of the mission buildings left much to be desired. In Kidugala, the British soldiers had demolished the pastor's house and the renovation costs were very expensive. However, most missionaries who worked with the Scottish mission remained in the southern highlands.
Each member of the church was required to give a certain amount of money to the church in the form of an offering.
The advent of the Swedish Evangelical Mission and establishment of stations
It was also where the jumbe (local chief) of Yotimembe Mwamaginga area stayed. The first converts, who were the fruit of evangelization work and schools, were baptized. Some of the first converts were sent to distant places to open new mission stations.
The teachers at every mission station had their share in this spiritual upliftment of the natives.
The effects of the two World Wars on mission
The British troops occupied all the mission stations in Nyasa Province and Konde Synod without resistance. My father, who was a mwalimu and the missionary's cook, was sought out by the British soldiers after the Germans were sent home. By the beginning of the First World War, missionary activity in the Southern Highlands had reached a stable level of organization with African participation.
Upon his return, Krelle noted a number of positive results from the African leadership of the mission.
Introduction
The period of the Berlin Missionaries and the Scottish interlude {1899-192S}
Kobler, most of the missionaries' journeys were on foot or using a horse or donkey. As a result of the growth of the church, there was a need for ordained indigenous leaders. There was no way to bring the matter to the attention of the missionary officials, for the missionary was the only intermediary.
An African was not allowed to go near the missionary's house to avoid bringing flies into the missionary's house.
The period under the Swedish Evangelical Missions (1940- 1965)
Despite this change, the synod meeting failed to elect an indigenous head of the church. Kiwovele's name could not be missed and was already in the hearts of the people in southern Tanzania. The four pastors received support from the teachers, whose numbers increased each year due to the rapid growth of the church in the area.
After the election of a native church leader in 1965, some new leadership developments began to take place in the Uhehe area.
The period of the birth of the Iringa diocese (1987-1999) In 1987 the Iringa district went for elections. Pastor Owdenburg
Due to the revival movement and evangelism, there was a rapid growth of the church. The lack of pastors has become a major concern for pastors in the congregations and for the delegates of the executive council of the diocese. This training program was favored by the Diocese Executive Council because it was cheaper and faster.
It was no different in the case of the Iringa Diocese, one of the districts of the Southern Diocese which was mainly dominated by the Bena tribe.
Initial discussions: putting the issue on the agenda
At that time, Iringa County was economically strong compared to other counties in the Southern Diocese. By allowing Iringa County to secede from the Diocese, the delegates realized that the economy and power of the Southern Diocese would be weakened. At this meeting the ELCT officially accepted the Iringa District of the Southern Diocese to become an independent diocese.335.
The outcome of the Iringa District Executive Meeting on December 5, 1985 was the implementation of the directives discussed above.
The claim to apostolic succession
The link in the line of bishops of the German Lutheran Church was effectively stopped by the events of the Reformation. Unlike the current system of superintendents, a bishop would ensure continuity in the leadership of the church. Due to the connection with Sweden, the tradition of apostolic succession continued in the Northwestern Diocese of Bukoba.
Most of the newly founded regional units of the Lutheran Church quickly decided to make bishops their spiritual leaders.
The election procedure
Therefore, for some members, it was appropriate that he take the leadership of the diocese. Furthermore, it was a normal trend that the district minister who led the establishment of the diocese became the bishop of the new diocese. According to the Constitution, the winner had to get a two-thirds majority, but none of the candidates achieved a two-thirds majority.
The election results also reveal that no one managed to get a two-thirds majority.
The training of leadership
Since the establishment of the TEE in the Iringa Diocese in 1986, more than 4,000 students have gone through the program over a period of fourteen years. All the graduates were officially designated for the service of the church in various places in the diocese. They exert enormous influence in the daily reading and teaching of the Bible and other activities in the church.
For the first time in the history of the diocese of Iringa, eleven students were allowed to pursue a diploma in theology.
The ordination of women
There has been some resistance to the whole phenomenon of women's ordination in the Lutheran church. Today the question of women's ordination is seen by African women in the whole context of women's participation in the life of the church and society. The ELCT embraced priesthood service for all believers and equality in the church.
Disagreements on the issue should in no way be a cause of division in the church.
