Missiology Reimagined: The Missions Theology of the Nineteenth-Century African American Missionary

By Kent Michael Shaw I

In this compelling research, Kent Michael Shaw I reveals a concise and comprehensive work on the development of Missions Theology informed by the perspectives from early African American missionaries. Missiology Reimagined unveils the hidden and ignored missions history of enslaved and free African Americans during the antebellum period of the United States. This book helps the student of missiology decipher how the events of the 1800s shaped the missions theology of Black Americans. The enslaved of that day constructed a hermeneutic and interpreted the sacred text through a lens that contradicted their enslaver's version of Christianity. Through these constructs, they critically engaged in scripture and formulated a theology of mission contextualized for their lived experience. This insight compelled them to risk death and re-enslavement to pursue a global mandate from God.

These pioneering missionaries would emerge as experts in the field of global evangelism, heralding them as both missionaries and missiologists. Since they were practitioners and students of Scripture, an applied mission's theology would materialize. The reader will observe how this theological formation influenced the black church in the nineteenth century and their missiology reimagined.

These men and women held two titles: missionary and missiologist. These pioneer missionaries would emerge as early experts in the field of global evangelism. As practitioners and students of scripture, an applied mission's theology evolved. The reader will observe how this theological formation would shape the black church in the nineteenth century and a reimagined missiology.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Release date: Mar 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9781666768251

Kent Michael Shaw I

Kent Michael Shaw I is an adjunct professor at Southeastern University. He serves as lead pastor of The Life Center Community Church. Kent has been actively engaged in global missions for thirty-four years, ministering and teaching throughout the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa.

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General Introduction

To define theology entails an immense undertaking—to some, an impossible task to comprehend. For the early African American missionary, it appears their theological development was a daunting solicitation as they confronted and navigated several obstacles. The great challenge they encountered was slavery and its residual effects upon their theological formation. Their educational development was inadequate and scanty, thus placing them at a more significant disadvantage for biblical understanding. For the masses of slaves exposed to Christianity, this served as their first introduction to literacy. As Allen D. Callahan writes, The Bible figured prominently in the music, the folkways, and the mores of American slaves not because it was the best literature available to them but because, at the formative beginning of their American experience, it was the only literature available to them.¹ This statement, though valid, must not be romanticized because slave owners were generally not proponents of enslaved people receiving formal education that would eventually translate into their literacy. The African American experience was unlike others in the New World. While European immigrants arrived with anticipation of a new life, the African slaves awoke to a horrible nightmare—chained, without family, beaten, and gripped with a sense of hopelessness.

The African American missionary’s theological development originated in their religious as well as social experiences. This would mean navigating through what the Scriptures conveyed and how the text was communicated by a society of Christians who did not view everyone as equal. To understand the theology of early African American missionaries, one must look at the diversity of theologies that molded the African American Christian during this period beginning with the Bible as a foundational principle for theology. In addition, there were ancestral African religions and cultural influences handed down generationally. Another theological evolution to consider includes slave narratives that found contextualization in nature during this timeframe. Finally, the theological lens at work saw liberation for all people. These four distinctly mentioned principles framed their reflections, and three have their genesis in biblical scholarship.

Searching for written works about mission practices and principles for African Americans missionaries during the 1800s will reveal a sombering fact, the gap in the literature is enormous. This plight resulted from the animus of early White slaveholders toward their slaves, and as a result, these actions prevented opportunities for slaves to receive systematic academic training on any subject matter. While slaves were malleable and eager to learn, they incorporated what they gleaned from White missionaries and preachers, thus developing a unique theological worldview. So, the question remains, how will their biblical ideals be unveiled, thus informing the Christians’ community and mission think? Thabiti M. Anyabwile states, Consequently, one has to look not in the academy but in sermons, slave narratives, political speeches and popular writings from the 1700s to current reflections and contributions.² This swath of the African American Christian cultural experience is pivotal to unearthing this theological thought hidden for centuries. With this discovery, a new engagement emerges to help explain these intersecting experiences and how they produced a theology to evangelize unreached people groups across continents, language barriers, and the climate of America.

Rationale and Need for This Study

Several scholarly works have emerged that have parsed the missiological contributions of African American missionaries beginning in the 1800s. However, there is also a limited discovery in their missional theological formation. This concept is variegated and not clearly defined as data is inadequate and must link to anthologies that will reveal theology. The American cultural and political implications during the nineteenth century had a profound sway on African American missionaries and their development to global evangelism. Gayraud S. Wilmore writes, What is most incredible is that these impoverished and uneducated Black preachers, many with a price still on their heads, had the audacity to think that they could do for Blacks overseas what they could scarcely do for themselves at home.³ This theology is interwoven with active faith empowered by a vivid image looking beyond present circumstances to believers residing on a distant continent, with the hope that they would one day experience liberation. They posed a biblical principle of salvation and emancipation that could be assimilated in any geographical location in the world, yet to some, they were unable to resist the captive coquetry of Africa and her diaspora. While great strides were made in the history of America, Blacks lagged in almost every area of life with the contributing factor aligned to social and economic injustices.

One may pose the question for the necessity of theological reflection appertaining to African American missionaries in the 1800s, and this examination endeavors to answer some of the needed questions. Missiologists have taken important steps to enlighten the mission community of these missionaries’ contributions to global missions; however, the catalyst to some has been unexposed. This investigation acknowledges how they could systematically construct a mission theology and ultimately apply their strategies on the mission field. They thrashed out Scripture and began a trajectory that would propel a segment of African American missionaries to enter a mission field not previously evangelized.

The African American church community will benefit significantly from this study as they will distinctly see themselves as a substantial historical part of world evangelism. Furthermore, one will observe a scholarly engagement with Scripture, thus providing an additional vantage point. The Black American Christian read Scripture using an unobstructed lens and applied hermeneutics with a new expectancy that the African American church community would view themselves as a continuation of the Bible in global missions. Former Southern Baptist career missionary, David Cornelius, states, From the time slaves began accepting Christianity, it was in their hearts to carry the gospel of Christ not only back to their fatherlands, but also to other parts of the world.⁴ These words articulate the enactment of early slave mission theology that expresses a passion for cross-cultural ministry in fulfillment of God’s Great Commission.

In the final analysis, this dissertation aspires to share with the mission community, along with the African American community, how early African American missionaries ascertained a mission theology that would help frame the history of missions. The early African American church theology of mission and its scholarship remains relevant until today.

Research Question

In this research, I trace the formation of mission theology for the African American missionary in the 1800s. Furthermore, these one hundred years of mission theology formation altered the trajectory of foreign mission involvement by African Americans through increased participation. This study gives practical insight into their theological foundation and how its emergence produced the catalyst for world evangelism from African Americans.

Sub-Questions

This dissertation seeks to answer how early African American missionaries cultivated their theological evolution amid an oppressive system that was systematically applied by the American government. How did the Reconstruction Era of American history impact the African American missionary? How did the slave narratives provide theological groundwork? In what ways did social anthropology impact theological formation during this period? How did the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church mission theology reshape global participation among African Americans? How were mainline denominations far-reaching in their theological pedagogy to African American missionaries?

Scope and Limitations

This dissertation examines how African American missionaries during the nineteenth century established a mission theology from a critical engagement of Scripture. I investigated mission theology for the African American Pre-Reconstruction in addition to Post-Reconstruction and the consequences on their formulation. Specific historical events in America will give insight to varied stages that augmented the theological development of these individuals. I also give special attention to the slave narratives and church community as it was experienced and explore how these expressions intersected. This research appraises both male and female African missionaries to see if any nuances emerged with relation to gender as well as educational opportunities.

The composition finds limitations regarding a period of time in addition to ethnicity with a focus specifically on African Americans. I focus primarily on the African American Episcopal church and National Baptist Convention denominations for mission theology. This study does not allow in-depth research into all denominations and mission agencies instrumental in the missionaries’ theological alignment. It yields a distinction in theologies that prevailed during this age and examines how missiological reason emanated. Limitations are placed on African American foreign missionaries, thus excluding what is termed home mission missionaries whose exertions are concentrated in the United States. This project provides an outline of the African American missionary as theology, culture, and missions converge, producing a theology of missions from their perspective.

Key Terms

Mission Theology—This term refers to the theological formation for the early African American missionaries as it shaped their advancement for global evangelism. It reveals how Scripture casts the foundation to promote, proclaim, and ultimately contextualize the message of Christ.

Black Liberation Theology—In the 1800s early African Americans saw liberation through the lens of the Old Testament story of Moses the deliverer of Israel. This chronicle conveys the providence of God as the emancipator for the nation of Israel, providing the foundational principles for liberation theology.

African American Church—Historically defined as a local church in America with most parishioners of African descent. This term also includes all African American Christian church denominations.

Anthology—In this study, the anthology encompasses a collection of slave narratives, sermons delivered by African American missionaries, and other literature from the 1800s. This period of American history produced limited written theology by African Americans. These compendiums remain vital in the search for early mission theology.

African Diaspora—When referring to African Diaspora, I use the definition from Colin A. Palmer, It is characterized by the movement of Africans and peoples of African descent among, and their resettlement in, various societies.⁵ This definition helps to clarify countries and ethnicities classified in the aforementioned delineation.

Slave Narratives—This term refers to narratives written to recount the life of African American slaves through poems, pamphlets, and books. Portions include autobiographical writing of slaves and former slaves. These artifacts provide critical facts that help explain the formation of slave theology.

Literature Review

Results of my search for works written on mission theology of the nineteenth-century African American missionaries has proven nominal and obscure, further confirming the exigency for this study. This project personally has become an incentive to improve our understanding of the mission theology of early African American missionaries. Despite the lack of available primary sources, however, published writings do exist that aid in this probe.

For instance, a recently published dissertation by Michelle K. Raven explores why African American churches tend to engage in missions in their backyard rather than abroad. Raven holds that historical offenses carried out by the government, as well as an insufficiency of resources, spurred an inward focus of ministry. She then considers the implications of these factors for the Black Church in America.

Raven also considers slave theology—another area relevant to my study—writing, The foundation for Black Church theology is slave theology, a synthesis of reinterpreted white theology and theological remnants of African religious practices and beliefs.⁶ She argues that in this context, a hermeneutic from a slave perspective emerged. Thus, slaves combined White theology with life conditions to develop an ideology that aligned with Scripture. It is truly remarkable how slaves employed Christology while confronting the constraints of captivity. Raven’s important work enlightens my research as it provides a vital path for understanding the local African Americans church responsibility in missions and at the same time providing a foundation for the mission theology of the early African American missionary.

The mission theology of the African American missionary did not emerge apart from social science. As scholars explored the origins of people and animals, a new theology was born. During the 1800s, the influence of social science was pervasive in the life of the African American Christian. Anyabwile explains as follows: Unlike any other religious issues, the doctrine of man, or anthropology, energized the theological and ethical energies of African Americans.⁷ Anyabwile says the contention at hand involved the question of whether the African slave possessed a redeemable soul. While the belief that an African slave did possess a soul was not embraced by all, for decades a prevailing segment deemed this belief as plausible. The rationale arises from both anthropology and theology. Anyabwile writes, The evidence of black humanity was revealed in both a common creation with other men and not animals, and in the redemptive purposes of Christ.⁸ Anyabwile’s argument proves integral to my study as it seeks to understand the redemptive aspect of the slave’s moral being as depicted in an early theological argument. As clues are unveiled in this work, they provide a segue into my research on the mission theology of the early African American missionary.

In Slave Religion, Albert J. Raboteau provides an exhaustive overview of slave life for the Christian African American in the 1800s. He describes how slaves practiced their faith and constructed a theology based upon shared experiences. Since illiteracy was a predominant plight among enslaved people in America, with an estimated literacy rate of between 5 and 6 percent, storytelling was pervasive. However, Raboteau argues, Illiteracy proved less of an obstacle to knowledge of the Bible than might be thought, for biblical stories became part of the oral tradition of the slaves.⁹ For slaves, access to Scripture came through hearing, yet they recognized the authority of these biblical narratives. Moreover, slaves had the imagination to move beyond what was taught to engagement with Scripture on a personal level. As Raboteau argues, Slaves were distrustful of the white folks’ interpretation of the Scriptures and wanted to be able to search them for themselves.¹⁰ These details are integral for my research as they point to the rumination of biblical texts by slaves and the groundwork for an early African American theology of mission. In this work, the researcher offers invaluable perspectives on this religious oral tradition, yet my study seeks to understand how early African American mission theology progressed.

Dwight N. Hopkins, in Down, Up, and Over: Slave Religion and Black Theology, draws upon the narratives of slaves to present a robust discussion of their arrival in North America in their theology. He notes the conflict that slaves encountered due to their identity as Christians and negative biblical teaching concerning their blackness. Hopkins argues, Biblical images and metaphors took on negative meaning when associated with African Americans (e.g., dark, curse, etc.).¹¹These images and metaphors spurred African Americans to theologically understand their blackness within the Christian context. It becomes clear that to gain an understanding of early African American theology, one must understand how they embraced their skin color as predestined by God. In fact, this understanding became indispensable as they read biblical passages and recognized themselves in the Bible.

From Hopkins’ study, a theme emerges, symbolized by the ‘one blood’ shared by all people, regardless of color.¹² This theological concept arose from the slaves’ assessment of God’s divine plan for creation. Even in the context of being a Black slave in the 1800s, those enslaved believed from Scripture that God created everyone equal. In my research, I hope to further elaborate on the theological concept of one blood that became a fundamental theme among Christian slaves during this period.

The following article also provides some invaluable details for the construction of my study: Redemption of Africa: The Vital Impulse of Black American Overseas Missionaries. Here, Josephus R. Coan gives an account of the African Methodist Episcopal Church General Conference, which convened in 1860. A segment of this congress concentrated on the redemption of Africa and how the church body could fulfill this mandate. From the Episcopal Church’s constitution, Coan identifies a missional emphasis as follows: The first is the concept of mission as a divine imperative.¹³ He argues that this concept became an inducement to evangelize unreached people in Africa. However, although the initial concern was for that continent, the mission expanded to other geographic locations.

Coan also notes another emphasis of the conference: The second is the stress on what was called ‘paganism,’ to which the church had not yet extended its outreach, as a missionary summons.¹⁴ The summons was based on biblical passages that charged the New Testament Church to proselytize every nation on earth. After this convention, the A.M.E Church reached the conclusion that their congregations were ineffective and lacked a clear mission theology. Coan’s article lays the groundwork and gives insight for further research.

Theological Education

Theological education was an anomaly for African American missionaries during the 1800s. However, a fortunate few seized the opportunity to pursue any academic training that would enhance their ministry abroad. In The Black Atlantic Missionary Movement and Africa, David Killingray reports, In the United States, the American Missionary Association, founded in 1846 and combining abolitionism with missionary zeal, opened schools and universities for blacks.¹⁵ This undertaking was unprecedented in its efforts to train Black Americans in academics, including the preparation of those aspiring to serve as missionaries.

During the early 1800s, several other schools were also established to educate future missionaries. However, they only admitted White students and denied entrance to African Americans. Yet these suppressive measures precipitated a collaborative initiative. As Killingray notes, Both the white-led and the African American churches placed considerable emphasis on training men and women for African mission.¹⁶ This action helped fill a vacuum of formal missiological training. This article broadened the landscape for my research.

As far as higher education for African Americans in the mid to late 1800s, the emergence of historically Black colleges and universities proved crucial. In addition to other subjects, these colleges housed spaces for religious and theological training. J. W. E. Bowen makes a declaration that reverberates today: These colleges are needed to train missionaries.¹⁷ These words shed light on spaces where African American mission theology may have evolved. Undoubtedly, this theology transformed the way in which African Americans now take part in foreign missions.

At these institutions, it appears that significant attention was focused on the recruitment and retention of prospective students entering the ministry. Bowen also draws attention to the financial support of these institutions: The money given for their establishment was raised under the inspiration of a missionary appeal, and they have no reason for existence outside a missionary thought of preparing men and women to do missionary work at home and abroad.¹⁸ This statement leaves no doubt as to why these schools were established—nothing other than the vision of preparing students for missionary work. Bowen also believes that, since Christian denominations sponsored most of these colleges, the primary intent of the education they offered was Christian service and intellectual growth. In addition to what was discussed in this book, I plan to broaden our understanding of the theology of African American missionaries.

With less access to theological and higher education, African Americans pursuing missionary work faced difficulties. Yet another challenge was the debate that raged about women in ministry. Indeed, while the arduousness of securing a place on the mission field for male missionaries loomed, it was an even more impenetrable task for African American women. Afro-Pentecostalism: Black Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in History and Culture speaks to some of the obstacles that African American women encountered during the 1800s and how they overcame them. Valerie Cooper argues that In the midst of both pro- and antislavery camps that used scripture to shape their arguments, these women also used the Bible and fashioned a biblical aesthetic centered on issues of justice and equality.¹⁹ It seems these women were adept at using Scripture and applying it to their context as Christian women. Since not many structures advocated for their role, these women relied totally on God’s Word to speak on their behalf.

Cooper recounts the story of Jarena Lee, who received her call to ministry in 1807 and was ordained to preach in 1817, becoming the first woman preacher in the African Methodist Episcopalian Church. Cooper writes, Lee developed a theologically complex argument for women’s ordination based upon close reading of scripture.²⁰ Lee’s undertaking to study Scripture contributed toward a theology that would eventually lead to African American women serving as missionaries. My research crosses paths with this study as it seeks to understand mission theology from the position of African American women.

James Barnett Taylor’s biography of missionary Lott Carey offers a treasure trove of insights into the theology of the early African American missionary. He cites excerpts from both sermons and letters penned by Carey that reveal aspects of Carey’s mission theology. For instance, when commenting on one of Carey’s sermons, Taylor notes, [Carey] seemed to have imbibed the sentiment of Paul, and to have great heaviness and continual sorrow in his heart, for his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh.²¹ Thus, Taylor believes that Carey’s compulsion to enter the mission field in Africa derived from an agony to see his brethren delivered. Taylor also maintains that Carey’s response was spiritual and aided by the Holy Spirit.

Carey’s poignant farewell sermon justifies his conviction for serving as a missionary. He writes, I am about to leave you, and expect to see your faces no more, I long to preach to the poor Africans the way of life and salvation.²² Thus, we see that, for Carey, God’s plan of salvation is the inducement weightier than the perils he would encounter. This helps explain why missionaries undertake such noble campaigns. Clearly, this biography by Taylor is central to the study of missiology in the 1800s.

Spellman College, founded in 1881, has long been recognized for its role in preparing African American women for leadership. Its origins are immersed in Christian principles and the promotion of African missions. In this regard, Sandy D. Martin, in his research, Spellman’s Emma B. Delaney and the African Mission, notes that A number of Spellman graduates became African missionaries between the 1800s and 1920s.²³ Despite racial opposition, these African-Americans enrolled at Spellman College and those students remain notable because of their spiritual impact on the continent of Africa. Delaney’s experience at Spellman had an indelible impact on her as an African American missionary. As Martin comments on Delaney’s response to her doubters, The future missionary stated that she did not consider work to be done at home less important, but she also knew that nine out of ten young women trained in missionary work would remain in the United States.²⁴ Delaney’s views would eventually help catapult her to South Africa. This article is informative and noteworthy, as it yields information for the research at hand.

William Seraile, in African-American Experience in World Mission, traces some of the distinguished accomplishments of early African American missionaries in the 1800s. He asserts that certain African Americans were appointed to African missions by White mission boards based upon what was believed to be their physical adaptability to specific geographical locales. It was assumed that African Americans had the physical capacity to withstand extreme weather environments and had biological resistance to particular diseases. Not only that, but these White mission boards also sometimes maintained it was the responsibility of African Americans to evangelize their African brethren.

The question could be raised as to why intelligence and aptness were not included in the criteria. Seraile argues as follows: Less one be misled, blacks were not granted the privilege of doing mission work because they possessed superior intellect, but because whites thought they possessed greater resistance to the malaria infested climate of West Africa.²⁵ Instead of being chosen as missionaries because of training, appointments were based on brawn. This research lays out some of the mission practices during the 1800s and exposes flaws that persisted and obstructed some of the success that may have materialized. While my examination focuses on the mission theology of this period, the aforementioned research is necessary for how this view may have influenced the effectiveness of mission work.

The Oxford Handbook of African American Theology, edited by Katie G. Cannon and Anthony B. Pinn, is a seminal work on the subject of African American mission theology. History attests that the theological framework for African Americans has its roots in the hellacious conditions of slavery. This is confirmed in Allen D. Callahan’s chapter in that handbook, who opines, African American biblical interpretation begins with slavery.²⁶ Thus, to correctly understand African American theology, one must grasp the realities of slavery and how the Christian message was understood amid these realities. Indeed, the Christian message and slavery experience converged, giving birth to the theology of the early African American slave.

The African American slave did not accept Bible narratives blindly. Rather, as Callahan writes, African slaves early on began to question the biblical texts they heard and what those texts meant.²⁷ These potential Christians attempted to decrypt these new concepts that were unlike their former religious traditions. They listened carefully to the