A historical study of leadership within the Presbyterian church of Congo in the post-missionary era, 1960-2003 André Mbuyi Mudibu orcid.org/0000-0001-5313-2945 Dissertation accepted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Church and Dogma History at the North- West University Supervisor: Prof R. Potgieter Co-supervisor: Dr. Kakwata Graduation: May 2021 Student number: 28271165 1 DEDICATION To my beloved wife Bethy Mbuyi Tshibuabua and our children Rosette Mudibu Mbuyi, Nathalie Mudibu Nyamuka, Amelie Mudibu Mitanda and Espérance Mudibu Mbuyi and to the Almighty God who gave me purpose and meaning! I dedicate this work. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Better the end than the beginning. Praise, Honour, and Glory are to the Godhead for giving me the opportunity to finish this work. My profound gratitude to my promoters, Dr. Prof. Raymond Potgieter (Systematic Theology and Apologetics Senior Researcher Higher Degree at North West University), Dr. Kakwata and Dr. Gaspard Bondo for their valuable guidance. You have been so kind and friendly to me. Your inspiring reflections, insightful criticisms and suggestions have been invaluable to the success of this research. This work is a product from a great deal of consultations with many friends and some pastors in the Democratic Republic of Congo who have been very helpful. Pastors Joseph Kadisha, Pastor Maurice Malenga wa Ilunga, Pastor Dennis Kabamba Kasenda, Pastor Lazard Tshibuabua Dikebela, Pastor Sylvain Kazadi, Pastor Victor Nzembela, Pastor Jonas Mualaba, Pastor Leon Mukendi, Pastor Felix Kambilo, Pastor Vicky Beya Mutay to name only but these, I am very grateful for your support during my studies. To the numerous persons, pastors, colleagues, friends who, during my master’s studies, helped me to reflect on the different stages of my life, both in general and in detail: Thank you! I am deeply indebted to Pastor David Malaba Mbaya and his wife, Pastor Corneille Tshiamala, Pastor Willy Lufuluabo, Moise Katema and his wife Giselle, Elisabeth White, Pascal Kanyana, and Daniel Mutombo for their support and encouragement. To my family, especially my mother Rosette Mbuyi Mudibu and my regretted father Sébastien Mbuyi wa Mukabayi Kasonga, may you find through these words my sincerest gratitude. My appreciation goes to the members of the Presbyterian Congregation: Kensington United Church: French Service for all their spiritual, moral support and financial support. I would like to thank the editor Susan for her willingness and availability to edit this essay, may God bless her in the name of Jesus Christ. I thank the following persons although the list is not exhaustive: Fabrice Mukuayi, Willy Lufuluabo, Remy Tshisekedi Mupembe , Serge Diba, Carine Mibana, Patrick Nantu, Jean Pierre Nkunabu, Marlene Eyango, Nancy Nseya, Claude Mianda, Laurent Mabika ii Mupompa, Rev. Dr Eddie Germiquet, Brendon, Otis Ilunga Makolu, Irene Yowa, Chantal Mulanga, Marcel Kasonga, Blaise Bulabula, Ambroise Mukebayi, Delphin Tshimbalanga Nsesa, Norbert Katamba, Emmanuel Bababu, Therese Kapinga, Carly Kalala, Pasteur Jean Mpoyi, Donna Yamalume, Felix Tshiabu, and his wife Pamela, and all those far or near who have supported me materially, morally and spiritually along this long journey. iii ABSTRACT This dissertation engages in a historical analysis of the leadership of the Presbyterian Church of Congo in the post-missionary era from 1960-2003. It seeks to investigate the complex challenges facing the indigenous leadership of the Presbyterian Church of Congo in the post-independence era, especially the prevalent leadership crisis at regional and national levels of the Church. The changes in leadership have affected the missio Dei and significantly influenced leadership interactions across the nation. This necessitates a historical study of the devolution of leadership to gain valuable insights into the historical factors that led to the leadership crisis in the Presbyterian Church of the DRC in the post- missionary era. Key words Historical study, leadership, Presbyterian, church, missionaries, Indigenous, Democratic Republic of the Congo. iv OPSOMMING Hierdie verhandeling handel oor 'n historiese ontleding van die leierskap van die Presbiteriaanse Kerk van die Kongo in die post-sendingstydperk van 1960-2003. Dit poog om die ingewikkelde uitdagings wat die inheemse leierskap van die Presbiteriaanse Kerk van die Kongo in die era na onafhanklikheid in die gesig staar, te ondersoek, veral die heersende leierskapskrisis op plaaslike en nasionale vlak van die Kerk. Die veranderinge in leierskap het die missio Dei beïnvloed en leierskapsinteraksies regoor die land aansienlik beïnvloed. Dit het 'n historiese studie van die afwenteling van leierskap genoodsaak om waardevolle insigte te verkry oor die historiese faktore wat gelei het tot die leierskapskrisis in die Presbiteriaanse Kerk van die DRK in die post- sendingstydperk. Sleutelterme Historiese oorsig, leierskap, Presbyteriaanse Kerk, sendelinge, inheems, Demokratiese Republiek van die Kongo. v ABBREVIATIONS APCM: American Presbyterian Congo Mission BCFC: Baptist Community of the River Congo D.R.C.: Democratic Republic of Congo E.C.C: Eglise du Christ au Congo” E.I.C: Etat Independent du Congo E.P.ZA.: Presbyterian Church of the Zaire F.T.R.K.: Faculty of Theology Reformed in Kasai P.C.C: Presbyterian Community of Congo P.C.K.: Presbyterian Church of Kinshasa P.C.U.S.A.: Presbyterian Church in United States of America U.PRE.CO: University Presbyterian Shepard and Lapsley in Congo U.S.A.: United States of America P.M.L.: Presbyterian Mission in Leopoldville U.M.H.K.: Union Missionary House of Kinshasa C.E.M.E.: Comité Exécutif de Missions Etrangères P.C.U.S.: Presbyterian Church in the United States L.L.B.K.: Lumu Lua Bena Kasaї L.I.M.: Livingstone Inland Mission vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT IV OPSOMMING V ABBREVIATIONS VI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of the study.................................................................................. 1 1.2 Problem statement ........................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 5 1.4 Aim .................................................................................................................... 5 1.5 Research Objectives ........................................................................................ 5 1.6 Central Theoretical Argument ......................................................................... 6 1.7 Research Design and Methodology ................................................................ 6 1.8 Concept Clarifications ...................................................................................... 7 1.8.1 Missional Church ................................................................................................ 7 1.8.2 Community ......................................................................................................... 7 1.8.3 Crisis .................................................................................................................. 8 1.8.4 Church leadership .............................................................................................. 9 1.8.5 Mission ............................................................................................................... 9 1.8.6 Evangelism ....................................................................................................... 10 1.8.7 Presbyterian ..................................................................................................... 10 1.8.8 Democratic Republic of Congo ......................................................................... 10 vii 1.9 Structural outline of the study ....................................................................... 11 1.10 Schematic presentation of research procedures ......................................... 11 CHAPTER 2: AN OVERVIEW OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE DRC ........................................................ 13 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Christianity in Congo ..................................................................................... 13 2.3 Protestant churches ....................................................................................... 15 2.4 An overview of the Presbyterian Church ...................................................... 16 2.4.1 The origin and development of the Presbyterian Church .................................. 16 2.4.2 The establishment of the Presbyterian mission in Belgian Congo ..................... 20 2.4.2.1 The arrival of the first missionaries in the country ............................................. 20 2.4.2.2 The chosen site for the mission ........................................................................ 21 2.4.2.3 The denial of the gospel by indigenous groups ................................................. 22 2.4.2.4 The survival of the mission in Luebo ................................................................. 24 2.4.2.5 The dark days of the American Presbyterian mission in Kasaï .......................... 24 2.4.2.6 The acceptance of the American Presbyterian mission in Kasaï ....................... 27 2.5 The conflicts of the indigenous and misuse of the colonial power ............ 27 2.6 The American Presbyterian view of Bantu culture ....................................... 29 2.7 Expansion of APCM within the Country ........................................................ 30 2.7.1 Kasai Occidental Province ................................................................................ 30 2.7.2 The work in Kasai Oriental ................................................................................ 32 2.7.3 The mission’s work in Katanga Province........................................................... 33 2.7.4 Kinshasa ........................................................................................................... 33 viii 2.8 Hierarchy of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo .................................... 34 2.8.1 Structure of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission from 1891 to 1897 ...... 34 2.8.2 Structure of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission from 1897 to 1960 ...... 35 2.8.3 Structure of the Presbyterian Church from 1960 to 2003 .................................. 37 2.8.4 Structure of the Parish in Presbyterian Church of Congo .................................. 38 2.9 Ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Congo .......................................... 44 2.9.1 Pastoral ministry ............................................................................................... 44 2.9.2 The elders ........................................................................................................ 44 2.9.3 Deacons ........................................................................................................... 45 2.10 Summary ......................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 3: MISSION PREPARATION FOR LEADERSHIP TRANSITION ......................... 48 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 48 3.2 Preparation for the Independence of the DRC .............................................. 48 3.2.1 Political development of the DRC ........................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2.2 Political crisis .................................................................................................... 51 3.2.3 The Movement towards independence in The Presbyterian Church ................. 54 3.3 Mission Preparation for Leadership Transition ............................................ 56 3.3.1 Formation of Native Leaders by Missionaries ................................................... 57 3.3.2 Native preparation for the spread of the Gospel ................................................ 58 3.3.3 The first natives’ leadership of the A.P.C.M. ..................................................... 59 3.3.4 Trials of natives leadership ............................................................................... 61 3.3.5 Transition of leadership between 1953-1960 .................................................... 61 ix 3.3.6 The training of lay leadership in the A.P.C.M .................................................... 62 3.3.7 Cooperation between Church and State: 1945-1952 ........................................ 64 3.4 Consolidation of A.P.C.M.: Organisation and Administration ..................... 65 3.4.1 Organisation and administration ....................................................................... 65 3.4.2 Partnership of the Presbyterian Mission in Congo ............................................ 67 3.5 Logistical and social supports in the A.P.C.M. ............................................. 71 3.5.1 The logistic support .......................................................................................... 71 3.5.2 The schoolwork support .................................................................................... 75 3.5.3 The medical work support ................................................................................. 76 3.6 Summary ......................................................................................................... 77 CHAPTER 4 POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CONGOLESE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH DURING THE POST-MISSIONARY PERIOD................................................... 79 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 79 4.2 Leadership styles within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo: 1960- 2003 ........................................................................ 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Bookmark not defined. 4.2.1 From 1960-1964 ............................................................................................... 80 4.2.2 From 1964 to 1991 ........................................................................................... 83 4.2.3 From 1991 to 2003 ........................................................................................... 84 4.3 The leadership style in the Presbyterian Church in the DRC: the influence of post-colonial politics and the socio-economic realities of the country ...................................................................................................... 86 4.3.1 Socio-political situation: traditional and the dictatorial political system in the church leadership ............................................................................................. 86 x 4.3.2 Socio-economic situation: the influence of poverty on the leadership of the Church .............................................................................................................. 88 4.4 The autocratic leadership style in the Presbyterian 'Church's growth and damage .................................................................................................... 90 4.4.1 The autocratic native leadership and the growth of the Presbyterian Church in DRC .............................................................................................................. 90 4.4.2 The autocratic native leadership and the damage in Presbyterian Church in the DRC............................................................................................................ 91 4.4.2.1 Divisions within the Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo ............................................................................................................... 91 4.4.2.2 Generous with sin ............................................................................................. 92 4.4.2.3 Tribalism in the Presbyterian Church of Congo ................................................. 93 4.5 Attempts at reconciliation .............................................................................. 94 4.6 Summary ......................................................................................................... 95 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS ................................. 97 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 97 5.2 The organisational structure of the dissertation .......................................... 97 5.3 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 98 5.4 Research findings .......................................................................................... 99 5.5 Suggestions and recommendations ........................................................... 101 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 103 xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2: Dr. William Morrison (left), and Dr. Sheppard (right) with the Bakuba people (1909) 20 Figure 3: A.P.C.M. structure at early mission foundation 35 Figure 4: The structure of the A.P.C.M. during its expansion from 1897 to 1960 35 Figure 5: The 2003 structure of Presbyterian Church of Congo from 1960 37 Figure 6: Structure of the Parish in the Presbyterian Church of Congo 37 xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study This study falls within the ambits of the history of leadership in missions from the perspective of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. It attempts to analyse the leadership issues in the Presbyterian Church of the Democratic Republic of Congo (hereinafter the DRC or the Congo) from the standpoints of its vision, implementation, and development of leadership in the post-missionary era spanning between 1960-2003. The Presbyterian Church of the Congo was introduced into the DRC by the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America (Wharton, 1952:16). The first Presbyterian missionaries arrived in the DRC on the 18th of April 1891 in Luebo, in the Kasaï province. During this time, the Kasaï province was in turmoil because externally, the indigenous people were under the attack of Arab slave merchants and internally, they were rebelling against their local chiefs whom they claimed unjustly usurped authority. This situation created a climate of insecurity for the traditional leaders especially those involved in slavery (Falk, 1985:348-349). In the sense, the arrival of the missionaries was timely as they managed to free numerous slaves and successfully send them back to their villages. Many of the freedmen refused to return home and joined the missionaries thereby constituting the first Presbyterian Church in Congo in Kasai-Luebo (Mutshipayi, 1992:176). The motivation for this study hinges on a few pertinent considerations. First, having grown up in the church from childhood, and being active within the church as a minster of the gospel for many years now, I have become privy to diverse leadership issues that beleaguer the church. Since the departure of missionaries specifically, there has been an increasing lack of effective leadership within the church’s organisation. A good case in point is the no unanimous election of church leaders at meetings in which the elected leaders never engaged proactively. This influenced the biased elections of leaders representing certain power clusters without taking cognisance of the doctrinal principles of prioritising Christ and the church. Consequently, this has led to the withdrawal and resignation of a significant number of leaders such that the Presbyterian Church currently exemplifies a disjointed organisation which lacks unity from a biblical perspective. 1 Leadership encapsulates the dynamics of a process of personal influence amongst people (Elliston, 1992: 18). This dynamic process includes the following key components: a. followers and leaders who represent a dynamic interaction which translates as a means of influence exercised by dynamic leadership, and is reflected in the community thereby allowing the community a measure of influence in the wider society context; b. a means for influence which emerges from the leader and from the community based on expected values and outcomes (Elliston, 1992:19). Elliston presents the biblical metaphor of a leader as a servant, a shepherd, and a steward (1992:12-18). This corresponds with the biblical perceptions of a pastor as a servant- leader that is a leader who serves (1 Tim. 3:1–7; Tit. 1:5–10, Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:1– 3). As Elliston aptly argues, leadership is a complex process in which leaders and followers interact in a single mono-social context or a series of contexts over time (1992:21-22). He further identifies the variables that affect leadership such as age, the polity of the church, and the cultural context in which the church functions (1992:21-22). In this respect, the leadership challenges faced by the Presbyterian Church in the DRC are not isolated; rather they are attributable to diverse contributory factors. Some of these factors are traceable to its missional and historical background. These include issues such as personal leadership conflicts, schism between members of the congregations, the numerical decline in membership, the diminishment of Christ like spirituality, and the misuse of authority to influence the church, and its congregants’ decisions. According to Hannigan (2007:18), leadership involves taking initiative, delegating power and setting goals, each of which entails risk taking. Taking initiative is often risky, the delegation of power may imply giving up the seat at the head of the table, and most times, setting goals requires challenging the status quo. The Presbyterian Church of Congo embraces an ecclesial leadership model that entrusts power to elected assemblies of "elders" (including laypeople and pastors). These Assemblies are referred to as Synods and exist at all strata of the church’s organisation. However, this research focuses on the national and provincial leadership levels of the Presbyterian Church of Congo. Considering the Presbyterian Church’s emphasis on mission, the uncertainties and organisational disruptions instigated by the leadership crisis radically deviates from the entirety of the denomination’s founding principles. In fact, it has attracted unnecessary 2 derogatory criticisms from within and outside the denomination. This constitutes a pertinent issue of concern as the notion of the church as the “salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city set on a hill” (Graham, 2012:11), is not presently reflected in the post-missionary history of the denomination. As the salt and light of the earth, the church’s core mission is to let its “light shine before people” (Graham, 2012:7). This is because the purpose of the church’s missional nature is the glorification and worship of the Father (Graham, 2012: xiii). Based on the foregoing, this thesis engages in a critical examination of the leadership issues within the Presbyterian Church of Congo with the aim of reinstituting the original missional emphasis of the church which is best reflected through Godly missionary leadership. Presently, Presbyterians in the DRC are frustrated by the inefficient governance of the church and its rapid decline from the Scriptural prescripts of leadership (1 Tim 3:2). From a historical viewpoint, the chaotic leadership situation may be attributed to two primary factors namely the unpreparedness of the indigenous people to take over from the missionaries (Kadisha, 2016), and the careless selection of church leaders on the basis of cultural, social, financial, and political persuasions without taking biblical principles of leadership into account. For this reason, a historical analysis of the devolution of leadership is pursued to gain invaluable insights into the root of the problem, and to establish the historical factors that led to the leadership crisis in the Presbyterian Church of the DRC in the post-missionary era. 1.2 Problem statement This study evaluates the history of leadership within the Presbyterian Church in the DRC in the post-missionary era between 1960-2003. It intends to highlight the leadership upheavals in the post-colonial era, specifically regarding the leadership elections that have resulted in the non-compliance to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church. Congressional members and some ministers believe that the non-compliance to the Church’s constitution could be the responsible for many problems within the church including the dysfunction of different departments, the breakaway of pastors evident in sprouting of new congregations. The Presbyterian Church Community in the DRC developed from the missionary work of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission (now Global Ministries of the P.C.U.S.A.), 3 which started in Luebo, in the central part of Congo (Kasai region) in 1891. The church became fully autonomous as the Presbyterian Church Community of the Congo, as well as a member of the Church of Christ in the Congo (Benedetto, 1996:5). Historical sources indicate that during the period of the missionaries’ leadership from 1891 to 1960, the missionaries were in charge and in control of all the activities of the church and progress was evident, even when the American Presbyterian Congo Mission took the name of the Presbyterian church of the Congo. However, things began to deteriorate within the church after the leadership of the church was entrusted to the indigenous people in 1960. Structurally, it consists 2,500,000 members, 672 pastors, and 926 congregations. The constitution of the church stipulates that the election of a church leader happens at the national and provincial levels respectively, for a five-year term which is only renewable once. Contrarily, once appointed, some church leaders bluntly refuse to relinquish the position after the expiration of their mandate. Furthermore, this non-compliance to the church constitution continues to pose problems for the leadership within the church and factionalising the church. This has led to the mass excommunication of several servants of church such as pastors, evangelists, elders and local legal representatives without recognition for neither the biblical principles nor the constitution of the church. More importantly, this crisis is increasingly plunging the Presbyterian Community of Congo (P.C.C.) and its clergy into a state of utter disarray and moral confusion which negatively affects the missio Dei of the denomination. The lack of consistency in the interpretation of the church’s constitution and no adherence to the Scriptural ordinances for leadership instigates uncertainty amongst established church members. Even worse is the fact that it imbues a sense of confusion in young Christians, new members and those who wish to get involved in the church’s ministry. The long-term repercussions of the destabilisation of the missio Dei in the Presbyterian Church Community in the DRC due to leadership issues cannot be overemphasised. This makes this study relevant and timely, as it intends to provide valuable insights into the historical causes of these issues to efficiently proffer practicable recommendations towards the reinstitution of the missio Dei in the church. 4 1.3 Research Questions The focal research question in this study seeks to answer: Why has the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declined in the post- missionary era? The sub-questions stemming from the core research question are: 1. What factors that has led to the leadership crisis in the Presbyterian Church of Congo? 2. What missional leadership legacy has exacerbated the crisis in the indigenous leadership within the Presbyterian Church of Congo? 3. How does the Congolese post-colonial socio-economic reality influence the leadership of the Presbyterian Church? 1.4 Aim This investigation aims at allowing a historical reflection of leadership within the Presbyterian Church to lead to the identification of factors that have led to the leadership crisis in the post-missionary era. 1.5 Research Objectives The objectives of this study are: 1. To gain an in-depth understanding of the vision, implementation, and the development of leadership within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. 2. To discuss the extent to which the missionaries’ legacy may have exacerbated the crisis in the indigenous leadership within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. 3. To examine the impact of prevailing post-colonial politics, as well as the DRC’s socio-economic situation on the leadership of the Church. 5 1.6 Central Theoretical Argument The central argument in this study is that there is a chasm between the leadership style of the pioneer American Presbyterian missionaries (during the tumultuous years following the independence of the Congo in the 1960s) and the new generation leadership of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo under the auspices of the indigenous Congolese people. The changes in the style of governance have led to the current conflicts of leadership within the church. This constitutes a pertinent issue of concern as the leadership crisis remains prevalent within the denomination, and significantly devaluates the missio Dei of the church. 1.7 Research Design and Methodology A research method is a strategy of enquiry that moves from the underlying assumptions to research design, and data collection (Myers, 2013:77). This study adopts the historical- critical methodology to identify and describe the historical factors that gave rise to the current leadership crisis within the Presbyterian Church of Congo. The historical method of research can be defined as the systematic and objective location, evaluation, and synthesis of evidence to establish facts and draw conclusions about past events (Storey, 2009). Historical methods of research involve a process of collecting, analysing and interpreting information to answer specific research questions (Troeltsch, 1991:52). It also involves a critical inquiry an earlier phenomenon with the aim of reconstructing a faithful representation of the past. The historical research method is best suited to this study because analyses documents and other sources that contain facts concerning the theme of the research with the objective of gaining in-depth understanding of present policies, practices, problems and institutions. It would enable the researcher to gather the necessary data that will equip him to deeply understand the historical factors that have led to the current leadership crisis in the Presbyterian church of Congo. For this study, the four types of sources used to collect existing historical data include archives, secondary sources such as books and papers written by various authors about the Presbyterian Church in the DRC, running records, and recollections. The study relies heavily on archival data and resources. These archival data contain official documents and other items concerning the American Presbyterian of Congo Mission, the Presbyterian Church community of Congo, and the Catholic Church in the DRC that are 6 found in archives. In addition, the study utilises secondary sources such as the writings of various historians on the history of the Presbyterian Church and running records which documentaries are kept by private or non-profit organisations. Lastly, the study uses recollections such as autobiographies, memoirs or diaries. 1.8 Concept Clarifications 1.8.1 Missional Church In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus presents three striking missional images of the church – salt, light, and a city. The church is fundamentally missional because its duty is to serve; likewise it is instituted by a missionary God. The mission of God determines and constitutes the nature, purposes, structures, ministries, and activities of the church (Graham, 2012: xiii). The English word “Church” is derived from the Greek adjective “Kyriakos” which means “the Lord’s house” (Christian place of worship). Kimball (2007:89) argues that since Christians are now like foreigners in a foreign land within the post- Christian culture, they must ensure that the church is understood as the missionary people sent into the world regardless of the current emerging culture. In this sense, the church of Christ in Congo presently encompasses over 80 Protestant denominations or communities under one umbrella with each one maintaining its own ecclesiastical traditions and structures, as well as fraternal ties with churches outside the Congo (Mandryk, 2010:271). As Vincent (1985) asserts, the primordial mission of the Church is to announce the good news of the Word of God. Therefore, this study focuses on the three focal functions or missions that the Church must play in society: the prophetic function; the educational function; and the proselyting function. Like most organisations, churches are made up of people with various backgrounds, personalities, and opinions working harmoniously towards a common cause. This inextricably requires efficient leadership to guide the process. 1.8.2 Community A local church or parish is called a community church. In the past, it was common for a town or locality to have a single church, which served as a gathering-place for the entire community. That way, the local church served as a local town hall where the community 7 gathered to worship, discuss community affairs, and socialise. In some religiously homogeneous places, this is still the case, whereas, in most cities and towns, many community churches identify the landscape. This study focuses on the design of the Christian community that enacts its role for mission. One of the main purposes for the existence of the church is to fill the human need for one another and the need for community (Saayman, 1990:25). 1.8.3 Crisis Pillay (1990:191-123) notes that Bosch assessed the history of missions using the Paradigm Theory of Thomas Kuhn and the six epochs of Christian history suggested by Hans Kűng. Crisis may result not only from the discovery of empirical anomalies, but also from the invention of new theories (Bevans & Schroeder, 2005:69-72). In this sense, crisis refers to a process of transformation that occurs when old systems can no longer be maintained. A crisis is any event that could (or is expected) lead to instability or situation affecting an individual, group, community, or an entire society. Crises are defined as detrimental changes that impact the security and /or, economic, political, societal, or environmental affairs, especially when they occur abruptly, with little or no warning. Simply put, it is means “a testing time” or an “emergency event”. Crisis may also be defined in the context of stress. For example, in the Western culture the term is use in reference to a negative or frightening experience. In the United Kingdom, it may be a hazardous event, while in oriental cultures such as China, it means a dangerous opportunity. In Africa, the word crisis typically denotes the proclivity of the elite and ruling class towards bad policies and poor governance (Callahan, 2004). In a broad sense, crises are situations that involve complex systems (family, economy, society) whereby such systems function poorly, and are in urgent need of redemption, even if the cause of the dysfunction is not immediately identifiable. Consequently, one can speak about a crisis of moral values, an economic or political crisis. In either case, or for whatever reason:  An immediate decision is necessary to pre-empt the further disintegration of the system;  The causes might be diverse or unknown, and sometimes it is difficult to take a rational, informed decision to reverse the situation. 8 1.8.4 Church leadership Although the church may share similarities with various organisations, its beliefs about leadership differs in the sense that it is God’s gifts, given for the sake and welfare of the church’s life and mission. Leadership in the church is rooted in the belief of God and the central mission of the church, as well as the body of the Son, Jesus Christ (Harris, 2003:29). Therefore, Christian leadership is a calling from God and a ministry through which we serve God (Harris, 2003:29-30). Leadership propels persons and organisations towards the fulfilment of their goals. The church has two overall goals: firstly, the one that centres on the inner life of the church itself, and secondly, that which focuses on the church’s exterior. Leadership in the church helps the church advance progressively towards the fulfilment of both goals. Thus, the leadership challenges in the church are more complex than they are in most secular organisations (Harris, 2003:32). 1.8.5 Mission In contemporary culture, the word ‘mission’ has different connotations, which explicitly affects its execution (Richebacher, 2003:588). In simple terms, mission refers to the process of making Christ known to unbelievers. New believers should be trained not just to believe, but to be Disciples of Christ. For the purpose of this study, the concept of mission is understood as an intricate task which necessitates cooperation between missionaries, churches and organisations to achieve the desired results. Raiter (2005:11) points out that the word “mission” does not exist in the Bible, rather it originates from a Latin that means “to send”. The use of the word “send” in the New Testament expresses the reality of God sending out labourers into the world to proclaim the message of salvation where it was not yet known. This process was also called, ‘to go forth to establish the sovereignty of God’ (Packer, 2008: 18). The word ‘mission’ is also highlighted in the Bible when the apostles were commissioned to proclaim Christ in regions where he was not yet known. In earlier times, the missionary’s primary objective was to establish indigenous churches but not to civilise the evangelised people. This concept of indigenous church is based on the Three Selves Theory (Hutchison, 1987:78) which includes self-governing, self- 9 supporting, and self-propagating. Nevertheless, a missionary is a ministering agent selected by God and his church to communicate the gospel message across all cultural boundaries for the purpose of leading people to Christ and establishing them into viable fellowships that are also capable of reproducing themselves (Tallman, 1989:32). 1.8.6 Evangelism Evangelism refers to the announcement, the proclamation, and/or the preaching of the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4), the good news about Jesus Christ. Ideologically, evangelism hinges on strategy, which entails chosen methods to achieve a predetermined goal (Wagner, 1987:45). This is because evangelism requires elaborate and intentional strategizing since evangelising to the lost does not occur by accident. Therefore, the gospel is a communicated message which is in verbal/oral form (Luke 7:22; Rom 10:14- 17) or in written form (Luke 1:14). 1.8.7 Presbyterian The name “Presbyterian” is used in reference to a group of different churches that observe the teachings of John Knox and John Calvin and exercise a Presbyterian form of church government managed by the representative elders (Presbyters). The polity of Presbyterian churches requires local congregations to elect a board known as the session or consistory (Benedetto, 1996:7-9). The congregations also elect presbyters who constitute a presbytery that governs regional groups of local churches. Presbyteries are in turn managed by synods, together; all the synods together form the General Assembly. 1.8.8 Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a country located in Central Africa (Starbird et al., 2004:41). The area now known as the DRC was inhabited as early as 90,000 years ago. This is proven by the 1988 discovery of the Semliki harpoon at Katanda, which remains one of the oldest barbed harpoons ever found and is believed to have been used for catching giant river catfish (Starbird et al., 2004:42). Some historians suggest that the Bantu people began settling in the extreme northwest of Central Africa at the beginning of the 5th century and then gradually started to expand southward. Their propagation was accelerated by the transition from Stone Age to Iron Age techniques. The people living in the south and southwest were mostly San Bushmen and hunter- 10 gatherer groups whose technology involved only minimal use of metal technologies. The development of metal tools during this time revolutionised agriculture and animal husbandry. This led to the displacement of the hunter-gatherer groups in the east and southeast (Starbird et al., 2004:42). The 10th century marked the final expansion of the Bantu across West-Central Africa. The rising populations made intricate local, regional, and foreign commercial networks possible and the people traded mostly in salt, iron and copper (Starbird et al., 2004:49). 1.9 Structural outline of the study Chapter 1: General introduction Chapter 2: An overview of the origin and the development of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo Chapter 3: Mission preparation for leadership transition in the APCM Chapter 4: The impact of the post-colonial politics and the socio-economic situation of the country on the leaders of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo Chapter 5: General conclusion 1.10 Schematic presentation of research procedures Research Title: A historical study of leadership within the Presbyterian church of Congo in the post- missionaries era, 1960-2003 Research Question Aim and Objectives Research Method This investigation aims at In this study, the making a historical researcher will make use of reflection of leadership the historical-critical Why the leadership within within the Presbyterian methodology the Presbyterian church in church and identify factors Congo has declined in the that may have led to the post-missionaries’ era? leadership crisis in the post- missionaries’ era. How to identify factors that To gain an understanding This will be investigated by have led to the leadership of the vision, its way of literature study and 11 crisis in Presbyterian implementation and the the historical-critical church of Congo? development of leadership method with the purpose of within the Presbyterian illustrating attitudes, church of the Congo. behaviour and practices of certain local leaderships in Congo. What is the missional To discuss the extent to The historical-critical leadership legacy which the missionaries’ method will be utilized to contribute to the legacy may have gather the necessary data aggravation of the crisis in contributed to the that will help to gain an the indigenous leadership aggravation of the crisis in understanding of historical within the Presbyterian the indigenous leadership factors that have led to the church of Congo? in the Presbyterian church current leadership crisis in of Congo. the Presbyterian church of the Congo. How does the Congolese To examine the impact of This method will also post-colonial view the post-colonial politics as evaluate and synthesize impacted on the leadership well as socio-economic the evidence in order to in Presbyterian church? situation of the country on establish facts and draw the leadership in the conclusions about past church. events. By involving a critical inquiry of a previous age with the aim of reconstructing a faithful representation of the past. 12 CHAPTER 2: AN OVERVIEW OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE DRC 2.1 Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the origin and development of the Presbyterian Church in the DRC since the earlier times of the Presbyterian missionaries in the DRC in 1891 until 2003. It outlines a survey of leadership by tracing the development of the church in the post-missionary DRC. Finally, the conclusion summarises the findings made in this chapter. 2.2 Christianity in Congo The first evidence of European presence in the DRC with the arrival of Portuguese explorers in 1482 in the Kongo kingdom (Brinkman, 2016:255). Through the arrival of Portuguese missionaries in the kingdom and their interaction with the Kongo people, King Nzinga a Nkuvu and his Kongo kingdom were the first in Black Africa (especially Central Africa) to have a Christian tradition. It should be noted that the Kongo king Nzinga a Nkuvu was converted to Christianity and baptized the same year and was given the name San Salvador (Janzen & MacGaffey, 1974:5). Through his conversion, these Portuguese explorers established connections with the Kongo king and took some Congolese to Portugal for scientific studies. After the death of Nzinga a Nkuvu, the Kongo kingdom was reigned by King Mvemba Nzinga (1457-1543), his son, known as Alfonso I, one of the most remarkable people in African history (Sundkler, 2000:123) who reigned between 1506 and 1943. Once in power, King Mvemba Nzinga (1506-1543) made great reforms. First, he made enormous efforts to have the entire kingdom follow his faith. Second, he sent young people to Portugal to be trained to become priests, and asked the Portuguese king to send doctors and pharmacists to counteract the traditional beliefs of witch doctors and the use of fetishes (Sundkler & Steed, 2000: 51-52). Finally, he wrote letters to his governors challenging them to embrace his Christian faith. Thus, Christianity was made a state religion of his kingdom, and a large church was built in the royal capital (Brinkman, 2016:257). 13 In light of the foregoing, it is clear that the king sincerely believed in Christianity, but one should also consider this act as political calculations. As it can be seen, King Alfonse I wanted to consolidate his influence, which he had previously shared with another chief, the traditional Kongo religion's high priest. Despite the king's political and material reasons for accepting Christianity, his leadership was instrumental in the conversion of Kongo's natives and the establishment of Christianity. According to Sundkler and Steed, King Alfonso I himself preached in chapels (200:51-52). To wrap up this section, on should keep in mind that the explorers who came to Nzinga a Nkuvu were Catholic Christians, so the first Christian mission in the kingdom was led by Franciscan and Dominican priests (Doke, 1935: 87). 2.2.1 The Roman Catholic The Roman Catholic Church was the first mission to establish its presence in the DRC, particularly in the Kongo kingdom. Indeed, from the inception of the Congo Free State in 1885, the Belgian King Leopold II controlled the placement of missionaries and granted them property, subsidies, the right to fulfil certain state functions, and a virtual monopoly over education and medical services. Although the Catholic priests and the nuns successfully established a dense network of churches, schools, health facilities and other institutions (Sundkler, 2000:134) during this period, they were complicit in the horrors of colonisation. According to Fabian (1983:165), the Belgian missionaries shared the same viewpoints about the indigenous people as the colonial authorities. In fact, having come more prepared to teach than to learn, they inadvertently participated in the task of civilising the natives. Regardless of the vigorous revival activities of the Catholic Church, in the 17th century its influence diminished remarkably upon the arrival of the second wave of Christian evangelisation which began in 1865. In 1865, the area of lower Congo was transferred from the Capuchin missionaries of the seventeenth century to the Holy Ghost Fathers (French Catholic missionaries based in Gabon) in Boma. This was followed by the establishment of a mission in San Salvador by British Protestant missionaries of the LIM (Livingstone Inland Mission) in 1878 (Füllberg-Stolberg, 1999:215). These developments are historically relevant to the evolution of Christianity in the early years in the Congo. In a similar turn of events, in 1956 the Catholic Church out rightly excoriated the injustices meted out to the people of Congo by the colonial system (Doke, 1935:89). Falk (1985:343) attributes this sense of consciousness in the 14 missionary’s activities to the political reorientation to assist the church to reinstate its significant role after independence in 1960, when it had almost 700 mission stations and about 6,000 missionaries in educational, medical, philanthropic and social services. Reinforcing Falk’s observation, Brinkman (2016:215) argues that the Church adopted the concept of the Africanisation of the Archdiocese in the 1970s. This was important because people had not really understood the ecclesial and Presbyterian nature of the church. Therefore, by doing so, they could easily infuse the social context into the church. The Africanisation concept has since inclined into a certain form of tribalisation, inculturation in the culture. 2.2.2 Protestant churches The first Protestant missionaries to arrive in the Congo were the British Baptist missionaries who came in 1878 (Samarin, 1986:138; Loetscher, 1978). On their arrival, they proceeded to build a series of stations along the course of the River Congo, which are now administered by the Baptist Community of the River Congo (BCRC). The protestant missions were active in the medical and educational fields (Crawford, 1970:42; Burgess & Van der Maas, 2010:33). According to Yates (1980:33), from the onset, the Protestant missions affirmed their common ground and formed a committee to maintain communication and national cooperation, and to minimise internal competition. This administrative initiative led to the foundation of the Congo Protestant Council in 1924, that later evolved into a Union of Congolese Protestant Churches (Yates, 1980:45). In 1970, the late president Mobutu with his ideology of liberalism, modernisation, and nationalism, spawned the prediction of the demise of religion. The pressure from the Mobutu regime coupled with the support of the World Council of Churches encouraged the churches and mission agencies, which were, more open to the ecumenical movement and to new methods of mission work to concede to the establishment of the “Eglise du Christ au Congo” (Church of Christ in Congo). The church was later renamed the “Church of Christ in Zaire” (Church Mission Society, 2010:21). The leaders of the Reformed church also played a significant role in the realisation of this union. By playing this major role in the establishment of this union, it is certain that the Reformed Church leaders did not know the risk that this could have on their learnership, since the Mobutist system were not immediately and sufficiently recognised (Balcomb, 2011:91), that the church should be controlled by the political system of the country. But as the situation became clearer, 15 the leaders began to question the authoritarian style of the ECC leadership, yet it had become too late. To cope with this situation (which some refer to as a blunder), some church leaders, including those from the Reformed Church, the Evangelical Community of Kwango, the Presbyterian Community of Congo, and others, convened a conference to assess the situation. In this regard, according to MacGaffey (1990:264), a forum called the Reformed Conference of Zaire was established in 1988 with about 30% of the Protestant Churches in Congo (RCZ). This forum has been known as the Reformed Alliance of Congo- Kinshasa Alliance (ARCK) since 1997. (Church Mission Society, 2010:27). The ARCK is a mash-up of several churches organised under the auspices of the "Church of Christ in the Congo" (ECC). It includes: The Disciples of Christ (CDC), the Evangelical Community in Congo (ECC), the Presbyterian Community of Occidental Kasai (CPKOC), the Presbyterian Community of Oriental Kasai (CPKOR), the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (CPK), the Presbyterian Community of Congo (CPCA), the Reformed Community of Presbyterians (CRP), and the Protestant Community of Shaba/Katanga (CPS) (MacGaffey, 1990:264). This is surprising because, however the ARCK leaders did not agree with the government's control of the church, they did not want to break away from the ECC. Instead, they aimed to reinforce Protestantism's solidarity in the face of misrule, a worsening socio-political environment, and long-running tensions between state and religious groups. These leaders argued that, even though they have a different platform, they should remain affiliated with the ECC because they advocate for democracy, inter- ethnic harmony, and the reconstruction of the region. Several representatives of Christian confessions in the DRC share this attitude. These leaders sometimes lead members to believe that they never agree with the ECC's government structure, but they remain committed to it. 2.3 An overview of the Presbyterian Church 2.3.1 The origin and development of the Presbyterian Church The origin of the Presbyterian family of churches, like any other Christian church is traceable to the early church in Jerusalem. In 1517, Martin Luther attached his 95 theses 16 to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany (Balmer and Fitzmier, 1993:17). This public act challenged the practices of the church at the time and led to the formation of a new family of churches known as the Protestant Churches. Protestant churches are the broadly classified into two: the Reformed Churches and the Lutheran Churches. The Presbyterian Church belongs to the Reformed family (Loetscher, 1978:11). John Calvin was the pioneer progenitor of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches (Naphy, 2000:57). According to Van Til (1969:25), John Calvin was born in France in 1509 and studied Latin, Logic and Philosophy at the University of Paris, and he also studied law and classical literature. In 1533, he became convinced of the truth of the Reformation ideas, and was forced to flee from Paris after publicly expressing them. Then, he sought refuge in Switzerland where he wrote the first edition of his theological masterpiece entitled The Institutes of the Christian Religion. The book became the touchstone for many Protestants (Loetscher, 1978:25). John Calvin visited Geneva in 1536 and became a leader of the Protestants in the city (Lane, 1987:34). Naphy (2000:309) notes that John Calvin was exiled from 1538 to 1541 because of the radicality of opinion with the city leaders. He was invited to return in 1541 and under his leadership, Strasbourg became the centre of the Reformation movement in Europe and his church became the model of a basic Presbyterian organisation. Calvin’s legacy is encapsulated in his teaching of the sovereignty of God, the priesthood of all believers, and the structure of the Presbyterian Church (Manetsch, 2012). His ideals of morality, ethics and democracy helped shape Western Christian thoughts and culture. Presbyterianism swiftly spread from Geneva to Scotland and Ireland, and to England, the Netherlands and America through John Knox who studied under John Calvin (Hall, 2003:87). In fact, between 1643 and 1649 a group of Presbyterians in England drafted the doctrinal guide known as the “Westminster Confession” (Leith, 1981:21). Loetscher (1978:25) suggests that there are approximately 50 million people worldwide, who belong to the “Reformed and Presbyterian” Christian family, with about 30 million identifying as the Reformed and the remaining 20 million identifying as Presbyterians. According to Curry (1987:32), the Scots-Irish settlers expanded the development of the congregations, in 1706, the Rev. Francis Makemie (1658-1708) met with seven other pastors and licentiates and organised the first Presbytery in Philadelphia. Over the years, the Presbyterian Church was divided following the impacts of Evangelical revivalism (1741- 17 1758), the denominational policy (1837-69), and the American Civil War of 1861 (Loetscher, 1978:15; Carson, 2005). The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was the first national Presbyterian denomination in the United States, existing from 1789 to 1958 (Mulder et al.,1992:54). Smylie (1996:12) claims that in 1958, the PCUSA merged with the United Presbyterian Church of North America, a denomination with roots in the Seceder and Covenanter traditions of Presbyterianism. In 1860, the general assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America went on record as favouring the expatriation of emancipated chattels (Loetscher, 1978:18). While the clerics who supported that course were interested in encouraging the exodus of free blacks, they were just as anxious to foster the spread of Christianity to other continents (Anon., 2015). Loetscher (1978:18) argues that the Southern Presbyterians were strongly drawn to Africa in the wake of the emancipation of all the slaves. In confirmation, the same year that the Civil War came to an end, the General Assembly authorised the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions to direct its attention to Africa as a field for missionary labour. This directive was given with the aim of securing as soon as was practicable, missionaries from the African race who could bear the Gospel of the grace of God to the homes of their ancestors. Shallof (1970:15) states that the mission in Africa was intended in some measure to assess the capacity of the African-American to elevate his fellow brothers on the continent. In fact, it was the Black students and White faculty members of the Tuscaloosa Institute who were mostly pressurised to activate the African evangelical project after the church leaders approved it. Shallof notes that an odd amount of colonisers, black preachers and some other people believed that the services of the Negro faithful could be best utilised in Africa under the direction of a white man who would be responsible for bringing the missionary endeavour to fruition (1970:15). Beitelman (2002:23) reiterates that the mission’s idea of a Negro enterprise was to be directed by a white man. This is because Rev. Dr Charles Stillman who was spearheading the mission agreed that the educated Southern Negroes would be very useful in the Congo, but he was not willing to trust them by themselves since he too like most of his contemporaries believed that the Black man lacked the mental capability, force of character and resilience to accomplish such a feat. 18 The man who was tasked with the mission to Congo was Reverend William Henry Sheppard, who interestingly was born a free man of slave parents in Waynesboro, Virginia; just one month after General Robert E. Lee conceded the defeat of Confederacy to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House (Shallof, 1970:16). Sheppard attended the Hampton (Virginia) Normal and Industrial Institute (later Hampton University), and the Tuscaloosa Theological Institute (later Stillman College) in Alabama and graduated in 1886. After serving for a year at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, Alabama, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A ordained him as a missionary (Packer, 2008:2). After two years of his ordination and without an appointment, he travelled to Baltimore to make a personal appeal to the white leaders of the church to allow him to take Christ to his people in Africa (Benedetto, 1996:54). While waiting for the Mission Board to commission a mission to Africa, Benedetto (1996:54) reveals that Sheppard bided his time as a pastor of Black churches in Montgomery, Alabama, Atlanta, and Georgia. When the church eventually approved his request, they assured Sheppard that his credentials were impressive, but that the project would remain dormant until a qualified white volunteer agreed to accompany him as supervisor for the mission (Kennedy, 2013:69). Eventually in June 1889, Samuel Norvell Lapsley indicated his willingness to join Sheppard on the mission to tropical Africa (Falk, 1985:347), thereby marking the inauguration of the Presbyterian mission in the Congo. It is important to note that in 1890, most people were still under the impression that the Belgium monarch, King Leopold II, was engaged in a great humanitarian crusade in Africa (Kennedy, 2013:65) making it easy for him to deceive sceptical European diplomats and locals alike. During their consultations with missionary leaders in England in 1890 while en route to Congo, Lapsley and Sheppard met General Henry Shelton Sanford, an American ally of King Leopold II and friend of a friend of Lapsley's father (Thompson, 2007:43). Sanford promised to assist the duo in every possible way on their mission and offered assurances that they would not suffer at the hands of Congo authorities, he even arranged an audience with King Leopold when Lapsley visited him in Belgium (Thompson, 2007:43). However, neither Sanford nor Leopold were genuinely interested in the Presbyterian mission. Instead, they wanted to use them as a means of penetrating into newer territories to facilitate the process of civilising the natives and legitimising his rule (Füllberg-Stolberg, 1999:227). The two missionaries were unfortunately oblivious to Leopold's true motives. 19 Christianity thrived in Congo regardless of the mutual antipathy between Catholics and Calvinists in the South; in fact, Lapsley was fascinated by the Catholic sovereign who he considered a great man (Shallof, 1970:20-21). Soon afterwards, in 1885 the Belgian monarch purchased extensive portions of land from local chieftains to create an enormous area which was to become his colonial territory and a playing field for numerous European powers (Anderson, 2014:64). Subsequently, apart from the Roman Catholic Church missionaries who were the earliest to arrive in the DRC with the genuine mission of proselytising the indigenous people, different false missionaries began to infiltrate the country as part of the international trade relations, pretending to be missionaries. These missionaries led to the establishment of mission churches by propagating false teachings through the natives (Levi, 2009:363). 2.3.2 The establishment of the Presbyterian mission in Belgian Congo 2.3.2.1 The arrival of the first missionaries in the country in 1891 In 1891, before Reverends William Sheppard and Samuel Lapsley established the American Presbyterian Congo Mission in the Kasai region of the Congo (see figure 1.2), the General Berlin Act of February 1885 led to King Leopold II of Belgium’s imperialist conquest of the Congo. Under the pretext of protecting the natives and helping to eradicate slavery, Leopold II made the country a Belgian colony and ruled with systematic brutality (Benedetto, 1996:58). State-sponsored soldiers committed atrocities against the Congolese, and colonial rubber companies used forced indigenous labour to harvest rubber. From the 1890s, King Leopold began to receive growing international criticism for his mistreatment of the indigenous people. Around the same time, Samuel Lapsley and William Henry Sheppard began to seek for an interior mission site far enough away from the other evangelical societies, but in the heart of the highlands not too far from a supply centre, to execute a wholly independent work (Beitelman, 2002:23). They had to work among a population large enough to form a good mission field using a language which was most widely spoken. This was specifically important because at that time, missionaries from different denominations were prohibited from doing missionary work within the same territory (Kennedy, 2013:71). 20 Meanwhile, as Beitelman (2002:23) notes, the missionaries continued to work in the British Baptist station at Tunduwa gaining some experience and becoming an established mission, until they finally moved to Leopoldville in 1890 (Shallof, 1970:22). Exhausted from their travails, Lapsley paused for eleven days in Leopoldville to regain strength before travelling to Bolobo to seek the advice of the Venerated English evangelist and renowned explorer, Reverend George Grenfell of the Baptist Missionary Society (Beitelman, 2002:25). Based on his experience throughout the Congo, Grenfell urged his young visitor to concentrate his efforts in the Kasai (Turner, 2006:24). After weighing all the facts: the guidelines set down by the General Assembly, the advice of King Leopold and George Grenfell, and the knowledge gained in their own perambulations, Lapsley chose to settle in the Kasai-Sankuru region. 2.3.2.2 The chosen site for the mission Lapsley chose the Kasai-Sankuru region because it was the centre of influence from which the lines of trade radiate: it was both the point of contact and the point of attack a vast region of people (Stanley, 1997:120). More importantly, Luebo, in the Kasai region had the advantages of being the meeting of five major tribes (Kete, Kuba, Luba, Lulua, and Songye) comprising by his estimate, approximately two million people (Shallof, 1970:23), finally, on April 18 1891, William Sheppard and Samuel Lapsley anchored their sternwheeler boat, Florida, at Luebo only a short distance beyond the confluence of the Lulua and Luebo rivers (Kennedy, 2013:11). At the suggestion of the district commissioner the newcomers decided to locate their station near the north bank of the Lulua between Luebo and Kete village of Bena Kasenga (Kennedy, 2013:75). In every respect, it was a very modest beginning for what was destined to become a remarkably successful undertaking (Stanley, 1997:122). Turner (2006:34) notes that the evangelists went around Bena Kasenga a village of about 200 huts. Despite being of African descent, Sheppard was considered as must a foreigner as Lapsley, and was even nicknamed "Mundele N'dom" or "Black-White man". His African ancestry notwithstanding, Sheppard initially believed in many of the prevalent stereotypes regarding Africa and its inhabitants such as the idea that African natives were uncivilised or savage (Grant, 2001:27). However, Kennedy (2013:101) observes that after living with the people, Sheppard’s views changed as exemplified by this journal entry: “I established a good relationship on a firm basis with the Bakuba people and this was reciprocated”. 21 He further stated, “the Bakuba were the finest looking race I had seen in Africa, dignified, graceful, courageous, and honest, with an open smiling countenance and hospitable. Equally important, their knowledge of weaving, embroidering, woodcarving and smelting was the highest in equatorial Africa” (Kennedy, 2013:101). Lapsley and Sheppard purchased nine acres and they dwelled in from the Kete chief of the village with the equivalent of $1.60 in trade goods, to seal the bargain, a stick was broken, and the chief threw one end over his shoulder while the evangelists did the same with the other half (Grant, 2001:29). The Kete helped the Bakongo boys bound over to the missionaries by the state to move the houses to a glade a short distance away as to prove their friendship (Beitelman, 2002:25). Both parties entered into an agreement after which fences were established, sheds were built, and the adjoining streets were named Boulevard de Paris and Pennsylvania Avenue (Shaloff, 1970:19). Thus, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission (A.P.C.M) was established in the year 1891 in the Kasai region of the Congo by the Reverends Lapsley and Sheppard (Turner, 2006:30). Sheppard and Lapsley learned that they had settled among the Kete, but could not yet distinguish the various peoples of the Kasai region, based on their limited knowledge and first impressions, they concluded that the Kete were the people most likely to be converted (Beitelman, 2002:27). Hence, Lapsley and Sheppard learned Tshikete (the language of the Kete tribe), with the knowledge of the language, and by furnishing them with hippopotamus beefsteaks from their hunting they tried to win the Kete’s favour (Shaloff, 1970:27). Kennedy (2013:75) postulates that missionaries in the villager from the Kete tribe were resistant to the gospel of Jesus, and although this extremely irritated Lapsley, Sheppard who delighted in the Kete’s earthy culture was indifferent. 2.3.2.3 The denial of the gospel by indigenous groups The Presbyterian missionaries had chosen to settle in the Kete tribe's region upon their arrival (Kennedy, 2013:62). The Kete showed little interest in the gospel due to a misunderstanding over the place of the new religion, which they regarded as form slavery within their culture. Later, the missionaries met in the area with other tribes such as the Zappo-Zap, Kuba and others. The Zappo-Zap tribe was notorious for their cannibalism. This group of the Zappo Zap seems to be a Songye subgroup that had been chased away from their original domicile near the source of the Eki River around late 1884 or early 1885 by their fellow slave-traders, the Bena Kalebwe and the Basanga (Wharton 22 (1952:30). Following their exile, they were experienced a period of famine, which ravaged the Kasai in 1886 and 1887 (Stanley, 1997:123). In fact, the conditions deteriorated so much that the Zappo Zap were barely able to survive on the reverses of nature by trading the slaves in their refuge along the left bank of the Lubilash. Sheppard (1917:32) writes that in April 1887, Zappo Zap appealed to Mukenge Kalamba, Chief of the Bena Katau kindred, and Paul le Marinel of the Free State to permit him to resettle his people in the vicinities of Luluabourg, the administrative centre that had been recently established in Kalamba’s territory some seventy miles from Luebo. Kennedy (2013:69) notes that despite being about only 3000 in number, the Zappo Zap were able to supplant the Bena Katau when Kalamba and the Free State violently parted ways. In fact, the Zappo Zap never indicated an interest in Christianity, they were a cruel, cannibalistic and skilful people, and they exasperated the missionaries (Turner, 2006:37). Nonetheless, Lapsley considered the Zappo-Zap the finest people in the district due to their commercial ability, whereas Sheppard despised them. Eventually, Lapsley chose the Kuba regardless of the warnings of the local Belgian settlers, Mr. Engeringh and Mr. Stache (Kennedy, 2013:71). Unfortunately for Lapsley, the Kuba rejected Christianity as they felt they possessed a satisfactory religion of their own that explained the natural phenomenon of birth, death, and life perfectly (Brackman, 1961:34). Despite the negative attitude toward missionaries, Kennedy (2013:77) reveals that Rev. Sheppard interacted simply with those tribes, enjoying their enormous sense of humour and wisdom. He praised the Kete for their social organisation and sophisticated local judicial systems, which included judges, jurors, lawyers, and town officers (Wharton, 1952:30). When the time came to purchase a plot of land for the mission's expansion, Sheppard could accept that they would do so in the traditional manner. From the above, one must remember that despite the negative attitude against missionaries, Kennedy (2013:77) reveals that Rev. Sheppard interacted simply with those tribes enjoying their immense sense of humour and wisdom. He applauded the Kete for their social organisation, and their sophisticated local judicial systems which boasted of judges, jurors, lawyers, and officers of the town (Wharton, 1952:30). When it was time to buy a plot of land for the expansion of the mission, Sheppard could accept even that they would do it in the traditional way. According to Shaloff (1970:33), the seller could break off a piece of straw, spat on the end, and throw it over his shoulder. Due to the strong 23 opposition of the Kete and other people in the area, the missionaries took a cautious approach so as not to obstruct the spread of the gospel, despite the fact that those tribes could remain apathetic. 2.3.2.4 The survival of the mission in Luebo During the early phase of the mission, Sheppard demonstrated remarkable physical endurance, practical skills, and ability to converse with the people who enabled him to surmount many obstacles (Grant, 2001:41). Similarly, Lapsley’s business insight and finesse in dealing with representatives of the State regarding issues such as the redemption of slaves and their conversion to Christianity was significantly instrumental to the survival of the mission. Despite repeated sieges of debilitating sickness and the absence of any tangible signs of success, the enthusiastic duo was eager to succeed and remained confident in their mission (Falk, 1985:32). Thompson (2007:37) points out that the duo experienced setbacks while building the church, because labour was hard to come by and there were no contracting firms to hire people as would have been the case in the United States. Even relatively simple matter such as engaging workers to clear the mission site required Lapsley to travel to Luluabourg, taking him more than a month to return with approximately seventeen men and four women. During one of his trips, he met both the district commissioner and a son of Zappo Zap, and purchased two boys and a girl for eighteen yards of blue cloth and two yards of brass wire according to the state law from the latter (Shallof, 1970:73). Wharton (1952:30) likens this transaction to a similar deal in which he gained custody of a little girl for a dozen red bandanas based on a state law which allowed missionaries to become guardians of slave children for seven years. He further notes that Lapsley rarely got involved in such arrangements since he was a bachelor and was careful of scandal. 2.3.2.5 The dark days of the American Presbyterian mission in Kasaï Unfortunately, after successfully persuading the state officials to approve the Presbyterian application for a mission land, Lapsley succumbed to hematuric bilious fever on his way back to Luebo from Boma on the 26th of March1892 (Shallof, 1970:74). Lapsley’s death dealt a grievous blow to the mission as his abilities and resilient character had positively projected the American Presbyterian Congo Mission to the state and other missions (Thompson, 2007:38). After his demise, there were deliberations in Nashville 24 whether to continue the African mission or not especially considering the fact that in spite of Lapsley’s presence, there had been minimal conversions to Christianity. In the end, however the American Presbyterian Congo Mission reinforced its dedication to its missionary task (Cureau, 1982:32). Therefore, Sheppard was compelled, at least temporarily, to assume the leadership of the evangelical mission, and he undertook the role with a dogged determination to ensure the conversion of Kuba. Phipps (2002:25) points out that unlike Lapsley who was perturbed about the natives' resistance to conversion, Sheppard’s approach to the mission was more relaxed, as he regarded himself more as an explorer than a missionary. For instance, while Lapsley was on a trip to visit fellow missionary–explorer George Grenfell, Sheppard learnt the local language and hunting techniques and helped to avert a famine by slaying thirty-six hippos (Cureau, 1982:32). Although he contracted malaria 22 times in his first 2 years in Africa, Sheppard was not dissuaded from the mission (Kennedy, 2013:42). Equipped with his knowledge of the Kuba language and culture, Sheppard took a team of nine African volunteers’ from Luebo to the edge of Kuba territory in 1892 (Shallof, 1970:77). His original plan was to ask for the directions to the next village under the guise of wanting to purchase supplies, but the chief of the village only allowed one of his men to go (Phipps, 2002:25). As Falk (1985:388) indicates, Sheppard began his pilgrimage the day after he learned of Lapsey’s death by surreptitiously following a party of itinerant Kuba traders as far as the village of Bena Mafe. Since the local rulers resisted the spread of missionary activities to evangelise for fear that the people would abandon their culture and became rebellious, Sheppard had to devise a variety of strategies to penetrate the Kuba kingdom. He made his way further into the kingdom, accompanied by a scout and following groups of traders. Sheppard became famous for eating so much egg that the town’s people could no longer meet his demands; his scout had to gain access to the next village to get more eggs (Shaloff, 1970:73). Although Sheppard encountered hostility from some villagers and received no obvious assistance from the local citizenry, nevertheless he edged deeper into the kingdom (Grant, 2001:55). According to Kennedy (2013:89), Sheppard and his men were soon arrested by the king's son, Prince N'toinzide, for trespassing King Kota Mweeky, but instead of executing Sheppard as expected, he told the village that Sheppard was his deceased son. Nzongola (2002:25) confirms that King Mweeky confirms that King Mweeky accepted Sheppard in his kingdom, thereby sparing the lives of Sheppard and his men. However, that was a 25 political move on the part of the king who was on the verge of being overthrown; he encouraged interest in the strangers to direct attention away from himself (Bietelman, 2002:44). Before his departure from the village, Sheppard collected artifacts from the people and secured permission for a Presbyterian mission (Kennedy, 2013:78). The king allowed him to leave on the condition that he returns in one year; however, he was unable to do so for several years, by then the king had been overthrown by Mishaape, the leader of a rival clan (Shaloff, 1970:73). Additionally, after tragic death of Reverend Lapsley, Sheppard became closer to Dr. William Morrison and together they began to report the heinous crimes at the Kasai Rubber Company such as the gruesome amputation of the right hands of rubber workers who did not collect the required amount. Sheppard also wrote and sent reports about the occurrences in the Congo to the main church in the United States, this escalated into an international outcry against the atrocities committed by King Leopold in the country (Shaloff, 1970:73). Later, with the assistance of Roger Casement, they formed the Congo Reform Association (CRA), one of the world's first humanitarian organisations (Nzongola, 2002:24). According to Fullberg-Stolberg (1999:215), Sheppard was thinking about going home to get married and after his return from Mushenge (Kuba area), he set sail for the United States in July 1893. Given his outstanding work as missionary, he was pleased by the numerous honours he received, particularly his election as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in England. The early years of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission were harsh and fruitless. Phipps (2002:25) asserts that with the departure of both Lapsley and Sheppard from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission almost lost its identity. The conditions became so deplorable that the Catholics even took pity on Adamson, one of the missionaries who took in charge the current affairs who experienced considerable difficulty in trying to manage the mission’s affairs, without money and provisions. Some catholic missionaries’ aided him and provided him with the provisions he needed for his sustenance. Perhaps, the most difficult aspect of the mission for the foreign missionaries had to bear the prolonged periods of isolation from family and friends without any contact with home for the long months between the arrivals of steamers (Bietelman, 2002:41). 26 2.3.2.6 The acceptance of the American Presbyterian mission in Kasaï The acceptance of the American Presbyterian mission in Kasaï space denotes different realities. The tribes in the Kasai that were united by dominant chiefs were less likely to entertain the gospel than those who were divided (Vansina, 2010:18). For instance, the Zappo Zap and Kuba proved to be far less receptive of Christianity than the Luba and Lulua, who were not subject to a single ruler. Although some chiefs tried, none ever succeeded in unifying the Lulua, who were dissident Luba immigrants from the southeast, and the Katanga who intermarried with the autochthonous population in the Lulua basin, fragmented into numerous tribal groups and were known by different names (Kennedy, 2013:34). Cureau (1982:67) confirms that the Lulua received the gospel through the influx of the Luba migrants; this ironically led to the success of the America Presbyterian Congo Mission. This is because after several years of missionary dormancy, the America Presbyterian Congo Mission was overwhelmed by numbers of Lulua converts, which was much more than the few overworked missionaries had anticipated. The converts embraced the new religion for different reasons such as the education provided by the missionaries, employments, and protection from dark powers. In fact, the evangelists had to devise ways of regulating its increasing membership while still leaving room for the Kuba to enter the fold if they so desired. The evangelist’s encountered errors and failures in their procedures of taking in converts, however the mission thrived. 2.4 The conflicts of the indigenous and misuse of the colonial power In January 1900, the New York Times published a report about the burning of fourteen villages and the massacre of over ninety people killed in the Bena Kamba country by Zappo Zap warriors who were sent by the Congo Free State administration to forcefully collect taxes from the people off the Kuba kingdom (Vansina, 2010:18). The report was based on letters sent by the Southern Presbyterian missionaries stationed at Luebo, Rev. L.C. Vass and Rev. H.P. Hawkins, and led to an investigation by Sheppard who visited the Zappo Zap’s camp (Vansina, 2010:20). On his arrival at the camp, Sheppard was mistaken for a government official and was openly shown the bodies of many of the victims. As matter of fact, Sheppard recorded evidence of cannibalism and counted eighty-one right hands that had been amputated and were being dried as evidence to the State officers of the Zappo Zaps achievement. Nzongola (2002:38) also claims that Sheppard found sixty women confined in a pen and used as sex slaves. The massacre 27 caused an international outcry against the commander of Luluabourg, DuFour, and the Congo Free State such that when Mark Twain published his King Leopold's Soliloquy five years later, he referenced Sheppard’s account of the massacre. In January 1908, Sheppard published a report on colonial abuses in the American Presbyterian Congo Mission (APCM) newsletter, and both he and Morrison were sued for libel against the Kasai Rubber Company (Companies de Kasai), a prominent Belgian rubber contractor in the area (Shaloff, 1970:47). When the case went to court in September 1909, the two missionaries had the support of the CRA (Congo Reform Association), American Progressives, and their lawyer, Emile Vandervelde, a prominent Belgian socialist (Shaloff, 1970:47). Although Sheppard was acquitted (Morrison had been acquitted earlier on the premise that his editorial had not named the major company, but smaller charter companies instead) (Cooley, 2001:55), there were speculations that the case was decided in his favour because of international politics, and the U.S.A’s support of the missionaries (Hochschild, 1998:43). As previously mentioned, Sheppard unflinchingly questioned the validity of King Leopold II's rule over the Congo and his reports often portrayed actions by the State that broke laws set by the European nations (Hochschild, 1998:43). His actions were applaudable. This is because as Cooley (2001:55) notes, many of the cases of cruelty and violence that Sheppard documented were in direct violation of the Berlin Act of 1885 which gave Leopold II control over the Congo on the pretext that he improved their living conditions, their moral and material well-being, and helped in suppressing slavery. In this regard, the Presbyterian missionary transcended the goal of proselyting the faith to become a social crusader and an extraordinary humanitarian. So, since the arrival of the first Presbyterian missionaries in the DRC in 1891, Congolese and American Presbyterians have established numerous churches, schools, health centres and community projects in the country. By 1955 and 1961 respectively, the Presbyterian Churches in Kinshasa and Kasai became autonomous. Currently, Thompson (2007:47) confirms that the PC (USA) is in partnership with Community Presbyterian of Congo (CPC, which is centred in the cities of Kananga, Mbuji-Mayi, and in Lubumbashi) and Community Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (PCK) in the west of Congo. The Presbyterian Church of the Congo has about 2.5 million members and the Presbyterian Church of Kinshasa (Presbyterian Community of Kinshsa) has about 80,000 members. Both General Assemblies are members of the Church of Christ in the Congo which comprises 62 Protestant denominations (Falk, 1985:343). 28 2.5 The American Presbyterian view of Bantu culture In 1960, Congo gained independence from Belgium. Sheppard and Lapsley's missionary activities in Africa flourished partially because of the atrocities of the man who Sheppard would later expose (Vansina, 2010:18). Like every human enterprise, the work of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission was not flawless, thus, it should not be viewed through pietistic glasses. However, what is remarkable is the success that the mission enjoyed. During its early years, the mission developed its infrastructure and policies, and evangelism. Although a high priority, the medical and business side of the work struggled to keep pace with the Mission’s expanding evangelistic and humanitarian programs, specifically because Morrison and other Mission personnel were often preoccupied with the human rights controversy with the Leopold’s government (Fullberg-Stolberg, 1999:215). Similarly, a sizeable part of the mission’s activity was primarily directed at the Luba people who were literally the soul of the Mission. According to the Presbyterian missionaries, the Luba and the other Congolese people of Kasai region needed the benefits of civilisation (Slade, 1962:157). The Presbyterians were people with Victorian ideals who believed in human progress. To these American-Victorians, the native Bantu culture was a lower order of civilisation that was still under the domain of Satan, while the American society was on the higher order of civilisation and a model of Christian culture (Hochschild, 1998:43). Because the missionaries viewed the Bantu religion as mere superstitious practices, and not as an intelligent worldview linked with a distinct culture and life. Thus, part of the missionaries’ task was to elevate the Luba from position at the lowest rung of the civilisation ladder to a much higher level of enlightenment (Falk, 1985:348). In this regard, some historians have blamed the missionaries for destroying the fabric of the Bantu culture by imposing their idea of Christian culture on the Luba (Falk, 1985:348). Contrarily, Phipps (2002:25) argues that such an accusation is an oversimplification of the issue. He further contends that the destruction of Bantu culture began with the establishment of European power over the Congo, the arrival of commercial companies with their lust for rubber and ivory, the slave trade and slave labour, liquor, guns, rail and water travel, and western products (Phipps, 2002:25). Hence, although the missionaries played a role in the erosion of the people’s cultural identity, even without the missionaries, the Bantu culture seemed to be already doomed. 29 2.6 Expansion of APCM within the DRC 2.6.1 Kasai Occidental Province The Executive Committee of the Presbyterian Church in the South of the United States of America was pleased to accept the candidacies of two servants of God who had shown willingness to work as missionaries in Africa and specifically in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Henry, 1998:29). So, on February 26, 1890, the two missionaries, Samuel Norvell Lapsley and William Henry Sheppard, embarked on their journey to establish the South Presbyterian Mission in the “Etat Independent du Congo” (E.I.C.). Falk (1985:348) states that when they arrived in the Congo, they met George Grenfell in Bolobo (in the province of Bandundu), who advised them to settle either Kwango or Kasai. However, after several obstacles from the Aboriginal people, they decided to abandon the chain of stations they had set up to travel into the hinterlands following the Lulua River to Luebo. On the 18th of April 1891, the first station of the America Presbyterian Congo Mission (A.P.C.M.) was commissioned in the city of Luebo, which is a plateau-filled area of about 500 meters from the river in the middle of the jungle that was built on the slave caravan line, and became an exceptionally large community (Henry, 1998:31). Soon, Baluba circles came to settle around the mission, many of them became faithful Christians as the society had established several missionary posts in the region between Luebo and Bulape, to the west and north, and to Kananga and Kakinda, in the south and southeast (Henry, 1998:32). Due to its strategic position between the left bank of the Lulua and the village of Bena Kasenge (Bakete) in front of the state office, Luebo was a fortified post for the Independent State of Congo (E.I.C.). As Wakuteka (1983:28) remarks, the presence of the America Presbyterian Congo missionary in the city of Luebo transformed it into a well-organised epicentre of a vibrant amalgamation of various cultural, medical, and economic activities. The Portuguese engaged in ivory and rubber trade so the Lulua River enabled the transportation of goods to Kinshasa and the missionaries could easily take the boat to Europe at the Atlantic coast (Batubenga, 2011:20). Since the language of the slaves and many of the neighbouring tribes was Tshiluba, missionary work was fully transmitted in that language. Four main tribes lived side by side in Luebo namely the Baluba, Lulua, Bakuba and the Bena Nsapo. The Bena Kasenga (Bakete) was subjugated by the King of Bakuba, so even though they were not hostile to the missionaries, they resisted conversion because they perceived the 30 new religion as another form enslavement (Henry, 1998:43). This explains why Samuel Norvell Lapsley went all the way to Luluabourg in November 1891 to buy the men who would build the Luebo station. He had to move with the times by buying slaves as Christians, and he bought 70 men, four women, and a baby from Chief Nsapo-Nsapo. It was during that trip that Lapsley fell ill and had to go to Leopold capital city of the Independent State of Congo (EIC) for medical consultation. He also seized the opportunity to meet the Governor General of the state after which he caught the hematuric bilious fever and died on March 26, 1892, at the age of 26 years (Jean, 1997:54; N’kashama, 1998:21). A month after his death a decree from the Governor General gave the APCM official recognition and the civil personality was signed on the 28th of April 1892. The Bena Lulua and Baluba that Samuel Norvell Lapsley brought to Luebo settled around the station. Their relatives who stayed in the villages of origin followed them too. Altogether there were about ten thousand people in Luebo and Ibanji who came for several reasons. For example, some came to find a place of relative peace and to seek for protection from the missionaries; other because of a loss of family identity and displacement as was the case with the slaves, while some were driven by desire to get employment or to learn a new technique from the missionaries. Yet, others came to Luebo out of the sheer curiosity of wanting to know the religion of the Whites (Jean, 1997:60). Interestingly, Kadisha (2016:69) reveals that the Presbyterian missionaries living in the Democratic Republic of Congo during this missionary period did not go to the non- believers to evangelise them, instead the people offered themselves to evangelisation. The society excelled remarkably and created missionary posts across the region, likewise, the rubber company undertook a vast school program. For example, in 1947, a normal school and a medical school were established in Bibanga and in 1950 a Bible school and a school of instructors called the Morrison Institute was opened at Mutoto, the following year it was transferred to Kakinda (Falk, 1985:348). Furthermore, in 1954 the Lubondai Medical School was inaugurated and in 1963, the United School of Theology was opened in Ndesha. By 1951 the company inaugurated an air health service to help the people living in the remote bush areas (Falk, 1985:348). Urgent cases were transferred to Bulape in 1958, a synod divided into nine presbyteries was organised, and in early 1960, the society granted autonomy to churches with more than 100,000 members. The churches experienced both turbulent times and seasons of blessing, but they continued to grow significantly. In 1975, in conjunction with the Mennonite 31 community, the Presbyterian community founded the Kasai Christian Medical Institute in Tshikaji, near Kananga that offers a four-year nursing education program, trains laboratory technicians and grants four medical students the opportunity each year to do their practical work (Batubenga, 2011:40). They also provide services in 35 centres through a mobile clinic. In 1980, the Church started a public health centre in Mbuji-Mayi known as the "Mbuji-Mayi Presbyterian Hospital Center" (Batubenga, 2011:40). In a similar vein, the printing press in Luebo ceased to function in 1970 and for a decade the publication of literature in Tshiluba was practically impossible (Williamson, 1997:27) but in 1982, the Presbyterian Church in the Congo made efforts to open a printing shop in Kananga for the publication of literary works to strengthen the propagation of the gospel. Relatively, due to the expansive growth of the population in Kinshasa, in 1955 the Baptist societies working in the city agreed that the Presbyterians could establish a ministry in Kinshasa. This became the Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (Falk, 1985:349). In this way, the humble endeavours of American Presbyterian Congo since the 19th century in the Kasai region transformed the region into one the most concentrated centres of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo (Kadisha, 2016:69). 2.6.2 The work in Kasai Oriental Anxious to evangelise the peripheral areas of these tribe communities, in 1910 Morrison launched a project of evangelisation of Kasai deep beyond the periphery of the river Lubilanji, and in 1915, the Congolese State granted a portion of land including Lukona to Bena Kapuya near Katanda (Rapport de l’Assemblée Générale, 1998:30). The portion of land ceded to the APCM belonged to two different ethnic groups: Bena Nshiba and Bena Kapuya, the Bena Kapuya accused the Bena Nshiba chief of giving he land to the missionaries. On his part, Chief Kazadi of Bena Nshiba community solicited the missionary George McKee to trade his land. But due to the disputes over the ownership of the land, the missionaries decided to return to Luebo, nevertheless one of the catechists proposed that they go to the Bakua Kanda instead. So, the missionaries settled in the Bakua Kanda and by 1917 they created the Bibanga station (Rapport de l’Assemblée Générale, 1998:28). In 1946, the first church was opened in Bakwanga (Dibindi Parish). This parish was the first in the city of Mbuji Mayi and after it; several others such as Tshikisha, Diulu, Bipemba 32 parishes were established. In 1965, during the integration of the APCM and the Presbyterian Church in Congo, Kasaï Oriental had a single presbytery of Mbuji Mayi which extends from Mbuji Mayi to Kabeya Kamuanga in the East, to Muena Ditu in the West, Bibanga in the North and Ngandajika in the South (Rapport de Synode de Mbujimayi, 1989:15). In 1967, the Church of Kasaï Oriental experienced internal schism created by the quest for autonomy. Consequently, the staffs led by Ilunga Tshianyi detached from siege (Kananga) and creates the Presbyterian Church of Kasai Oriental (Eglise Presbytèrienne du Kasai Oriental), however, Ngandajika and Tshilengi were affected the most by this division. These churches from this schism exist to this day (Rapport de l’ Assemblée Générale, 1998:30). 2.6.3 The mission’s work in Katanga Province In the beginning, the mission was centred in the city of Lubumbashi where people of Kasais met, but with the expansion of this community some parishes were established in Kolwezi and Kamina. Given the expanse of the province, if the church was well- established, it would spread; on the contrary there are still places where the mission does not exist. These include the nearest corners such as Kolwezi, Mutshatsha, Kambove, Kasenga, Kipushi, Mituaba, Pueto, and Sakania (Rapport du synode Katanga, 1995:10). Noteworthy is the fact that the church in Katanga was not the product of missionary work as is the case in Kasai. Rather in this province, this ecclesiastical ministry is the brainchild of courageous men and women who came for their personal businesses and other occupations and deemed it necessary to have their own Protestant community where they could gather and specifically pray in their mother tongue, which was Luba (Rapport du Synode du Katanga, 1990:12). In addition, the Presbyterian Church in Congo in the Katanga Province is traceable to the year 1954 in relation to migrant groups (for example the Kavuala, Tshibangu, and the Tshisenge) from Kasai. These people settled in the province of Katanga for several reasons. Around the 1970s, the Church created different parishes in Kolwezi, Kamina, Kipushi, Sakanya and Kasumbalesa (Rapport de Synode du Katanga, 1990:12). 2.6.4 Kinshasa It became essential to have an autonomous church in Kinshasa, the capital of the country especially because there were no autonomous churches yet in Congo and Kinshasa, 33 Leopoldville was the mission’s field of two Baptist missionary societies, so an invitation from these missions was required. With the creation of new quarters in Leopoldville and the extension of the city towards the east, the two missions called on the American Presbyterian Mission, which, in 1954, accepted to establish the Presbyterian Mission of Leopoldville (PML). However, Falk (1985:350) states that the work only began officially in 1955. Christians from other denominations living in the capital were encouraged to join in the Presbyterian mission if they wished. In January 1960, the PML decided to establish an autonomous church of Christ in Congo-the Presbyterian section of Leopoldville. The church was officially registered in May 1959 just before the independence of the country and of all the churches in the DRC, the Presbyterian Church of the Kinshsa was the first to be recognised before independence. The Presbyterian Church of the Kinshsa uses the symbol of the apostles as the confession of its faith. It recognises two sacraments: baptism and Holy Communion. Dulles (2002:43) observes that the Presbyterian Church of the Kinshasa maintains strong fraternal relations with the Presbyterian Church of the Congo, especially in the area of leadership training. The two churches jointly own the Sheppard and Lapsley Presbyterian University of Congo, which is situated in Kananga in Central Kasai (Falk, 1985:349). The two are founding members of the Church of Christ in Congo (Henry, 1998:45). When the latter was created in 1970, the name of the denomination became Church of Christ in Congo, the Presbyterian Community (Church) of Kinshasa. The Presbyterian Church (Church) in Kinshasa encompasses four provinces: Kinshasa, Bandundu, Lower Congo, and Equator. It has also started a mission among the Pygmies, which covers about 200 villages. As Jean (1997:63) affirms, both communities are members of the World Council of Churches, the Conference of Churches throughout Africa, and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. 2.7 Hierarchy of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo 2.7.1 Structure of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission from 1891 to 1897 It is crucial to note that in the first years of the Presbyterian Missionaries of the Congo, there was a small structure of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission mobilising native people and developing relationships to ensure that the local churches were administered with a potential drive that can have positive, far-reaching and more sustainable 34 implications within the broader community. Although the missionaries were the only ones who led the work of God during the first years in Kasai (American Presbyterian Congo Mission), the Presbyterian missionaries were simultaneously giving leadership training to the indigenous people who demonstrated the desire to serve God. This explains why they were able to ordain evangelists, elders, deacons, catechists and pastors several years later in the American Presbyterian Congo Mission (Kadisha, 2016:67). The administrative structure was temporary composed as shown in Figure 4.1.1: it consisted of a representative of the American Presbyterian of Congo Mission, followed by representatives of the mission stations. These earliest leaders who were all Presbyterian missionaries from the United States of America led efficiently in the Congo Independent State (DRC) because during their administration there were neither divisions nor conflicts, and no obsession with personal interests. Their primary mission was to preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus to the natives (Wakuteka, 1983:33). Figure 3: A.P.C.M. structure at early mission foundation The Presbyterian Church of the Congo was created from the expansion of the missionary work of the A.P.C.M., that is, the implantation of churches or missionary stations, social works, and activities as illustrated in Figure 3. 2.7.2 Structure of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission from 1897 to 1960 According to EPZa (1975:40), David Katshimuka develops a useful way of the implantation of the churches by A.P.C.M. on the Kasai region and its environs. Luebo was the foremost station of the American Presbyterian Church Mission that was founded in 1891. After the Luebo station, several others were established. The list below represents the remaining established mission stations: 35  Ibanche station founded in 1897;  Mutoto station founded in 1912;  Lusambo station followed in 1913;  Bulape station founded in 1915;  Bibanga station founded in 1917;  Lubondai resort founded in 1925;  Kasha Substation founded in 1935;  Mboi Substation founded in 1937;  Moma Station founded in 1942;  Luluabourg station founded in 1946; and  Kakinda station founded in 1948. Contextually, these missionary stations constitute the establishing of churches (Parishes) that make up the entire Christian population, buildings, and various missionary works. Each mission station was led by the missionary (who was the representative of the missionary station or of the substation). It is vital to note that the missionary station representative was solely responsible for the effective execution of the work of God. Rather, there were Congolese faithful around who played the roles of elders, deacons, catechists, evangelists and pastors. These native Congolese were orientated in the work of God by the American Presbyterian missionaries (EPZa, 1981:17). 36 Figure 4: The structure of the A.P.C.M. during its expansion from 1897 to 1960 It is important to note that this structure was initially provisional, as the work of God at that time was still limited on the ground to Kasai Province and the Congolese faithful were not yet adequately trained to administrate the Church by themselves (Wakuteka, 1983:33). 2.7.3 Structure of the Presbyterian Church from 1960 to 2003 This following structure represents the manner in which the Presbyterian Church of the Congo has been directed from its autonomy in 1960 until 2003: Figure 5: The 2003 structure of Presbyterian Church of Congo from 1960. 37 2.7.4 Structure of the Parish in Presbyterian Church of Congo Figure 6: Structure of the Parish in the Presbyterian Church of Congo. According to the Dilongolola (1994:32), the structure of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo constitutionally recognises the following officers: the general secretary, the assistant general secretary, the legal representatives with their deputies, and the general treasurer with his deputy as is shown in Figure 5. The structural diagram of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo from 1960 to 2003 depicted in Figure 5 above describes the relationship between the different entities. These relationships are as follows: 1. The general secretary The general secretary is the officer of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo who is elected by the General Assembly under a renewable five-year term. The general secretary executes the decisions taken by the General Assembly and acts as the liaison between the Presbyterian Church of the Congo and the other partner churches. This officer controls all the partnerships of the church and the mother church and is often the permanent delegate in all meetings of the Executive Committee and of the General Assembly. In the case of an impeachment, the deputy assumes the position temporarily (Dilongolola, 1993:17). Interestingly, the Presbyterian Church in Congo has always experienced conflicts whenever the second term of office of the general secretary elapses. This is because they always seek to amend the article of the statutes of the Church which clearly state that duration of the term of office is five years and is only renewable once. This selfish attempts at altering the constitution of the Church deviates from the tradition of the mother church, the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America. This unscrupulous alteration of the constitution is done collaboratively between 38 the Secretary General and the various provincial representatives of the Presbyterian Church in Congo, because they are responsible for the administration of the Church at the national level. Moreover, they are tasked with the advance preparation of the various points to be dealt with during the General Assembly of the Church of Pre-Church in the Congo. 2. The general treasurer The general treasurer oversees the financial management of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo (Dilongolola, 1990:22). This officer is specifically responsible for the following:  Encouraging the boards to pay on time and devise all the right techniques to reload the church's coffers at the right time;  Drafting the budget to be submitted to the General Assembly and submitting it to its appreciation and vote;  Collecting, retaining, and allocating revenues according to established budgetary rebalances; and  Building, protecting and improving all houses owned by the church, and all the other properties such as vehicles, construction equipment, and the payment of salaries. The general treasurer also handles all the cash documents detailing the source of payments, readjusts the church’s budget lines appropriately and prepares its accounting book suitably. Most importantly, one records the accounts with receipts detailing the entrances and withdrawals, completes expenses according to the requirements of the established budget lines, and justifies all expenditures. The general treasurer also encourages the councils to make their payments, and pre-empt the misuse or disappearance of funds from the different accounts. Apart from the general treasurer of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo, each Synod has its own treasurer, so does the Presbytery and each parish of the Presbyterian Church. 3. The legal representative The legal representatives advocate and assist the Presbyterian Church of the Congo to support the social, educational and health policies of the Presbyterian Church of Congo in relation to legislation and legislative deliberations in the country. As an intermediary between the Congolese state and the Presbyterian Church in Congo, it intervenes in 39 cases of exploitation regarding church-owned houses, confiscated land in the local churches, and resolves legal differences between different provinces like Katanga, Kinshasa, Western Kasai and Eastern Kasai. The legal representatives and their assistants must be primarily pastors or elders within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo in the following manner: The legal representatives and the deputy representatives are distributed across the ecclesiastical provinces of the Presbyterian Church in Congo in following manner:  Legal representative of Western Kasaï, Katanga and Kinshasa, with his assistants in Western Kasai, Kinshasa, and Katanga.  Legal representative of Eastern Kasai with his assistants in Mbujimayi city and Kabinda district. All these officers frequently meet at the Executive Committee1 to review the progress of issues concerning the community. According to the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo, the meeting of the Executive Committee often convened by the secretary-general before the meeting of the General Assembly. It is at this meeting that the implementation of the decisions taken by the General Secretary is evaluated and the agenda for the next General Assembly meeting is proposed (EPZa, 1986:23). Likewise, the Presbyterian Church of Congo delegates the power to elect assemblies’ pastors (laity) to the legal representative. These assemblies called synods exist at all levels (Dilongolola, 1986:51). The Protestant denomination rejects episcopalism (government of the church by the bishops) and congregationalism (autonomy of the parishes without higher authority to this one). For instance, the system of episcopalism is not recognised in the Presbyterian Church of the Congo, one of the former legal representatives, Bakatushipa wa Katombe tried to introduce this system in the Presbyterian Church of the Congo and was excommunicated from the Presbyterian Church. This shows that the structure of Presbyterian Church of the Congo is strictly defined by the specifications of its official document (Kadisha, 2016:15). According to the guiding structure that the founding missionaries left to the Presbyterian Church in the Congo during the period of autonomy, the church is to be led by the following bodies:  The General Assembly is considered the supreme council of the Congolese 1 The Executive Committee is composed of conveners of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. 40 Presbyterian Community. The officers of the General Assembly are those who converge at the meetings mentioned above. The meeting occurs biannually in ordinary session and the delegates are selected from different parishes in the different synods. The number of delegates to the General Assembly is fixed at 120 members (EPZa, 1986:8-23).  The synod is a meeting that meets once a year at the General Assembly meeting. The delegates to the synod come from different Presbyteries which are within its geographical area. It is at the synod that delegates to the General Assembly are designated. The synod is headed by the moderator, the executive secretary, and the Treasurer.  The presbytery is a meeting that unifies the parishes situated within the same geographical area. The delegates of the presbytery come from the parishes and the pastors are ex officio members of this meeting. The presbytery meets twice a year (in February and August) and may be convened in ordinary session by the moderator. It is headed by the executive secretary and the treasurer who are elected for a 3-year term respectively.  The consistory is a meeting or committee of the parish which is composed of elected pastors and elders of the parish; they (the members) meet each month to evaluate the activities of the parish. It is often led by the pastor of the parish who is the Moderator.  There is also the parish assembly which convenes all the active members of the parish to deliberate on pertinent matters concerning the effective functioning of the parish. This assembly meets quarterly in ordinary session to approve the financial reports. It also assembles in extraordinary session to either elect the elders, or deacons, or to decide on any other issue proposed by the members or by the consistory (EPZa, 1986:8-23). In addition, there are different disciplinary commissions and committees that form part of the structure of the Presbyterian Church of Congo. These include commissions and committees will be discussed in the paragraphs that follow. 1. Minister's Commission and Department The Minister’s Commission and Department is a commission of the presbytery responsible for overseeing the ministry that each pastor performs and reports to the presbytery to motivate the performance of the ministries within the presbytery. It is also 41 responsible for directing the rectory to each pastor’s call in the parish or their assignment to a specialised ministry. Any pastoral call in a parish must be reviewed by the committee, to determine whether or not it meets the set criteria before submitting it to the presbytery for approval. It is only then that the concerned pastor would receive the letter of invitation. The Minister's Commission assists parishes with the selection process of ministers to preach the word of God by examining the gift of the pastor that is proposed to the church, or by proposing the names of other pastors that could be suitable for the position to the presbytery. After the selection and verification process, the invitation letter addressed to the pastor will be sent to the commission before its approval by the presbytery. In a nutshell, the Minister's Commission and department serves as the regulatory arm that stabilises equity and proper functioning of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo (Dilongolola, 1994:85). 2. Committee and Commission All church boards have the authority to select a commission or committee to handle specific matters as designated to it by the board that establishes it. The commission could consist two or more people who are tasked with the responsibility of fulfilling the purpose for which it was created. Usually, the commission does not exercise power independently instead it reports back to the board that mandated it and is empowered to make conclusive decisions. The committee would typically have at least three or more people. Unlike the commission, it exercises the full authority to judge and make conclusive decisions that must be reported to the board. However, the decisions must be justifiable and the report of the proceedings must comprehensively present all the processes that led up to the final decision. The Council has the sovereignty to receive their decisions if it finds them valid and equitable (EPZa, 1986:49-50). 3. Legal committee The General Assembly usually establishes a juridical commission of eight persons who are carefully selected from the different synods (at the beginning the mandate will be for one year, two, three and four). A member may serve for a renewable term of four years, but not more than eight years (or two tenures). The members elected to this committee are expected to possess an exceptional command of the application of Dilongolola (The constitution of the Church). They must not be the newcomers, but they must be men and women of outstanding character, who are industrious and principled. The commission 42 would never sit in sessions of the General Assembly; they meet for the year-end report before December to examine all the files submitted to it and give its report on its execution to the General Assembly. It must also assist the General Assembly when in need with its expertise by ensuring that all conflicts brought before it is addressed in accordance with the stipulations of the Dilongolola (Constitution) (Dilongolola, 1994:88). The organisation of the Presbyterian Church of Congo is analogous to that of the United States Presbyterian Church of American; however, slight differences exist between them due to the social and cultural differences between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States of America. The Presbyterian Church in the Congo is an ecclesiastical institution based on the principles of the Bible, and is led by the different leaders using the standards of its constitution. All active members and leaders of the Church are subject to the Dilongolola (Constitution), thus, if one of the leaders or a member of the Presbyterian Church contravenes the rules of internal order stipulated in the constitution, they are sanctioned for disrespecting the doctrine and organisation of the Church (Wakuteka, 1983:53). The constitution of the Presbyterian Church is basically similar to that of other churches elsewhere, and especially in Africa. The failures recorded in church are rarely attributable to constitutional errors. Rather it often lies with the officers or leaders who seek to manipulate clauses of the constitution for personal or selfish gain. Unfortunately, this lack of respect for the maintenance of the integrity of the constitution by some office holders is rife. Based on the foregoing, one can aptly assert that the strength of the Presbyterian Constitution is unquestionable; instead, the multitude of issues experienced in the Presbyterian Church of the Congo generally and at parish levels are the machinations of selfish leaders who thwart the guiding principles of the church for their personal gains. Over the years, these unscrupulous leaders who have led the Church on a downward path of conflicts, schisms, the devaluation of the Christian faith, loss of numerous members and the overall decline of the Presbyterian Church in Congo. Therefore, the onus lies on the General Assembly, which is the supreme organ of the Presbyterian Church to take disciplinary action towards offending leaders and positively redirect the affairs of the Church towards prosperity. 43 2.8 Ministries of the Presbyterian Church in Congo 2.8.1 Pastoral ministry Regarding the subject of ministry recognition and response to God's favourable call to pastoral ministry, this study agrees with Schreiter (2015:67) who states that ‘the servant of God is ordained by his presbytery after having completed theological studies and has passed the ordination competition or test organised by the Pastoral Works Commission of his presbytery”. Once ordained, the pastor has the responsibility of engaging in all the councils of the congregation. If he is called to lead a parish as previously discussed, his ordination process would begin with the consistory and as a member of the presbytery, he is then authorised to attend all sessions of his presbytery and the synod of which his presbytery is a part. However, he can only attend the General Assembly if he is delegated by his presbytery or if he is elected as a member of the Presbyterian Executive Committee. There have been concerted efforts to redefine the role of ministers in the Presbyterian Church of the Congo to achieve the great commission, while maintaining evangelical complementarity without being narrowed to traditional restrictive roles. Hence, an ordained pastor can also assume administrative tasks (educational or medical), as well as administrative tasks at any level where he is elected either as a moderator, Executive or General Secretary, Treasurer, President of a Permanent Commission, or Director of a Department while attending all his prerogatives as a minister and teacher of the gospel (Dilongolola, 1993:40). 2.8.2 The elders Among the Jews, the term was "a title or dignity given to the elders who formed a Council and filled them with the chief of the village, tribes or the whole people called: the elders of the people of Israel” (Kazadi, 1993:90). As Kazadi (1993:90) rightly puts it, “in the New Testament, the apostle, addressing Timothy and Titus, paints a picture of what an elder of the Church is supposed to be. It is therefore these texts 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5- 9 that served as a basis to establish the criteria to be met by those who must be elders in the Presbyterian Church in Congo”. In the respect, an Overseer or the Elder in line with the standards set out in 1Timothy 1:5-9, should be: 44  Blameless as God's steward;  Husband to only one wife with legitimate children;  Passionate about the word of God and able to teach it;  Neither arrogant, violent, nor devoted to wine. It is vital to note that the elders are elected by active parish members and this is done during the general election session under the guidance of the pastor in charge of the parish or the president of the pastoral works commission of the presbytery (in the case of a parish without a pastor). The tenure for the council of elders is often a 3–5-year rotational term. Once elected they receive the requisite training and join in the leadership or management of the parish as well as any other responsibility entrusted to them by the parish, the synod and the General Assembly (EPZa, 1986:13). 2.8.3 Deacons The word “deacon” is derived from the Greek word Diakonos which means a runner, messenger, or servant. Simply put, it refers to a servant or a messenger. In Matthew 20:26, it is defined in terms of stewardship and differentiated from the Greek word, Doulos, which translates as a slave (Matthew 20:27). Based on the Biblical connotations (see for example: Matthew 23:11, 2:5,9; Romans, 13;4; 15:8; 1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 6:4), Easton (1998:234) rightly asserts that “the word is to be understood as having nothing to do with the Greek word Doulos or a slave, Diakonos has the meaning of minister”. A deacon is a Christian with high moral, ethical and spiritual qualities (1 Timothy 3:8-10) exercising an auxiliary function in the local Church. The seven men chosen to help the widows and poor of the early Church were deacons, although this title is not given to them (Acts 6:1-6; cf. the words, "services" diakonia, and "serve" diakoneô, in Acts, 6:1-2) (Kazadi, 1993:90). Some French versions have the word "service", others have "distribution" included in the meaning of the word. The notion of distribution implied here refers to charitable services such as soup kitchens, donations of any kind to the needy, and the care of the poor. Engaging in acts of charity and public servitude does not deprive deacons of the privilege of speaking for Christ. After all, in the bible, Stephen and Philip also served as preachers and evangelists. By doing so, they were making a personal donation, rather than performing an official task. The Church of Philippi had a group of deacons and the 45 ecclesial duties were divided between the elders and the deacons who assisted them (Philip, 1:1). To conclude this section on ministry in the Presbyterian Church in the Congo, it should be noted that the institution of deacons can be found in the Acts of the Apostles, which dates back to the beginning of the Church (Sullivan and Sullivan, 2001: 65, 71). They were appointed for the first time to meet the few indispensable criteria listed by the Apostle Peter in the Acts of the Apostles (6:3). In addition, the apostle Paul adds to these criteria in his letter to Timothy by stating that deacons must be honest and trustworthy individuals who are sober; people who guard the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience while remaining blameless (1 Timothy 3:8-12). These same criteria were applied to deacons and elders elected to congregations in the early days of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo. They were subjected to the same test before being consecrated by the consistory for a three or five-year term. As a result, at the end of each quarter, the deacons should present a report to the pastor in charge of the parish through their council. This customary report ensured that the council of deacons was carrying out its duties as promised during their ordination. This process was significant because it first promoted transparency in the church's leadership and earned the trust of the constituents. It demonstrated that the pastor collaborates with a large network of church leaders such as elders, deacons, youth ministry, and other ministries involved in congregational leadership. Today, the criteria appear to be changing significantly, with deacons, elders, and even church leaders being elected on the basis of tribal affiliation, sometimes through a donation (in kind or money), and sometimes through the influence of political/administrative authorities. As will be discussed later, the biblical recommendations (Acts 6:3; 1 Timothy 3:8-12) do not appear to be the criteria for selecting deacons or even elders in the Presbyterian Church of Congo. 2.9 Summary The American Presbyterian Mission was established in the Democratic Republic of Congo following the arrival of its first two American missionaries to Africa, Reverends Samuel Norvell Lapsley and William Henry Sheppard at Luebo in west of Kasai in 1891. During its earliest days, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission was experienced a multitude 46 of difficulties which inhibited the initial success of the mission. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, for instance, the missionaries stayed far away from where the Congolese were densely populated with minimal infrastructure. Secondly, the local language and cultural barrier sparked a sense of distrust amongst the indigenous people who fiercely resisted the gospel. These factors made the conductive climate for effective evangelism practically impossible. The evangelisation from the common Christian in the church was too common and was taken as a matter of course to newly members and the culture of different tribes. Thirdly, the newly converted members of Presbyterian were slaves, and they were discouraged by the unfortunate experience that the mission was at earlier growth struggling to establish itself. Lastly, the mission was not equipped with the gospel and passion for evangelism through training for evangelism and discipleship. However, despite the lack of strong pastoral leadership, the absence of the zeal for evangelism among the early converts, the ministry of evangelism gained considerable grounds which would later lead to the sporadic propagation of Presbyterianism in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 47 CHAPTER 3: MISSION PREPARATION FOR LEADERSHIP TRANSITION 3.1 Introduction This chapter discusses the preparation for the independence of the Presbyterian mission in the Congo. It examines how the American Presbyterian missionaries organised and trained the indigenous Congolese converts to prepare them for the leadership of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo during the transitional period before independence. Obviously, the chapter's realistic method would be as follows: First and foremost, a historical overview of Belgian Congo's independence is needed, as it will aid in understanding the political background and the role of Belgian politics in the churches. Afterwards, it analyses the continuity of the Christian work in the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. Finally, the chapter presents a brief overview of significant political developments and crisis in the country during that time. 3.2 Political development and Preparation for the Independence of the Belgian Congo/DRC The Congo is described as the jewel in the crown of the Belgian Colonies. A vast country rich in immense natural resources, but its economic wealth does not benefit the Congolese (Broch-Due, 2005:23). Rather, it was fashioned to serve Belgium and the small white community in the Congo. It was also used to relegate the Congolese from the political consciousness developing elsewhere on the continent. The impact of colonialism on African societies such as the DRC cannot be overemphasised. Firstly, Césaire (1955:53) contends that the dehumanisation and humiliation experienced under slavery and colonisation have withered over time by the tokenistic advantages of liberal ideas, national self-consciousness and technological goods, such that imperialism seems increasingly less unpleasant. Nzongola-Ntalaja (2002:48) notes similarities between Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon’s ideals, as they both excoriate the shameful phenomenon of colonialism. This author observes that they refute the idea that colonialism brought about progress, advancement, improved healthcare and standards of living in Africa. Instead, Césaire (1955:42) argues that societies were drained of their essence, cultures were arrogantly destroyed, institutions were undermined, lands were confiscated, magnificent artistic creations were either destroyed or looted, and extraordinary possibilities wiped out. 48 Belgians controlled nearly all economic activities, and eventually monopolised industry, agriculture, mining and commerce, thereby impeding the development of rural agriculture and the commercial petty bourgeoisie (Cookey, 1968:61). Belgian’s use of the three-fold mechanisms of colonial subjugation namely bureaucracy, capital, and the church were unparalleled on the continent in its control and penetration of African society (Brausch, 1961:21). In 1944, General de Gaule envisaged a new common constitution for France and the colonies, which would give the later some level of internal autonomy. This was known as the policy of assimilation, and it was meant to allow Africans to become members of local legislatures starting from 1946 (Brausch, 1961:21). So, while the French and the British were taking steps to introduce Africans to management and prepare them for a take-over, the Belgians were putting strategies in place to further undermine the already agitated African population (Kodi, 1984:69). In fact, Belgium introduced class stratification in the Congo by creating a small group of Congolese called les évolués. Les évolués were regarded as modernised Congolese (those who had acquired European lifestyle), whereas others were considered uncivilised. These évolués were a false intermediary bourgeoisie. The strategy of assimilation was a strategy designed to perpetuate white domination. Belgium’s intention for creating the class of évolués was to have a group that would be instrumental in forging a vaguely defined Belgo-Congolese community, one that would be used to preserve and protect Belgian domination (Nzongola-Ntalaja, 2002:41). Callaghy (1986:12) points out that the Belgian government could no longer dissuade the country from the independence movement. The DRC’s impassioned struggle for independence propelled the prevalence of anti-colonial sensation within the region. For example, the speech offered by Charles de Gaulle about the independence of the French Congo in Brazzaville in late August 1958; the Brussels World’s Fair in the Fall of the same year, and the first Pan-African conference organised by Kwame Nkrumah in Accra, Ghana, in December 1958 (Stingers, 1982:306). These events were followed by bloody riots in Kinshasa (Leopoldville) on June 5, 1960, which accelerated both the Belgian panic and eventful attainment of independence. According to Cookey (1968:52), the political destabilisations led the Belgian government to announce the first measures that were to lead to decolonisation in January 1959. The measures were barely implemented when in December 1959, Belgium promised the Congo independence the following year. On the 30th of June 1960, independence was proclaimed. Subsequently, all French colonies 49 received their independence in 1960, while Britain chose to grant her colonies independence one by one over the span of a decade, beginning with Ghana in 1957. Given the abrupt political shift from colonialism to independence, the Congolese were unprepared to assume the control of the state (Bolamba, 1950:65). The DRC’s trajectory to independence differed from what was happening in other countries where colonisers prepared the indigenous people to take over the reins of government before independence (Stingers, 1982:306). For the Belgian authorities, it was not about giving the Congolese people absolute control over their country together with its resources, it was about giving independence (superficially) whilst still controlling the new state from Belgium (Bolamba, 1950:67). The publication of an influential article by a Belgian professor called Antoine van Bilsen in December 1955 was a significant event of the colonial period. In the report, a 30-year plan for Congo's eventual independence was outlined. In a manifesto published in Conscience Africaine in July 1956, leaders from among Congolese Catholic intellectuals supported van Bilsen's call for a longer transition to independence. Van Bilsen's idea was revolutionary at the time, since it contradicted the widely held belief among Belgian politicians and colonial officials that Belgian rule in the Congo would last for decades (Lemarchand, 1961:346; Nzongola-Ntalaja, 2002:81-82). The Conscience Africaine manifesto, which included a series of formal meetings from July 16 to August 23, 1956, advocated for immediate political, economic, and social liberation as well as national unity. This document had a profound impact on cultural groups' decisions and established a precedent for social conscientisation in the DRC. In the late 1950s, for example, the Alliance des BaKongo (English: Bakongo or Abako), a political party headed by Joseph Kasa-Vubu, emerged as a powerful opponent of Belgian colonial rule, creating its own manifesto and opposing van Bilsen's 30-year plan (Callaghy, 1986:43). These socio-political upheavals, as well as the international condemnation they engendered, resulted in the Belgian government's decision in January 1959 to grant Congo independence after more than five decades of colonial rule. 50 The Presbyterian Church, though in a different way, shares the Belgian strategy for preparing the Congo's independence. As will be seen later, when the missionaries left in 1960, they did not give the native leaders complete authority. Rather, when the General Assembly was formed in 1964, it granted autonomy to the church's leaders and institutions. Without fear of being contradicted, it is true that the missionaries were ill-prepared to leave the region, and as a result, the native successors were equally unprepared. Because they were unprepared, the consequences of the indigenous successor leaders' unpreparedness are very visible in the management of the Presbyterian Church in Congo. 3.2.1 Political crisis The first challenge to colonial rule, and agitations for the independence of the Congo were initiated long before the movements of independence started in other parts of on the continent. For example, as early as the 1920s, Paul Panda Farnana, a Congolese intellectual who was educated in Belgium where he was exposed to black consciousness from around the world and fought for Belgium during World War I agitated for Congo’s independence as a representative of the Congo at the 1921 Pan-African Congress in Brussels (Kodi, 1884:48). It was also in the 1920s that Simon Kimbangu created a messianic movement in the lower Congo known as Kimbanguism. The goals of Kimbanguism were two-fold namely the salvation of the soul and the liberation of Congo from Belgian colonialism. Kimbangu and his followers urged the Congolese to resist and overthrow colonial rule, however, he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment (Young, 1986:37). Similarly, in 1941 in the Kivu province, Jean Bushiri, the leader of a religious sect called the Kitawala was executed together with 73 of his followers for organising a revolt of farmworkers in the Manono. Bushiri’s brutal execution triggered and outcry such that by the end of 1941, workers of Union Manière in the Haut-Katanga (UMHK) together with their white colleagues decided to go on strike. The colonial government retaliated with even more brutality violently, killing 48 and wounding 80 others in Lubumbashi (Young, 1986:37). Césaire (1955:43) asserts that colonisation is synonymous to the de-civilisation of the colonised. He argues that although Europeans claim to have inspired progress and achievement, medical breakthrough and improved standards to Africa; the direct opposite 51 has been the case with the exception of those aspects of development that are specifically devised for the benefit of the metropolitan countries (Kodi, 1984:65). Frantz Fanon reiterates Césaire’s position when he argues; colonialists and imperialists had not paid their dues when they withdrew their flags and police forces from our territories (Fanon, 1968:101). He also argues that for centuries, the (foreign) capitalists have literally behaved worse than criminals in the underdeveloped world, the level of criminality that is aptly captured in Adam Hochschild‘s compelling narrative, King Leopold’s Ghost. Contrary to their deceptive notion of civilising Africans, Belgians actually detested the enlightened Congolese. For the Belgians, the French and British examples demonstrated that once educated, Africans would become dangerous revolutionaries (Broch-Due 2005:23). This explains why until the late 1950s, the Belgians remained convinced that their political dominance matched their intellectual superiority, so they disregarded the provision of quality education (Broch-Due, 2005:23). Even after independence, the education system continued to be modelled on the old Belgian education system, and this is one of the reasons why progressive transformation has not happened in the Congo (Nzongola-Ntalaja, 2002:39). However, the worst thing that could happen was for the Belgians to allow Congolese students to attend universities in Europe (Frankema & Buelens, 2013:155). It was the desire of Belgium to subjugate the Congolese and to maintain calm in the colony at a time when other African countries were going through political turmoil that led Minister Buisseret to postpone the Belgian government’s policy for the emancipation of the indigenous people in 1953 (Said, 1993:27). Based on the political maturity of the native Congolese, the Minister said: “We have temporarily postponed political reforms, as we believe that economic expansion and efforts to improve the social structure should come first. We believe that this policy is bound to create the fundamental conditions for peaceful coexistence in the framework of economic and social progress (Young, 2006:2). Young suggests that the Belgians strategy of keeping the citizens satiated by looking after their welfare, their housing, and their health seemed to work, even though the Belgian Congo was one of the worst administered states in sub-Saharan Africa. One of reasons for the Congolese political lethargy was the fact that the people have been submissive to Belgian people because of their mindset and attitudes of inferiority they had towards Belgian’s people (Said, 1993:23). More importantly, political thought requires a certain conceptualisation of political phenomenon and the ability to use abstract notions and to 52 reason from them. These were things for which the African education had in no way prepared the Congolese. Hence, running the affairs of the state was seemingly a European secret, as curing sicknesses was the doctor’s (Bolamba, 1950:64). To add to that, a Belgian journalist in July 1955 presented a paper to the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques de Paris entitled Une réussite coloniale: le Congo Belge in which he wrote that the Belgian Congo was the most prosperous and tranquil colony, one whose evolution was the most peaceful and stable (Wilden, 1955:22). In December of the same year, van Bilsen, a professor at the University of Louvain in Belgium, published his plan for the emancipation of Belgium colonies in 30 years (Ewans, 2003:167). The prevailing state of hopelessness is best expressed by one of the évolués in 1950 who stated: “We as subjects of the Belgians know and understand that it will require sixty or hundred years, or more, before we shall be ready to be left to ourselves” (Bolamba, 1950:64). In 1956, Lumumba resonated this idea when he wrote, “at such a time when the Congo has its own technicians in all fields; its doctors, agronomists, engineers, entrepreneurs, geologists, administrators, supervisor, skilled workers, social workers, nurses, and midwives, only then must we speak of independence and self- government for then we shall be intellectually, technically, and materially strong enough to rule ourselves should this be necessary (Bolamba, 1950:66). Following the afore- mention plan proposed by van Bilsen, Congo would have only gained its independence in 1985 instead of 1960. Luckily, the Manisfeste de Conscience Africaine was published in 1956 in reaction to van Bilsen’s plan (Kanza, 1979:17). For the first time, the Congolese raised questions of concerning their national emancipation and the political future of the country. In one of the passages, the group states: ‘We believe that the Congo is at the centre of the African continent, a great nation. But the Belgians should not see in the desire of emancipation of the Congolese people a sentiment of hostility. Then he said that the locals’ desire is expressed without hate or revenge. However, the Belgians should understand that from now on their domination of the Congo is not eternal (Bolamba, 1950:64). It is here that the ethnic consciousness should be a critical component of Congolese nationalism. Young 1986:39) contends that ethnicity is a by-product of the same process that produced territorial nationalism. Language, history, and geographical boundaries all play a role in influencing nationalist sentiments in both ethnic and territorial nationalism. De Jong 53 (1999:5) also claims that during colonial rule, colonialists used the divide and rule principle to pit different ethnic groups against each other, resulting in "innumerable conflicts and strife." Sometimes missionaries collaborated with colonial powers in dividing ethnic groups, fuelling intra and inter-ethnic tensions. Nambala (1997:31) claims that missionary activities frequently collaborated with colonialism in the execution of colonial projects in this regard. In addition to local contextual factors, socio-political and religious events in the partner Churches' countries, particularly the Presbyterian Church in the United States, were critical in shaping the identity of the Presbyterian Church in Congo. The most important of these issues was the tumultuous political interaction between American missionaries and Belgian rulers. This could be described as the precursor to widespread ethnocentrism in the Presbyterian Church of Congo and Congo society as a whole. 3.3 The Movement towards independence in The Presbyterian Church Following the general advocacy for independence across Third World countries, a remarkable historical event also occurred in the Church in Africa. The first conference of delegates representing the churches of twenty-five territories of the continent met between the 11th to the 18th of January 1958 in Nigeria (Ibadan, 1958:19) to discuss move towards the independence of African churches, to enable them to self-govern. At the end of the conference, a message of unity addressed to all the churches of the continent was declared: "We love the Lord Jesus Christ and we are witnesses of his Gospel; in him we are one people" (Ibadan, 1958:20). Another significant achievement of the conference was the sensitisation of Africans to become more aware of their responsibilities towards God and the continent. Convinced of the importance of such a gathering to unify the churches of Africa, it was unanimously decided that the conference should appoint a provisional continuation committee and a secretary-general. This declaration was adopted on January 15, 1958 (Ibadan, 1958:20). Therefore, influenced by the general trend of political agitation for independence by African countries, the churches of the continent began to demand autonomy from the Foreign Missions. Following the Bandung Conference in 1955, African and Asian countries expressed the desire to develop and to have their independence (Gutiérrez, 1974:347). In 1956, the missionaries of A.P.C.M. invited the representatives of the National Presbyterian Church 54 to their annual meeting to discuss issues relating to the Church. At the end of this meeting, the idea of having a central fund germinated and the autonomy of the Presbyterian Church for the indigenous Congolese were considered. For the church, a board of directors was formed. It consisted of twelve persons representing each presbytery and three delegated synod missionaries. In this set up, a missionary and a Congolese (Wakuteka, 1883:122) managed the fund. Three political declarations regarding the relationship between the Mission and the Church were adopted in 1957. They clearly indicated the purpose of the Mission, which was to bring the Good News of salvation to the people and to establish an independent local Church. They stipulated, first, the strengthening of the presbyteries and synods of the Presbyterian Church of the native Congolese by giving them all the work and responsibilities of Mission. Then, the integration of the missionaries into the New Church so that they shared the responsibilities at the level of the presbyteries and the Synod. Finally, the gradual transfer of power over the entire program by missionaries to Aboriginal leaders (McGeachy, 1967:28). Through these declarations, the missionaries already foresaw the end of the Mission to which they fit in as an institution. It was also a way of conforming to the basic general political strategy of their Church, which was based on a triple principle2 (McGeachy, 1967:23). The question then was: How were these good intentions of the American Presbyterian missionaries really executed? Amid the intense political unrest in the Belgian Congo in 1959, leaders in the different stations of Presbyterian Church of the Congo initiated meetings to discuss the necessity for self-sufficiency and independent governance of the Presbyterian Church in the DRC. Furthermore, at the annual meeting of the missionaries of the A.P.C.M. held in August 19593 at Lake Mukamba, they proposed to give up the right of veto they had over the 2Self-financing and self-governance. 3 It is also important to note that in spite of the tribal-fratricidal war, which occurred in October 1959 between the Baluba and the Bena Lulua, an extraordinary Synod was summoned on the 2nd of November of the same year in Kananga, in which was attended by the pastors and elders of the Nova. While discussing the proposed agenda, the delegates agreed to the organisation of a central fund, they approved the funds contained in it, and also agreed to the constitution of the Native Church by deleting all the members who were to apply for the legal status of the New Church cleared by the Belgian colonial authorities (Mc Geachy, 1967:31). In a solemn ceremony held at the special meeting of November 1959, in Luluabourg (Kananga which is the central city of the province of Kasai), the A.P.C.M. founded by Lapsley and Sheppard granted autonomy to the Presbyterian Church of the Congolese (Pruitt, 1970:28). This new organisation that was formerly known as "Ekelezia Muidikija wa Bena Kasai”, or “the Presbyterian Church of Kasaiens" became the "Presbyterian Church of Kasai» (Wakuteka, 1983:183). The political uproar pressurised the Presbyterian missionaries of the United States of America concede the management of the Presbyterian 55 jurisdictions of the indigenous Congolese Presbyterian Church. By doing so, they significantly enhanced the possibility of the Church’s attainment of autonomy. A central fund was approved to handle the management of salaries subsidised by the C.E.M.E. and P.C.U.SA. The idea was that the missionaries should neither control the expenses nor take responsibility for them. This last meeting also addressed the issue of financial matters, personnel, and properties whose general policy was reserved exclusively for foreign missionaries (McGeachy, 1967:20). Although the Presbyterian Church of the Congo has since become autonomous, donations from the USA are still managed by the missionaries it up till today; because the Congolese past is portrayed as meaningless, useless and uncivilised, it undermines their self-esteem and continues to reinforce the spirit of hopelessness that negatively affects their day-to-day behaviour (Kabemba, 2011:33). In fact, nations need myths to live by, therefore they often reflect on the golden age (if not always to an original ancestor) for strength, courage, and resilience (Smith, 2007:42). It is generally an account of heroism about how and when they established themselves in the homeland, the trials and tribulations they survived, and the victories they achieved (Van Kessel & Oomen, 1987:561). These representations invariably influence their national character and sense of identity because “when you represent the past in a positive way, it gives you inspiration and the ability to overcome present challenges” (Shulman, 1987:1-23). 3.4 Mission Preparation for Leadership Transition When the A.P.C.M. missionary missionaries arrived, they quickly gained the confidence of the Kasaiens and eventually introduced them to Christianity and Presbyterian doctrine (Benedetto, 1996:28). On March 10, 1895, three adults and four young people confessed their faith in Jesus Christ as their only Saviour and accepted to become members of the Church in Luebo as a direct result of the missionaries' arrival. According to Richard (1991:230), these natives were the first converts of the A.P.C.M., and their presence marked the beginning of the formation of Congolese natives in the Presbyterian Church. Church of the Congo to Congolese citizens since the Congolese people sought independence from Belgian colonisation (Wakuteka, 1983:178). Mutshipayi (2001:45) avers that quest for an autonomous Presbyterian Church in Congo was directly inspired by the national movement for independence. 56 They adhered steadfastly to the Presbyterian missionaries' doctrines. Similarly, Chisolm and Morrison (1914:78) speculate that around 1900, William Morrison selected a group of Congolese converts to train them to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the villages surrounding the first missionary station in Luebo. In 1902, the first school for the training of evangelists, known colloquially as the "Wa Lumu Luimpe School," or "School of the Good News," was established. 3.4.1 Formation of Native Leaders by Missionaries Historically, the Presbyterian Church opened various schools of pastoral formation in the DRC, first at Ibanji, then at Luebo, Kankinda, and later at Ndesha mission. The first pastoral school was founded around 1907 in Ibanji and named Lumu Luimpe (the Good News). Its citizens handled announcing the kerygma, the message of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and Saviour (Boff, 1980:31). With time, the School of Lumu Luimpe was renamed the Bible School in 1918, the Evangelical School in 1950, the School of Preachers in 1958, and the School of Theology in 1954. The 1950s was characterised by political turmoil in the Third World. In November 1953, the missionaries invited the delegates of the Synod of the local Church to the Mission Conference. Among the issues discussed were the strengthening of self-reliance in the indigenous church, the teaching of tithing teaching to young people and their recruitment to the Gospel Ministry (American Presbyterian Mission of Congo, 1957:43). The 17th of November 1907 was another memorable day in the history of the Presbyterian Mission in Congo because the missionaries took the first step towards the organisation of the Congolese Indigenous Church by choosing five natives as the first elders, and six others as the first deacons of the church. By doing so, they firmly affirmed that the men they had just trained were among the best evangelists. These evangelists were trustworthy and dedicated to the ministry (Mutshipayi, 2001:15). According to Wakuteka (1983:28), they were the first leaders of the new Presbyterian Church, which was beginning to organise itself locally. Wakuteka (1983:28) further notes that Morrison recommended a transient conferment of responsibility to the leadership of the local Church by electing and ordaining three men to the holy pastoral ministry and authorising to baptise, administer the Lord’s Supper and discipline members of the Church. In 1916, this declaration was followed by the ordination of three Congolese pastors to the Holy ministry and the ordination of several elders and deacons at Kabeya Lukengu, 57 Musonguela (Kadisha, 2016:40). Worthy of note is the fact that all the three Congolese pastors that were ordained in the American Presbyterian Church Mission (APCM) were released slaves. Several other people were consecrated to the different ministries in the new Church. Through their ordination of ministers (including elders, deacons, and pastors) to steer the affairs of the local church and the establishment of these organs of leadership, the missionaries completed the organisation of the Presbyterian Church of the natives (Mpinga, 2009). At the beginning of 1919, the missions sent an official request to the C.E.M.E of the P.C.U.S. to approve the organisation of a presbytery for the African Church. As soon as the permission was granted to the leaders of the Mission, a delegation of evangelists, elders, and deacons convened in October of the same year to discuss pertinent issues of concern to the Church (Kadisha, 2016:37). It was the first meeting of the presbytery ever attended by Congolese leaders (Wharton, 1953:110). This was remarkable progress at that point in time. By 1950, the indigenous Church was organised into a synod with eight presbyteries comprising consecrated pastors, missionaries and natives alike, as well as ordained elders among local people (Presbyterian Survey, 1953:36). Regardless of these achievements, the American Presbyterian Church Mission’s educational system was criticised for being characterised by the principle of conversion and submission. 3.4.2 Native preparation for the spread of the Gospel Speaking about evangelism, in his book entitled "Le chémin de la liberation”, Bakola (1991:204) states that “Only an in-depth evangelisation, a careful listening to this word of God and the one he sent, and thereby find the secret of real life. It is a question of putting into practice today what the prophet said: seek and live (Amos 5:6)”. It is in obedience to the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ, which clearly instructs believers to: “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew, 28:19-20), that the PCUS sent its missionaries to the remote areas of Africa to evangelise, teach and establish the Christian Church. The work of the missionaries was to be accomplished by a body of foreign personnel called the "Mission", the missionaries made all the decisions and reported to the Council of the Missions of the Church. That is to say, the one who sent them to the field of Mission (Brown, 1987:157). That is why Wakuteka (1983:170) avers that “to prepare Congolese natives to self-proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the missionaries thought that Christian service formation for young men and women should be one of their 58 important activities”. Thus, Morrison selected an enthusiastic group and offered them special lessons for the evangelisation of other natives. He brought this group of young people (both girls and boys) every afternoon from the various villages around Luebo to practice religious activities. Since no evangelist would read the Word of God and explain it efficiently without being trained, the missionaries created a Bible School in Luebo in 1913, amongst its first pupils were indigenes of Luebo, Ibanchi and Mutoto. The school was transferred to Mutoto in 1918 and renamed the "W. M. Morrison Bible School" in memory of one of the foremost representatives of the American Presbyterian Mission in the Congo (Crane, 1920:733). It was moved again from Mutoto to Kankinda in 1950 and remained there until 1959. It was at this prestigious Bible School that the earliest leaders of the local church were formed (Mpinga, 2009). Soon, there were testimonies from not only missionaries from other societies across the country, but also and from state officers as well as traders to whom the Presbyterians had preached the Gospel (Presbyterian Survey, 1937:372). In short, the success of the American Presbyterian Church Mission (A.P.C.M.) is attributable to the preparation of the natives to take charge of spreading of the Gospel. 3.4.3 The first natives’ leadership of the A.P.C.M. To prepare the Congolese natives to take over the leadership of new Church themselves, particular emphasis was put laid on its self-sufficiency. For example, during the launch of a chapel he had just built, Sheppard revealed, “it was substantially made of clay loam mixed with lime. We were assisted by Mr. Vreezen from the House of Commerce who gave us a personal gift and gave us his carpenter Ghanaian Miss Thomas, Fearing and I paid the fees of the walls, which amounted to six dollars, while the Congolese natives themselves brought with their money the price of the roof” (William, 1897:173). This implied that although he began the project, the Congolese natives had recognized the need to demonstrate some degree of responsibility by contributing to the completion of the project. In 1913, a commission was mandated to plan about the self-leadership of the local church. The issue of tithing was among the recommendations that were adopted at the 1914 (Kabeya, 1995:61). This was initiated to change the mindset of some Christians that Christian work was the sole responsibility of leaders and salaried employees of the Church (Rapport annuel, 1916:1), and to give every member the chance to support the Church. Majority of the church members embraced the practice of tithing and as the 59 Church tithed, its contributions to support the work of the American Presbyterian church mission increased. At that time, Congolese evangelists sent to the villages were admired and received with enthusiasm. The inhabitants of the different villages were hospitable and offered them food, lodging, and sometimes, gave them money (Morrison, 1928:16). Meanwhile, some leaders in about six villages in Bakuba who fully supported the evangelists and teachers without receiving any money from the Mission are quoted as saying: "the support of those who teach us and do the same for our children is our responsibility” (Morrison, 1950:17). Afterwards, two-thirds of all the teachers and workers in the Church were entirely volunteers supported by the villages to which they were assigned. In addition, the natives constructed all the places of worship and provided living lodgings for the evangelists (Kabeya, 1995:50). Austin (2004:101) notes that during his conference in 1915, William Sheppard advice to implement tithing systems as soon as they return to their bases, each family had to have a "Treasury of the Lord", called “TshibutshiluTshia Nzambi" in which they could deposit a tenth of the family’s income. Deacons had to go around regularly collecting the contents of each family’s coffers (William, 1910:122). In the Congolese Church formation, members (men, women and children) brought material offerings to the Church such as cassava tubers, peanuts, maize, eggs, chickens and goats. At the end of the service, a group of young people, under the supervision of a former officer gathered all the offerings and sold them. The money collected was placed in the parish fund and constituted part of its contribution to be sent to the treasury of the Mission to support the Christian work (Washburn, 1972:22). Out of sheer reverence for God, some Congolese natives tithed regularly and gave their offerings to the Church to support the work of the Mission. For example, a certain convert named David Mukeba submitted his brickyard and coffee plantation account book for verification in relation to the amount of tithes he gave. Another example pertains to Elixa Kanda, who after his formation at the Bible School and his pastoral consecration willingly gave up the ministry to take care of his personal affairs. That is his plantation and palm grove (Wharton, 1953:179). As a devoted worker he was genuinely concerned with the spiritual welfare of his employees he returned a few years later to donate 70,000 (seventy thousand) Congolese Francs which amounted to US $ 1,400 at the time to God who made 60 him prosperous. He returned a few days later to give his Christmas offering of 20,000 (Twenty thousand) Francs, the equivalent of about $ 400 US (Wharton, 1953:181-182). My argument however, is that the preparation for the Congolese to assume the leadership of the church was hampered by the prevalence of slavery in some regions and their lack of adequate education. 3.4.4 Trials of natives’ leadership Under the missionaries, the Church was utilized extreme disciplinary measures especially when dealings with the native leadership trainees (Metzel, 1997:18). In the missionary school and in the service of the church, the leadership trainees (evangelists, catechists, elders, and pastors in the service) worked under a climate of terror due to the harsh discipline meted against them by the missionaries. The manner of in which they were educated at the Mission School did not allow them to freely express their feelings to their missionary teachers due to immense fear of the possible repercussions. They were constantly terrified and intimidated by the dismissals, expulsions and excommunication of their colleagues from the Church or their functions in the name of discipline (Synode de Mbuji-Mayi, 1990:20). As a result, these leaders were coerced into docility and were forced to mask their emotions and displeasure from their teachers. This method of treating the trainees had instilled in them a critical attitude, as well as a sense of hypocrisy. They began to adopt behaviour patterns or personalities that tarnished the image of a church. A number of critics have even compared the Mission to a Belgian colony in this regard. The only distinction between the two forces (Mission and Colonisers) was that, unlike the colonisers, the Mission continued to genuinely assist the young Church in all of its programmes (General Assembly, 1991:7). One might argue that colonialism's methods are repeated by everyone who expresses their opinions through coercion and force. 3.4.5 Transition of leadership between 1953-1960 The abrupt departure of missionaries from North Rhodesia (Zambia) via the consulate delegation in the Congo triggered a sense of confusion in the young indigenous Church. The unforeseen withdrawal was highlighted how unprepared the new occupants of the newly available positions were to assume these positions of responsibility. This was most evident in sectors such politics and economy (Muanza, 1983:9). The vacancies in 61 missionary stations across the Congo during the tumultuous period of political transition was criticised by Christians who accused the missionaries of being mercenaries rather than good shepherds. The political crisis leading up to independence made the people conscious of their own history and inspired them to develop themselves (Richard, 1991:34). As Kabengela (1990:21) observes, although the Mission was dedicated to introducing a new model of leadership for the Church by developing a project (with training and retraining programs for leaders) which resembled the ten-year plan for the development of native leaders by the Belgian Colonial State, the timing was late. The indigenous church leaders were ill-equipped and beleaguered by immense inferiority complex in front of their colleagues. This complex was exacerbated by their financial and intellectual standing. Even though they were committed, their knowledge was narrow as they did not even seem to know what was happening beyond the Presbyterian Church of Kasai. On the other hand, the complex was also visible on their poverty, financially; the pastors and catechists were at the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder as they were the most poorly paid of all the workers of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Their theological orientation emphasised the vanity of worldliness and the need to focus squarely on the Hope of eternal life in heaven (Kabeya, 1995:32). Therefore, in response to the prevailing situation and the urgent need for leadership preparation within the indigenous church, the P.C.U.S.A. sent over 70 new missionaries to the Democratic Republic of Congo. By 1959, the numbers of missionaries under the American Presbyterian Congo Mission were more than 350 people. The church was set up with parishes and chapels for worship. In tune with the broad vision for new leadership within the church’s administration, the Kankinda Theological School graduated four laureates including three Presbyterians and the one Mennonite (Mutshipayi, 2001:87). The conclusion that can draw from the discussions in this section is that the processes of leadership transition were not only flawed, it was also influenced by the political and social dynamics of the epoch. 3.4.6 The training of lay leadership in the A.P.C.M According to Kadisha (2016:41), the laity who should bear the responsibility of the Church was not actively involved in the affairs of the Church. Their no commitment stems from 62 the Mission’s historical emphasis on the education of the evangelists, and their lack of interaction with the laypeople whereby they were expected to be servants and not just administrators and managers of the Church. The period during which autonomy was granted to the church was not favourable because it happened against the backdrop of political events and tribal frictions. More importantly, although of the Mission promised to support the Church financially, at that point in time it was in an abysmal financial rot. The Church had minimal sources of revenue in the Congo; moreover, the Christians on whom the Church relied were equally financially incapacitated. In the end, this led to the division of the Church, first into two blocks and later into smaller tribal subdivisions (Kadisha, 2016:86). Even though the missionaries were aware of the capability of the people of Kasai to accomplish the work of God, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission was not ready to entirely relinquish the leadership of the church to the people. Subsequently, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission oversaw the leadership of the young church of Kasaï as a guardian. The American Presbyterian Congo Mission disapproved the deliberations of the conference that held at Lake Mukamba in September 1952 during which the executive secretary of P.C.U.S.A. Mrs. Fulton was a guest and the autonomous leadership of the Muidikija wa Bena Kasai Church was proposed. Unfortunately, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission considers these problems as undoubtedly handicapping the autonomy of the church. The new leadership of the Presbyterian Church of Kasaï nurtures a bad attitude that can be seen through the church leaders behaving as in first early of American mission era where the assignation is liable to its rudiments mission (American Presbyterian Church Mission, 1954:28-31). In short, the worst problem lay in the economic and intellectual complexity of the Congolese leadership, for example, the Congolese leaders (evangelist) were educated to continually depend on the Mission (American Presbyterian Church Mission, 1952:29). However, after this conference, a better project of cooperation was developed to encourage the evangelists (American Presbyterian Church Mission, 1952:30). During the transitional period to independence, the state offered financial support to the service of the Church especially for the construction of schools and chapels. By 1950, after a period of 61 years of service in the Congo, the Mission had progressed with over 5,907 communicating members. Amongst these, some such as David Mukeba, Simon 63 N’kashama and Elisha Kande were disqualified as high-quality laity. This was regardless of the fact that N’kashama and Kande were gentle and dedicated to the service of the Presbyterian Church even giving their income as a tithe, while newly converted to the work of God (Wakuteka, 1983:32). The missionaries (mission) appreciated the people they worked with them in evangelisation and by giving them the new parishes, they gave them the opportunity to be the leaders in those local churches. This encouragement necessitated the creation of new type of churches. This sense of appreciation is aptly expressed by Wharton: God in His providence led our first missionaries to the people with hearts prepared by His Spirit to receive the Gospel. In a land of many dialects, spoken often by only a few hundred people, He led our missionaries to a homogeneous group of almost two missions, all of who could be reached through the polyglot Baluba-Lulua tongue. Today that tongue, popularly called Tshiluba, is one of three or four designated by the government as approved for teaching in the vernacular […] they are an eager, intelligent, tractable and questing people, a people who will play a large part in the emerging New Africa […] Will the P.C.U.S.A. dare to dream for the people who trust missionaries and look for guidance (Wharton, 1953:183). It is safe to conclude then that the American Presbyterian Congo Mission eventually admitted that the gift of Christ was abundant to certain people who are versed in the Westminster Catechism and blessed with leadership gifts as pastors, elders and deacons to take care of the parish and who was a member knowing. 3.4.7 Cooperation between Church and State: 1945-1952 It is important to note that the leadership of this period inspired the emergence of new leaders in the Church who was adequately equipped to bring hundreds of people to Christ through their extraordinary talents. Among these people were two figures: Daniel Tshibasu and Nicolas Lumbala who were extremely dedicated to the work of God. These evangelists along with others did an excellent job at this time. The Mutoto Bible School grew exponentially, graduating approximately 85 evangelists between 1945 to 1946.This growth opened up opportunities for the increase of the number of evangelists to spread the word of God to the non-evangelised villages (Wharton, 1953:18). 64 At that time, new missionaries augmented the mission, and three additional new posts were opened to meet the spiritual and moral needs of the population concerned. The Congolese leadership under the supervision of missionary teams collaboratively facilitated these developmental tasks. The efforts of native leadership were appreciated by the missionaries, who identified the secret of their success in spite of the impediments as their deep sense of encouragement (Wharton, 1953:152). The group of missionaries expressed their complete dependence on God, and some African leaders who were cognisant of the goals of the Spirit of God, and Jehovah (Wharton, 1953:149). According to Mulumba Kabeya (1995:40), these successes further intensified the formation of leaders at Mutoto. L.L.B.K. between February to March 1948, 423 candidates graduated for the work of the Church in all the villages of Kasai. However, despite the significant formation of leaders, the Church disregarded the fact that it is not made up of the clergy alone. It disregarded the most important part of its population: the laity. The role of the laity was passive; hence the general problem of the church remained unresolved. From the foregoing, it should be clear that the period 1945-1952 was marked by cooperation between the Church and the state. The interesting aspect of this cooperation is that the state has managed to understand the Protestant Church's concerns and problems. This is especially true given the Belgian government's previous indifference to church affairs, which it regarded as foreign to the Congo. Second, the church, particularly the Presbyterian Church in Congo, flourished during this period, with more or less significant numerical growth. During this time, the PCUSA also launched a number of missionary projects, including the new city of Luluabourg, Kakinda village, and the construction of the magnificent Mutoto hospital (Kabongo, 1989:28). 3.5 Consolidation of A.P.C.M.: Organisation and Administration 3.5.1 Organisation and administration The P.C.U.S.A. did not impose an organisation or administration of missionary work on the Congo, yet, they gave the missionary staff the right to do so given the circumstances. Hence, the missionaries organised themselves in such a way that they could effectively succeed in the tasks allocated to them (Richard: 1991:36). Therefore, the organisation and administration of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission was the missionaries themselves. They formed and adopted a plan in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which 65 means that the model of administrative organisation was not authorized by the P.C.U.A. Their principles of leadership were democratic and uniform across their stations in accordance to Calvinist lines of thought and an emphasis on the attainment of the ideas of the liberty of conscience, but liberty of conscience was not just for Reformed Protestants with rightly informed consciences (Coffey, 2013:17). Similarly, each missionary post was designed like the American version complete with an elementary school, a Bible school, a vocational school, a hospital or dispensary, a boarding school for girls and another for boys, a district or village of mission workers, and temples scattered around the Missionary City Centre for the villagers (Mutombo, 2004:45). Also, the candidates had to undergo three years of formation in the Bible school to become leaders (Kabeya, 1995:41). At the end of the training, the students were called "Mutangadiki" or an “evangelist” the villages, afterwards, the candidate was assessed to become an elder (Mukulu), and eventually, they were upgraded to the position of a pastor. Both the elders and the pastors were expected to supervise the evangelists within their jurisdiction or district. In turn, the pastors, elders and evangelists were supervised and managed by the missionaries. The tasks of the evangelists, pastors, and elders were mostly within the villages far from each missionary station called "Ku Mikuna" (Kabeya, 1995:38). Although they functioned interdependently, there were definite differences between the organizational and administrative patterns of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission and the P.C.U.S.A. For example, the administration of the American Presbyterian Congo Mission engaged in the entire administration of the organisation and even made decisions without consulting the African leaders, they in turn executed all the directives irrespective of the consequences thereof (Mutombo, 2004:48). The mission was organised in such a way that it gave each missionary some responsibility at their post of primary assignment. Thus, each missionary resident at a given station had a special responsibility either to direct a school, a dispensary or hospital, or to proselytise a given region, a business or any profession in the station. On the contrary, their colleagues were simply expected to execute dictated or given orders (Kabeya, 1995:48). Broadly, the administrative organisation of American Presbyterian Congo Mission consisted of two main positions: the first was that of the missionary post, who was in charge of directing all the activities that took place in each missionary post. In each respective post, the activities were directed, controlled and censured by the missionaries. If there were any changes made, 66 it would affect all activities. The second position was outside the missionary station, within the surrounding villages. This was called the "out-station", it was an agglomeration of mini stations where the native evangelists were placed to create special parishes. So, pastors and elders settled in the larger villages, while their evangelists were sent out into the small villages scattered throughout a given region (Williamson, 1992:6). This structural organisation yielded significant results. Although the salaries of pastors were non-existent, the aid they received served as an incentive. The evangelists particularly worked under excruciatingly difficult circumstances where no missionary could ever cope. In spite of the financial difficulty suffered by the native servants, through dedication and tenacity the mission of evangelisation spread exponentially and there was evident improvement everywhere in Kasai of Occidental (Mutombo, 2004:51). As Kabeya (1995: 57) argues, the mission as a message and institution had a profound influence on the Congolese people. Although the missionaries were foreign to the Congo, their culture and influence were remarkable. For instance, anywhere there was a missionary post, the surrounding villagers were usually attracted to changes in the environs. Through these contacts many people were won to the Gospel at the expense of their traditional religions, they were often met with some resistance (Kabeya, 1995:58). When the mission was sending a small community of evangelists with their wives to the villages to evangelise and to work among the villagers, they would not only evangelise, but would also practice in their new way of life. So, because of the preparation of African leadership in missionary posts and schools, the Church grew remarkably and the native leaders became an inspiration to others around them (Mutombo, 2004:53). 3.5.2 Partnership of the Presbyterian Mission in Congo There is no gainsaying that the groundwork of evangelisation to indigenous people remains an effort, which requires constant material, financial, and moral fortification in order to build upon the missionary work which was begun by pioneers such as Lapsley and Sheppard. After the mission was commissioned in Luebo (Kasaï Province) in February 1891 by Lapsley, the P.C.U.S.A. assigned a Scottish couple named Mr. and Mrs. Adamson as missionaries. This couple met with Lapsley for a few days in Kinshasa (Stanley Pool) before going up the river to Kasaï province to proselytise the natives. It 67 was about the time that when Lapsley was seeking for civil status from the Belgian General Government (William, 1912:5). After Lapsley's death, other missionaries were constantly sent to fortify Lapsley’s foundational mission in Luebo (Kasai). Before his departure to the United States between 1892- 1894, Sheppard left the Adamsons and the Rowbothams behind on the station to continue inspiring the natives. On his return from America in 1894, Sheppard met new faces at the mission (Phipps, 2002:122). During his time in the United States, the situation in Luebo became very unpleasant, the Rowbothams had nearly lost their first child and his mother to sickness, and this triggered their return home leaving the Adamsons. After a month, another couple named Mr. and Mrs. Snyder reached Luebo to replace the Adamsons. Mr Snyder who was a qualified pharmacist opened a dispensary in Luebo, which became the first clinic opened in the Kasaï province. Mr. Snyder and his wife had a great relationship with the Bena Kasenga tribe and some new devoted Christians at the station4 (Rapport Synode, 1915:17). On his return to the Congo (Luebo) in 1894, Sheppard arrived with an African-American support group of five missionaries and his wife, Mrs. Lucy G. This support group comprised Miss Maria Fearing, Rev. Henry D. Hawking, Mrs. Lucy G., Sheppard, and Miss Lilian Thomas who will become Mrs. Deyampert, and Rev. Joseph Philipps who later arrived in 1895 (Williamson, 1973:4). The arrival of this group in Luebo was surprised to Mr. Snyder. In fact, when Mr. Snyder heard the ship's whistle at the harbour, he ran quickly hoping to find the luggage and letters, but when he reached the river, he was surprised to see his colleagues get out of the boat. He jumped and burst with joy, letting his tears flow from his eyes (Presbyterian Community, 1985:8). Shortly after the missionary group arrived in Luebo, the Snyders were forced to leave because of Mrs Snyder’s ill-health. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived in Kinshasa, she died, and Mr. Snyder continued on his way to America (Richard, 1991:32). The Bena-Kasenge was delighted by Sheppard's return and Chief Lukengu even sent a message inviting Sheppard to visit him at Mushenge. Concerning the missionary reinforcement from America Morrison states, 4 Role in the work of the American Presbyterian. 68 With all these newcomers, the station became almost an American city; but all got immediately to the work: some were engaged in language studies (Tshikete) while others who already had a few words continued evangelization and literacy teaching. Fortunately, two of the first young people who were instructed by Sheppard upon arrival became the instructors of others in this second term. The names of these young people were Malu Ndolo and Mudimbi. This was the work of Sheppard (Mutshipayi, 2001). Although the task was at Luebo was enormous, Sheppard endured the difficulties that arose until the first set of evangelists who later brought others to Christ were formed. Luebo developed speedily, new constructions were erected, including a magnificent temple of which Shepperd writes in his essays, “In 1894, we had a more comfortable house and a church building, seating 100 people. Some of our members had been called in the meantime and the Lord sent collared missionaries to join us” (William, 1906:295). Since the beginning of the mission at Luebo, native Christians had never been baptised. It was not until April 1895, that the first baptisms were administered on five young people in Luebo. Speaking about the remarkable event, the missionaries Mrs. E. B. Edmiston said: Following the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and relying upon the promises of God, these first messengers of the Cross learned the unwritten language of the people and began to preach unto them”. Jesus Christ and he crucified. The seed sowing went on for fully four years before there was any sign of germination or fruitage. Finally, however, the efforts of the evangelist were crowned by the conversion of seven young people, four boys and three girls, who, by baptism, became members of his great church, March 10, 1895 (1930:5). The manifestation of the Spirit of God was evident throughout this nucleus. This small community played a significant role in evangelising the surrounding villages around Luebo. They were in the real sense of the word, grains that produced by their action’s fruits worthy of the Christian faith. These Christians tirelessly continued to evangelise until 4,928 people were converted at the end of the year 1905, ten years later (Edmiston, 1930:6). 69 Between 1895-1900, the third group of six missionaries arrived in Luebo comprising Rev. W. Morrison, Rev. S.P. Verner, Rev. and Mrs. J. S. Crowley, Rev. L.C. Vass and Mrs. G.W. Snyder. Luebo became fully occupied by the mission and according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for the obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling his blood; some missionaries were dispatched to the surroundings areas. Thus, Reverends W. Morrison and Sheppard settled at Ibanji in 1897, in response to the request of Sheppard's friend, Lukengu. It was the second missionary post but was later burnt down under the orders of Lukengu's successor (William, 1910:10). A third post was also opened at Bena-Biyombo, a Lulua branch south of Luebo. Two missionaries, Rev. Verner and Philipps were posted there temporarily because the state did not allow them to open the mission. The purpose of this decentralisation was to share the forces to activate the work of evangelisation in the villages around Luebo and to the different tribes of Kasai. Unfortunately, their plans failed completely and they had to reconverge at Luebo to re-strategise and devise a more efficient plan of action (William, 1910:12). There are several reasons for the failure of the missionary work around Luebo. First, the failure in Kananga and the surrounding areas could have been because of the revolts of Batetela soldiers in Luluabourg (Kananga) which caused widespread unrest and insecurity in Kasai. Another reason was the xenophobic attitude of King Lukengu wa Bakuba towards all foreigners that settled on his territory. Also, the cruelty and malice of the Basonge towards the other tribes limited the evangelists’ freedom of movement from one village to another. The evangelists were afraid of the repercussions of trespassing. Others like the Bakete people were deeply attached to their traditional and superstitious religions and would not embrace the faith. Additionally, the multiplicity of dialects constituted a significant problem in communicating the Gospel; even the missionaries identified this issue as the worst impediment of the Christian mission on Congolese soil (Kadima, 1992:78-81). Among the third group of missionaries was a man of wisdom and intelligence, who played a significant role in the work of American Presbyterian Congo Mission in Kasaï: Reverend W. Morrison. A trained lawyer by profession, Morrison identified the difficulties posed by the language barriers in the work of the mission and proposed the study of Tshiluba as a prerequisite for evangelism in the region, since the Bakete whose language was being 70 studied were not interested in the Gospel and they were lesser in population than those who speak Tshiluba. This proposal was supported and followed (William, 1912:6). From then onwards, Morrison devoted his time to the study of Tshiluba and finally wrote two books entitled Grammar Tshiluba, Tshiluba-English Dictionary, as well as some translations of Jesus' Parables in the Bible and Bible lessons for basic study (William, 1910:9). Similarly, Mrs. Edmiston wrote a dictionary of grammar in Bushongo (Bakuba), these were printed at the steam built by Rev. Snyder in Luebo (Williamson, 1990:39). In light of the foregoing, it should be noted that, despite the extreme difficulties encountered in the mission field, the missionaries' dynamism was responsible for the work's progress and growth. This could be translated by the catechetical teaching method and the strategy used by converts, who then evangelised others. According to Williamson (1990:42), the first leadership in Luebo was very committed to the missionaries penetrating and evangelising the most inaccessible places. The preaching and witnessing to Christ in their own lives was even more encouraging. They embodied the essence of being set free by the blood of Jesus Christ for others to see. As a result, they drew their attention to themselves. 3.6 Logistical and social supports in the A.P.C.M. This section discusses the advancement of evangelisation through the provision of various social amenities and service executed by the Mission for the proclamation of the Gospel. These include the provision of education through the building of schools and the provision of medical services. 3.6.1 The logistic support As previously mentioned, the Mission had to provide logistical support including the payment of missionaries' salaries, expenses of their travels, their lodging, their transport, their studying of indigenous languages, their medical attention and education of their children (Brown, 1987:170). William (1910:8) reveals that every year, there was a meeting of missionaries working in the same field. This meeting brought together the missionaries representing the various departments of the Mission, for example evangelisation, education, medical and industrial work. Each department presented its budget for approval. Those approved were submitted to the Executive Committee of the Foreign Missions. After Williamson had collected the requests of all his missions throughout the 71 world and categorised them, the next priority was sourcing for funds to finance them (1997:36). Concerning the procurement of the other needs of the mission, Williamson (1997:40) adds that the same committee would often present them either to the parishes, the presbyteries, or even to the synods for resolution. Some parishes were also responsible specific missions. Alternatively, people would make personal commitments to financially support certain projects on the field of the Mission (Yates, 1978:33-48). The underrepresentation of the role of women and laypeople in the mission notwithstanding, Metzel (1997:6) affirms that the women organised themselves in association to support the Missions. The men also gave passionately for the spreading of the Gospel and salvation of souls, as the matter of fact, the members of the P.C.U.S. considering giving for the course of evangelising not as a duty, but as a privilege (Metzel, 1997:6). Generally, the needs of the mission reached the P.C.U.S.A. through the letters of the missionaries and the statements, that is, the addresses of the C.E.M.E. at the place of the members (Rapport de la réunion, 1990). The entire history of the A.P.C.M. is fraught with examples of unprecedented generous support from the grassroots; that is small groups and individuals. The needs of the mission were always met, for instance, when the work of evangelisation in the Congo was inhibited by the lack of a boat for transporting on water, in January 1893 a general appeal was sent by the C.E.M.E. to all the Sunday Schools of the P.C.U.S.A. to raise $10,000.00 to buy the APCM boat (Missionary in the Congo, 1893:274).The call was made to enable the purchase of the boat which was to be named in memorial of the pioneer American Presbyterian Mission, Samuel Lapspey who died on the field of evangelisation. By the time the call was renewed in February of the same year, there was only a deposit of $320.00 in the designated account (Speer, 1901:43). A certificate system was introduced and every child of any Sunday school class who wanted to contribute to the purchase of the boat had to obtain one certificate for every dollar donated (Metzel, 1997:10). All this was done with the intention of supporting the missionaries and the evangelists, and for the advancement of the work of God. Some people offered individually and selflessly, for example, a young girl reportedly worked tirelessly to donate a dollar for the purchase of the boat by engaging in several activities ranging from picking 72 dung, to hair braiding, and even sacrificing the pleasure of owning a book (The Congo Boat in the Missionary, 1893:71). Similarly, another little girl sent in 25 cents which she made from selling mustard salad. Some donations came from different services that the young people offered either on the vessels (boats) or by selling food items like milk and eggs; breeding of chickens; and from cleaning courtyards and windows (The Congo Boat in Missionary 1893:74). Others organised in small groups and in this way the contributions of the unidentified donors were presented either in the name of the Sunday Schools to which they belonged or that of the parishes of which they were members. It could still be in the name of a children's society for the Mission. In this regard, a woman once wrote to the C.E.M.E.: "I send for you a sum of $425.00 children on behalf of my company Douglas Gray bill" to obtain the certificate for our contribution towards the purchase of the boat for the Congo (A.P.C.M., 1893:311). Similarly, W.H. Thompson, pastor of the "Franklin Saint Presbyterian Church announced at a Sunday school that the Crescent Sunday School of Louisville (Kentucky) contributed $51000.00 to acquire a boat for the Congo mission (The Congo Boat in Missionary, 1893: 331). In September 1899, the C.E.M.E. contacted the company in Virginia for the construction of the boat. Eight months later on the 13th of May 1901, the first boat, S.N. Lapsley, was dedicated to the service of God in Africa at Luebo (The Congo Boat in Missionary, 1893:71). Tragically, on the 16th of November 1903, the boat was shipwrecked in Kwango at the junction of the Kasai River and the Congo River (Speer, 1901:8). Henry Slaynaker, a church elder of the Second Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and 23 Congolese natives were aboard the boat at the time of the disaster (William, 1912:21). Soon after the tragic accident of the first boat, with courage and optimism, the C.E.M.E. launched another request for the purchase of a second boat estimated at $26,000 (The Kasai Herald: 1908:7). True to their benevolent nature, young people immediately started raising funds for the purchase of the new boat. The contributions of the young women in this regard are noteworthy. For example, a group of young girls turned to beading and jewellery design to raise money, and each woman made as many necklaces as she could. Nearly a hundred necklaces were manufactured in a week and the sum of $25 was donated to the treasury of the C.E.M.E. for the boat (The Lapsley offering from Mexico, 1904:289). To express the urgent desire for the boat in their own way, the missionaries 73 of the A.P.C.M. residing in the Congo sent their contribution of $315 (The Kasai Herald, 1908: 269). In addition, when Sheppard went to the United States of America for the annual conference of the church, he presented the sum of $303.22 received as a gift from the Church of the Congo for the purchase of the new boat. It was an especially important donation having come from the generosity for the people who earned extremely low wages (Lapsley offering from Mexico, 1904:282). In a few years, the sum of $40,000 was collected by the C.E.M.E. for the construction of the second boat. This time, a contract was established with the "Lobnitzet and Company, Limited (Ltd) Engineers and Shipbuilders" in Scotland. On the 2nd of December 1906, the new boat, named Lapsley arrived in Luebo amidst joy and jubilation (Misenga, 1928:12). Airplanes of A.P.C.M. In furtherance of the goal of propagating the missions, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission received the gifted of aero-planes from the Presbyterian Church of Miami (Florida) in the memory of FeuIverson Jr.; in the contrary the Second World War had had felt a great need for the neglected peoples (The Kasai Herald, 1917:7). In 1957, a second plane was presented to the American Presbyterian Mission in Congo. One of these two planes was used to airlift seriously ill Congolese natives to the main hospitals and to help with the distribution of medicines. The other plane was specifically for flying evangelists and transporting Christian literature to the remote areas that were inaccessible by road (Presbyterian Survey, 1958:31). A.P.C.M. printing In a similar vein, to meet the increasing demands for Christian literature and textbooks, a campaign was undertaken in the P.C.U.S.A. to build a Mission Press (A.P.C.M. printing) in the Congo. Thus, the first printing press for the A.P.C.M. which was called the "J. Wilson Press" was established in Luebo. The generous donation of $ 150 US from Snyder’s friends from Sunday school (Patapsco) at the Franklin Street Church in Baltimore, Maryland facilitated the completion of the project (The Kasai Herald 1908:2). The presence of the printing press significantly contributed to progress the of the mission’s work (Morrison, 1948:19). When the first Press became and unable to satisfy the needs of the expanding Presbyterian missionary work in the Congo, another appeal was made to the P.C.U.S.A to provide a larger Cylindrical Press for the Mission. Some groups and individuals in the parishes of the P.C.U.S.A. made monetary contributions to 74 the missionaries in the Congo for the acquisition of a new printing press (Leighton Wilson Press, 1948:17). The entire department of literature was supported by funds from members of the parishes of the P.C.U.S.A. The benefits of all the prescriptions (subscriptions) to the newspaper "Kasai Herald" were also sent to the Congo to support the services of the department (The Kasai Herald, 1908:1). Nevertheless, Church of St. Joseph offered a freedom to take over the work of the printing press (The Kasai Herald, 1908). In 1915, it was decided that the funds of $1200 collected from "Harmony Presbytery" in South Carolina for the construction of a school in memory of J. Leighton Wilson should be used for the erection of a building that would accommodate, the printing works instead. 3.6.2 The schoolwork supports Schools have been one of the mission most effective ways of bringing the youth to Christ. A substantial number of Christians were converted by the A.P.C.M. through its schools. They were the first missionaries to wholly dedicate themselves to the propagation of Christianity through the provision of education in the Congo. Regarding their dedication to schoolwork, Sheppard testifies: "Upon the arrival of Miss Fearing, Thomas and I began to take care of the school until Dr. Snyder asked us to take full charge of the school in 1895” (1898:125). It was in the same year (1895) that the daily school began on the veranda of a missionary's house and was supervised by three black women. The other wives of the missionaries were involved in the teaching, and portions of the Bible constituted the basic texts of study. They also taught a variety of subjects including the English language, arithmetic, reading, natural sciences, and life orientation (Beding, 1991:61). In the sphere of educational work, Maria Fearing stood out as one of the outstanding examples of selfless dedication to the Mission at the grassroots level. The 56-year-old African-American voluntarily convinced her Church to permit her go on a mission to the Congo. She provided remarkable selfless service to the mission by the teaching the natives, and freeing slaves. She even went further to solicit for women volunteers from her Presbyterian parish in the United States of America who would join her in expanding the provision of education. She founded the premiere school for girls in the Congo called the Pantops Home for Girls, this prestigious school was recognised nationally and internationally (Beding, 1991:2). 75 Initially, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission had no Schools of trades because its central focus was the dissemination of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission had to employ carpenters trained in West Africa at an exceedingly high cost to the missionary stations and dwelling houses (Edmiston, 1929:372). It soon became evident as the needs of the Mission expanded, that it was crucial to have technical training schools in the Congo. Thus, the American Presbyterian Congo Mission established Technical Schools to equip the natives to support the churches themselves. The role of women in the advancement of the mission in the Congo cannot be overemphasised, even though the women’s voices were often unheard, their work were outstanding. In fact, the women of the P.C.U.S.A. contributed immensely to the missions of the Church worldwide. They were at the forefront of the educational aspect of the mission; establishing schools, improving existing ones, and distributing Bibles and other Christian literatures on a large scale. In addition, they created training centres specifically for women and girls (Heuser, 1995). In 1931, they offered a donation of $50,863.24 to build five homes for girls and women at the A.P.C.M. This fund was also utilised for the construction of the Central School of missionary children in Lubondai in 1936. Furthermore, in 1939, they created a fund in memory of Miss Maria Fearing and Mrs. Edmundson raising the sum of $49,651.82 which was injected into the construction of girls' homes on all other existing stations of the Mission. As if this was not enough, the women further donated $110,032.06 in 1945 and $160,313.63 in 1951 to support the missionary work in the Congo (Crane, 1952:17). 3.6.3 The medical work supports The treatment of the physical ailments of the vulnerable was a viable means of not only providing humanitarian succour, but also reaching the hearts of the natives to proclaim the gospel. In view of this, the American Presbyterian Mission initiated its medical program in 1900 when Dr. Copeddge was sent as the first medical missionary to Congo (Crane, 1952:395). Fourteen years later, the foundational stone for the construction of the A.P.C.M’s first hospital with a 56-bed capacity was laid in Luebo. The building of the hospital was fully funded by the generous donation of $5,500 from Mrs. M.M. Taylor Rouge, and her mother, W.R. Mc Kowen from Jackson, Louisiana (Annual Report, 1914:2) and was completed in 1916 (Wharton, 153:96). 76 Another hospital built by the missionaries was the Mutoto's Golds by King Memorial Hospital. This was one of three hospitals built in memory of Doctors Zheng Kiang of China and Durato in Brazil (Crane, 1952:408). Shortly after the Second World War, the first buildings of the Mutoto hospital were destroyed. Those that currently exist were rebuilt by the F.B.E.I. A maternity was added to the hospital using the donation of $10,000 from the Independence Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia. Similarly, the erection of Bibanga's "Edna Kellers Shepherd Memorial Hospital" was facilitated through the benevolent donation of $10,000 made by Charles Lukens Huston of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, in appreciation of the care given to his sick son by Dr. Eugene Kellsbarger (Macrane 1952: 434). Also, the Lubondai's Anny Edwards Memorial Hospital was built and equipped through the financial sponsorship of John E. Morrison of Graham of Texas who donated $15,000 for the project (Annual Report, 1927:18). Finally, the sum of $4.928.50 made from the sale of the second "Lapsley" boat was used to commence the construction of Bulape's "Lapsley Memorial Hospital". The construction of this gigantic hospital with a capacity of 120 beds began in 1930 and ended in 1934 (Kadisha, 2016). Apart from the hospitals built at the various stations, the APCM was also in charge of the dispensaries in Kasha, Mboi, Moma and Kankinda, and the provision of material and staff support to the nearby hospitals (Crane, 1952:459). In 1958, the Moma clinic was upgraded into a hospital with the support of the P.C.U.S.A. and Joseph H. Spooner (Crane, 1952:463). Until this time, there were no medical facilities in cities such as Luluabourg, Leopoldville, and Bakwanga (Crane, 1952:458). In conclusion, the dedication and generosity of the missionaries to the advancement of the humanity are exemplified in the self-sacrificing spirit of the members of the P.C.U.S. Even those who did not have the financial capacity to fund projects, demonstrated outstanding love and devotion to the cause by contributing in the best ways to the spread of the Gospel of Christ and the dominance of the Kingdom of God in the world in general, and in the Congo in particular (Kadisha, 2016:42). This was in spite of external forces that did not the independent national churches to thrive, due to their material interests in missions and the need to perpetuate the era of domination (Kadisha, 2016:42). 3.7 Summary This chapter set out to examine the preparation for political transition in the DRC and the Presbyterian Church of Congo. The political development of the DRC and the political 77 crisis leading up its independence were analysed. This discussions in the chapter highlighted how the missionaries mentored Congolese natives who were part of the American Presbyterian Congo mission to become the leaders in the Presbyterian Church of the Congo during the period of the missionaries’ work and even after their departure. Three Congolese adults and four young men confessed their faith in Jesus Christ on the arrival of the Presbyterian missionaries at Luebo (Kasai) as the first converts of the APCM. The presence of these new converts marked the beginning of the formation of the Presbyterian Church in Congolese soil. The missionaries continued the leadership training of the Congolese Christians as many natives gave their lives to Christ Jesus. As the foregoing have shown, to adequately prepare the Congolese leaders in all aspects of church leadership, the missionaries did not constrict the formation of the preachers, evangelists, pastors, catechists and elders to the spiritual dimensions of Christianity. Instead, they transcended the limits of spiritual formation to also equip socially and economically. This means that they did not just create Bible and Theological schools, but they also created schools of trades, medical schools, and engaged in the training of nurses and other medical personnel to work in the different health centres and hospitals to assist the sick. By doing so, they ensured that future native leaders of the Church were well-rounded individuals. 78 CHAPTER 4: POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CONGOLESE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH DURING THE POST-MISSIONARY PERIOD 4.1 Introduction This chapter explores the socio-economic factors that influenced the leadership styles within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo in the post-missionary era. It also examines how these factors led to the prevalent leadership crisis in the Presbyterian Church. Afterwards, the chapter analyses the correlation between the leadership styles portrayed within the Presbyterian Church with existing theories. Finally, the chapter draws conclusions about the extent to which the post-colonial, socio-economic situations have influenced the Church of Christ in the Congo, thereby inextricably affecting the leadership of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. 4.2 Leadership styles within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo: Some consequences from 1960 to 2003 This section explores the different leadership styles that characterised the autonomous leaders and some consequences that occurred during the post-colonial era from 1960 to 2003. Too fully under of the leadership styles historically adopted by the Presbyterian Church in the Congo, it is crucial to understand the concept of leadership style. There are various definitions of leadership. Yukl (1999:23) asserts that leadership is an attempt made to influence at any time the behaviour of an individual or a group. Chuma (2015:7) concurs with Yukl; he defines the term leadership as a way in which an individual (or a group of individuals) influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. For Levine and Crom (1993:21), leadership is a means of listening to, supporting and encouraging people, and involving them in decision-making and problem-solving. As far as Kouzes and Posner (2007:265) are concerned, “leadership is about creating a path for people to make something extraordinary happen”. This section explores the different leadership styles that characterised the autonomous leaders and analyses their influence during the post-colonial era from 1960 to 2003 as presidents of the Presbyterian Church. Too fully under of the leadership styles historically adopted by the Presbyterian Church in the Congo, it is crucial to understand the concept of leadership style. There are various definitions of leadership. Yukl (1999:23) asserts that leadership is an attempt made to 79 influence at any time the behaviour of an individual or a group. Chuma (2015:7) concurs with Yukl; he defines the term leadership as a way in which an individual (or a group of individuals) influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. For Levine and Crom (1993:21), leadership is a means of listening to, supporting and encouraging people, and involving them in decision-making and problem-solving. As far as Kouzes and Posner (2007:265) are concerned, “leadership is about creating a path for people to make something extraordinary happen”. In this regard, one can note that the leadership is influencing human behaviour with the aim of achieving specific goals. It involves motivating someone to do something, or leading a group of people from one situation to another, influencing a group of people to pursue a given goal. Here, the idea therefore, is to lead a group of people to follow someone (leader) towards the attainment of a given purpose. So, a leader is a person to whom others refer; a person who makes things happen (Sample and Bennis, 2002:525). As Marquet (2012:12) aptly opines, “It is not the position that makes the leader, but the leader who makes the position”. In addition, a leader is a role model, one who encompasses all the qualities of an executive. In other words, leaders do not only lead others, they also serve. Based on these definitions, leadership styles refer to the approaches a leader adopts in the provision of direction, implementation of plans, and motivation of people (Stamevski and Stamevska, 2017:191). In the context of the Presbyterian Church in the DRC, leadership styles will rightly be analyzed as the set of explicit and implicit actions taken by the leader. Although there are different types of leadership styles, this study will focus more on the autocratic style that has characterized native leaders, even though the democratic/participatory and laissez-faire styles can be referred to in review. 4.2.1 From 1960-1964 The period from 1960 to 1964 was marked by the autocracy of indigenous leaders. First of all, it should be kept in mind that the year 1960 was an important moment in the history of the DRC: the country's accession to independence. It was at the same time that the Presbyterian Church of Congo obtained autonomy from the APCM. It is important to note that before independence, the leadership of the American Presbyterian Mission in Congo, under the direction of American missionaries, apparently used the democratic style of leadership. The democratic or participatory style is a leadership style that facilitates consultation. 80 This style of leadership, the leaders must encourage consultation and communication with subordinates, to take their opinions and recommendations for decision-making and community initiatives into account (Kabasela, 1994:24). In other words, this leadership style, the ideas, initiatives and the opinions of subordinates are also taking into account in decisions. This was in line with Bowles and Gintis’s (1993:75) assertion that the democratic leader encourages his subordinates to take part in the decision-making process, and uses discursive and rhetorical leadership to coordinate, institutionalise and even dramatise this participatory cycle. A democratic leader, as Sardais and Miller (2012:77) aver, engages with his workforce and also instils a sense of trust, intent, and interest in his workforce. He also expresses love and respect for his subordinates because they are collaborative rather than controlling. However, the disadvantage of this leadership style is that it is not best suited to the achievement of short-term goals, or the resolution of issues that demand immediacy (Lapierre, 2008:12). Based on Lapierre's assertion, the democratic style may have the outward appearance of altruistic or servant leadership. During the American missionary’s period, it seems that they (missionaries) consciously avoided the imposition of ideas on their subordinates without consulting with them. They maintained bilateral relations with the people by delegating authority to subordinates and occasionally allowing them to work independently. The work was conducted in different teams and the decision-making power decentralised. Since in this type of leadership style, decision-making is participatory, then the influence is delegated and often empowers collaborators working as a team (Sagie & Aycan, 2003:453, 573). It is in this sense that Kurt (1964:25) states that democratic leadership is based on semi-directive methods and encourages group members to make suggestions, participate in discussions and be creative. In addition, in this type of leadership, the group is very close-knit and the departure of the leader does not affect the continuity of the work. The democratic leadership style adopted by the missionaries should encourage and provide moral guidance for the personal advancement of subordinates. With the departure of the missionaries in 1960, the natives had access to the Church's administration, unfortunately, this marked a shift in the Church's hierarchy. The indigenous leaders came more autocratic than their democratic counterparts (Mukanya, 1993:68). There are several factors that seem to be the basis for this abrupt change in 81 the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in Congo with the departure of the American missionaries in 1960. Despite the missionaries' democratic leadership style, the native people were uninterested in the decision-making process (Synode, 1992:14). Furthermore, it should be noted that there were no graduates from the Presbyterian Church of the Congo at the time who could focus on the organisation of the Presbyterian Church (Kazadi, 1993:67). Because of the missionaries' demeanour, the natives were in the dark. Even the instruction given to the students was geared toward producing low-level graduates to lead in various church fields. This type of training was specifically designed to fit into the Church's project of evangelization. As a result, the educational legacy left by the American Presbyterian Congo mission was in line with its primary goal. This lack of good intellectual formation (particularly in theology) appears to be one of the causes of the native leaders' difficulties in managing the Church. However, the Presbyterian Church of the Congo later agreed to raise the level of education through the Schools of Theology, as the diplomas were not recognised in the DRC or the missionary countries (Mbiya, 2003:52). After taking over the mantle of leadership from the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, indigenous leaders of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo were not adequately equipped to uphold the status quo vis-a-vis the newly gained autonomy. The early indigenous members of the Congo's Presbyterian Church used the missionaries' as leverage in seeking election to leadership positions (Kadisha, 2016:148), afterwards, the indigenous leaders known as Presbyterian missionaries' predecessors were content with holding different church offices without fully understanding the importance of becoming Godly leaders or servants (Synode, 1986:32). These leaders perceived themselves as conquerors of power, just like politicians, they became power-drunk. In fact, there was no disparity between the new leadership of the Presbyterian Church and the country's leadership. Since, in the autocratic or authoritarian leadership style, the subordinates are guided and micromanaged at each stage. Authoritarian leadership is defined by individual and absolute control of all group members' decisions and contributions. There is a lack of accountability which further creates an awkward atmosphere within the organisation, it is a leadership style based on loss of confidence (Lapierre, 2008:12). Furthermore, the authoritarian style is hostile to participation, its decisions are non-consultative, and the 82 leader pulls out all the organisational strings. He operates with authority and functions as a commander, the only one willing to repay and punish (Sorial and Poltera, 2015:15). This turn of events aggrieved members of the native Church who detested the new autocratic style of leadership. This put a strain on the system and instigated a general sense of distrust, which gradually metamorphosed into acts of rebellion amongst the members of the Church, as can be observed during the period from 1964 to 1991. 4.2.2 From 1964 to 1991 It is important to remember that the period from 1964 to 1991 had dual significance in the history of the Church as it marked the introduction of the General Assembly and the growth of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo. In the year 1964, the first General Assembly was held on Congolese soil converging both native and American missionaries. The aim of this General Assembly was to create Indigenous church institutions (Kazadi, 1993:77). This is because at the time of independence, the institutions set up were only temporal (Synode 1964:43). As a result, native members of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo were delegated leadership positions. During the Assembly, guidelines were laid down for the Consistory, the Presbyterians, the Synod, the General Assembly, and the Executive Committee. They further reviewed the first four years (1960-1964) of the governance by the native leadership, and examined the Church’s progress at the evangelical, educational, spiritual, and financial levels. The autocratic style was the native leader's way of leading the Presbyterian Church in DRC, even though the time from 1964 to 1991 was the most important in the history of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo. The autocratic leadership style of the Presbyterian Church in Congo during this period had a number of consequences, including the continuation of tribal divisions and confusion in the Church's management and administration. As previously stated, the 1964 general assembly brought together all of the leaders: the "Bena Mutu wa Mukuna" and the "Bena Tshibanda" (the people living downstream or under the constraints of their own lives) (EPC, 1965:24). Despite the fact that the leaders were brought together, tribal tensions continued to exist even after the general assembly. Provincial leaders' tribal disputes had devolved into utter autocracy. Members who were not members of a specific tribe were suspended, especially deacons, elders, catechists, and pastors. It is because Presbyterian Church 83 members and leaders are more faithful to their clans than to God's Word (EPC, 1963:23). This state of division, as Chico (1992:18) correctly observes, ruined the Church's management and administration. The establishment of autocracy among the native leaders served the purpose of preserving their leadership positions and imposing the episcopal system as the head of the Church at both national and provincial levels (CPZa, 1991:9). They modified the papers that underlined the Church's top leadership, and some valuable articles of the Church's internal regulations were updated by the members of this ecclesiastical body. Therefore, they led the Church through intimidatory tactics rather than on the basis of the political system approved by the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. This surprisingly happened with the support of the Church of Christ in Congo (Eglise du Christ au Congo). Not only did they have the Church of Christ in Congo’s support, but it was also a well-orchestrated political move by the dictatorship through the platform of the Church of Christ in Congo to maintain control over the affairs of all the Protestant churches. It is important to note that the country had an authoritarian regime at the time: one government, one political party. This form of leadership was replicated in the Church and deviated from the norms of the Congo Presbyterian Church (EPZa, 1981:18). This unceremonious alteration of Church’s internal rules was refuted by the members of the Church who were rightly worried by the ensuing confusion. All this underlines the weakness of the Congolese autocratic leadership style after the departure of the missionaries. 4.2.3 From 1991 to 2003 From 1991 to 2003, the dominant autocratic leadership model remained, albeit with a more "laissez-faire" approach. The liberal style (also known as the laissez-faire style) is a management strategy that fully utilises members' and subordinates' intellect, creativity, initiative, and innovation (Fallone, 1993: 279). The leader's job in this leadership style is to provide the necessary support for his or her subordinates' ideas to be promoted and realised. It's commonly used in research centres and high-end organisations that appeal to people with impeccable knowledge, character, and experience (Fallone, 1993: 279). The Presbyterian Church in Congo's leadership team had adopted this form of leadership over inexperienced servants. However, as Bedard (2008:68-73) points out, this approach 84 is ineffective in conditions where the staff is inexperienced and the job must be completed quickly. As a result, people hired in the laissez-faire direction are in charge of completing tasks independently and identifying problems. Since the laissez-faire leadership style gives members and staff a lot of flexibility in carrying out their duties, it's a popular choice. This leadership style, however, has been used to monitor members of the Congolese Presbyterian Church. The leaders, for example, made no mention of relinquishing control in problem solving or delegating mission completion, despite the fact that they will continue to bear the burden of decision-making. Furthermore, a number of reports have revealed that subordinates were unable to carry out tasks effectively, especially because they lacked the necessary professional expertise. As a result, the leadership's approach only served to throw the church into disarray. The adoption of this leadership style led to uncertainty and power imbalance, which in turn resulted in instances of administrative abuse. It is against this backdrop that N'kashama (2011:422) notes that the problems faced by the Presbyterian Church of the Congo between 1991 and 2003 triggered several issues and disputes within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. The first schism that occurred in the Presbyterian Church in Congo was between 1967 and 1968, the second schism occurred in 1981, and the most significant conflict took place between 2000 and 2003. These schisms which stems primarily from tribal differences has had devastating consequences on the unity not just between the leaders of the Church, but also among the members of this Church (Kadisha, 2016:123. Based on the foregoing, one can accurately assert that the leaders within this Ecclesiastical body had failed in their vocation as servants of God. As Mukengeshayi (2004: 62) observes, in Congolese society many members of this ecclesial institution have lost sincere respect, dignity and honour for the Church. In this regard, I concur with Robbins Stephen’s assertion that many managers fail as leaders because they do not adapt their leadership style to their employees' culture or the situation at stake (2009:79- 80). This implies that the leaders should have never adopted this type of leadership based solely on their personal preferences without taking into cognisance the constraints of the socio-cultural context in which they operate. 85 4.3 The leadership style in the Presbyterian Church in the DRC: the influence of post-colonial politics and the socio-economic realities of the country As previously mentioned, the representatives of the Presbyterian Church in the DRC utilise an autocratic form of leadership. This choice of leadership style was precipitated by two main reasons namely the socio-political situation (traditional system and the country's dictatorial political system) and the socio-economic reality of the DRC (poverty). These factors will be discussed in this section. 4.3.1 Socio-political situation: traditional and the dictatorial political system in the church leadership Concerning the traditional system, the Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a predominately Kasai church. Arguably, the Church's indigenous leaders assimilated the traditional form of leadership into the governance of the Church. For example, in the culture of the Luba Province of Kasai, the traditional leader who is called Mukalenga rules autocratically and his decisions are unquestionable. As a result, the traditional leader is at the hierarchal apex of the political and social spheres of the society and is revered by the entire community (Muyumba, 2004:9). In a similar vein, the native leaders made firm decisions and passed orders to the members of the Church expecting uncontested subordination from them without any considerations for their opinions. This was a replication of the autocratic leadership style practised by the “Mukalenga”. The traditional concept of Bantu wa Mukalenga refers to the atmosphere of mutual happiness under which the people engage in and optimally execute their actions, their duties, their political responsibilities (Kanyinda, 1969:187). In this sense, Mbumba (2015:67-68) notes that this complementary concept is a prerequisite if institutions are to operate based on well-established rules and laws in the traditional Luba-Kasai context and invite citizens to participate in their best interest. To speak of equilibrium then, members' of the group must equally engage in public relations management. This participation should be conducted under set guidelines based on a genuine consensus that can be established and reviewed (Mbumba, 2015:87,106). The lack of complementarity and mutual respect between the leaders and the members of the Church has been largely responsible for the leadership disasters in the Presbyterian Church in the DRC as will be discussed later. 86 In their duplication of the traditional system of government, the leaders of the Church seemed to forget that in the African worldview, “power is one of the many commodities that must be exchanged and in which members should take part” (Roberts and Roberts, 1997:39). This explains why there are traditional proverbs among the people that speak about the mutual nature of leadership. On case in point is the following: “Bukalenga tshinsangansanga, Mukulu mukuata Muakuni mukuata”, which translates as: "Power is a collective good kept together by the elder and the younger" (Roberts and Roberts, 1997:40). If the principle embedded in this traditional proverb is understood, the Chief must be a leader or political authority only as a citizen and a member of the community that entrusted them with the role of being a servant, an organiser and a defender of the community’s common interests. In fact, the leader is the Mukalenga wa Bantu (the authority of the people) who, together with all the other citizens of Bantu wa Mukalenga, are working towards the realisation of shared happiness. From a socio-political perspective, the changes in Mobutu's political leadership had a rippling effect on other spheres of society including religious organisations and the traditional governance structure. A few years after independence, a new political ideology (Democratic Republic of Congo) emerged in the country, which is the recourse to authenticity which can be considered as a central concern in the evaluation of cultural products (Kreuzbauer and Keller, 2017). This ideology was embraced by the entire society because it reinforced Bantu philosophy and culture. It also strengthened the traditional system of the church’s governance. Leaders and officers returned to exercising their power appropriately. For them, the authority to administrate the Church was equivalent to the absolute power demonstrated by traditional rulers. Thus, several leaders sought to administrate the churches following to the model of the tradition (Bondo, 2020:157). However, the traditional system they pursued deviated from the principles of the Church and the teachings of Christ. Rather, it constituted a means of exploiting the Church's material resources by compelling its leadership (Kabengela, 1990:40). Under the influence of the country's new philosophy, some members hurriedly declared themselves as Bishops and chose to dress flamboyantly. They seized the opportunity to hastily reform the ecclesiastical structures left by the missionaries thereby forming an autocracy, and even a dictatorship in the Church (EPC, 1970:31). 87 Considering that the fact that Mobutu’s system of government was a single-party government, with a single union, a single youth movement connected to the party, an extreme centralisation of the state institutions and the Party's conquest of them (Kabongo, 1992:56). In revising the rules and intent of the Congo Protestant Council, many claimed that accepting it as the only legal basis for Protestantism activities in the country was a burden on all Protestant churches (Kabeya, 1995:41). The Church of Christ in Congo’s (hereinafter the Church of Christ in Congo) system remained firmly under the influence of the oppressive regime, and because the Presbyterian Church in Congo was affiliated to the Church of Christ in Congo, it could neither extricate itself from the influence of the state government nor from the Church of Christ in Congo. Consequently, the mandate system was scrapped from both the countries and Church’s politics, such that the leaders were so for life and only death could terminate the mandate regardless of their transgressions. However, the founders of the different communities of the Presbyterian church of the Congo had performed their duties of the head of the Church since the establishment of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo by mandate (EPC, 2009). As a result, all those who did not agree with this transfer to a life mandate became opponents of it. This situation only caused the church to become more chaotic. 4.3.2 Socio-economic situation: the influence of poverty on the leadership of the Church As previously mentioned, a correlation exists between the development of an autocratic system and the prevalence of socio-economic problems such as poverty and financial mismanagement. As elsewhere, in a number of other churches left by Protestant missionaries, the members promoted to leadership were often workers at the mission, people who lived in profound poverty. Due to their promotion to church leadership, the successor leaders felt they had acquired a distinct style or rank from the other indigenous people. They consider themselves to be more important than the population of the county, especially over the (native) church members. Since this work is about the Presbyterian Church in the Congo, the testimonies from the members reveal that the native's leaders said, "We have become like the missionaries. As a result, the missionaries' property, including church property (real estate, land), was confiscated by this minority, i.e. the church leadership and their cohorts. 88 The native people had inherited several goods including the medical legacy, which included 15 dispensaries, six clinics, and a health center in Mbuji-Mayi, among other things (EPC, 1997: 43). The legacy in the field of education (primary and secondary schools, and theological institutions): 120 primary and secondary schools; 3 medical schools; one ministerial training to be replaced by five pastoral schools (Mulaja, 1997:8). There were 49 vehicles and two airplanes in the transport and communications patrimony5 (EPZa, 1970: 41). As Mbiya (2003:49, 89) noted the Congolese natives' real estate and land plots bequeathed by the missionaries to the Presbyterian Church were disappearing. The material goods, the various institutions considered to be the financial sources of the Church became private property, and their closest associates and acquaintances. (Mutshipayi, 2001: 165). In order to protect themselves from all blame, they thus embraced the autocratic style of leadership, frightening other leaders such as elders, deacons, and other pastors. In fact, those who are brave enough to pose questions are labelled as rebels; threats and sanctions followed. The leaders no longer wanted questions about what was going on. In other words, members were no longer to ask questions about what was going on in the church, nor less about what needed to be done. The threats and penalties have become the means of the administration of these native leaders. Since many people could not tolerate such leadership, as a result, the Presbyterian Church of the Congo in 2003 experienced significant disruptions due to the heritage of the Church (EPC, 2003:71). To summarise this section, the autocratic leadership style is widely criticised for having a negative impact (misuse of public property, incitement of hatred and divisions) on the Congolese Church on the one hand (Lapierre, 2008: 12). On the other hand, the autocratic leadership style had some positive outcomes in the pursuit of conflict resolution and the quantitative expansion of the Presbyterian Church in Congo. In crisis management, this approach yielded the desired results almost immediately. To get away from rumoured nuisance members, the leaders formed other Presbyteries and Synods. 5 Other heritage at the time of the Presbyterian Church's autonomy in 1960: 12 mission stations; four key evangelization centers; 44 plots (note that these plots had houses inside); the Presbyterian Church of Congo started its activities as an independent church with 700,000 members; 6300 elders; 700 deacons; 402 parishes. 89 Despite the fact that the teams had little familiarity with the new Presbyteries and synods, they achieved outstanding results. Although it is not ideal in Church management, as presented in the following points, the numerical growth was significant. 4.4 The autocratic leadership style in the Presbyterian 'Church's growth and damage In spite of the autocratic leadership of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo, the Church experienced tremendous expansion in the post-independence period from 1960 to 2003, but with several repercussions. 4.4.1 The autocratic native leadership and the growth of the Presbyterian Church in DRC The period of native leadership was marked by the growth of the Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the phenomenal work of the indigenous leaders during this time, the Presbyterian Church in the Congo expanded significantly with the proliferation of new parishes (Mukanya, 1993:68). Kabasela (1995:217) observes that the indigenous leaders together with the members have executed remarkable evangelical work that has led to the creation of several new Presbyterian parishes and the emergence of new Presbyterian leaders within the Church. The growth of this ecclesiastical institution transcend beyond the neighbouring Province of Katanga and the capital city of Kinshasa. The growth of the Church is attributable to a few reasons. First, autocracy is not alien to Luba Kasai culture. The traditional head is at the centre of political and social authority. He makes all the focal decisions concerning what is to be done, how to give offerings to the vulnerable, and the sowing the seeds. This style of leadership seems to have facilitated the development of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo. Although it was autocratic, the indigenous leaders of the Congo Presbyterian church were charismatic, and many parishes were established leading to an explosion in the church organisation (Kabeya, 1995:132). For instance, from 1891 to 1960 under American missionaries, the Presbyterian Church in the Congo had only 170 parishes with 745 members. At that time, the indigenous leaders were not yet trained by the missionaries. The departure of the missionaries precipitated the education of indigenous leaders and education broadened their knowledge of history, biblical and scientific knowledge. This enabled the new evangelical pastors to work confidently in the Church 90 (Mukanya, 2000:71). Thus, the number of parishes continued to grow until 2003, with about 830 parishes comprising about twenty presbyteries in four synods and 1,356,000 members in total (CPZa, 1991:8). Table 4:1. Synthetic table of the development of the Presbyterian Church of the Congo from 1891-2003 Period Number of local Number of Number of trained churches pastors members 1891-1960 170 745.000 250 1960-1964 300 900.000 623 1964-1991 800 1,700,000 1.000 1991-2003 830 1,356,000 880 4.4.2 The autocratic native leadership and the damage in Presbyterian Church in the DRC Despite the increasing number of indigenous leaderships, it is clear that the leadership style in the Church resulted in multiple losses, including divisions, tribalism and corruption. 4.4.2.1 Divisions within the Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo Divisions are one of the consequences of native leadership. They occur in two main ways in the Presbyterian Church in the DRC. Firstly, there are members who deliberately departed from the churches in demonstration of their discontent and suspicions of administrative mismanagement. Some leaders abhor any form of objection to their administration of the churches. In fact, some pastors do not condone interrogations about what is happening in the Church. The second form of division in the Church was caused by rejection or ex-communication. For example, some members could be excommunicated because of their opposition to the existing ecclesiastical hierarchy or their lack of respect for the legal texts governing those churches. After they have been 91 excommunicated, most of these people leave the Church and set up their own churches. In both cases, the division is nothing but separation or fragmentation; nonetheless, it causes severe damage to the body of Christ (Shaw, 1915:715). The mindset that many leaders display is based on personal gains (egoism). Most leaders' minds are invested upon personal (selfishness) gains. The egoistic attitude is different from that which is recommended by Christ Jesus to the leaders of the Church perform their duty according to the great commandment and with the authority of Christ (John, 13:34), to love one another in the same way as 1 Peter 1:22. Nevertheless, one sees the splitting of the missiological concept due to the effect of the fragmentation phenomena on the growth of the Church, particularly the Presbyterian Church in the DRC. Although one may consider by the missiological evidence that the division may have devastating consequences for the Body of Christ (Shaw, 1915:715). Shaw points out those Christian groups frequently split due to insignificant reasons, less severe than faith, and even within the church's mission. He argues that differences in the Body of Christ are breaches of unity (1915:715). Those who separate often develop feelings of triumphalism over their counterparts. To Paul, moreover, the Holy Spirit does not lead to victory, but triumphs in God, even in things many people condemn or ignore as signs of weakness and powerlessness (1 Corinthians 1:25; 2:3; 9:22). It is crucial because often those who split are very selfish, dishonest, compliant with sin, or even passive against existing doctrines to retain members. 4.4.2.2 Generous with sin and corruption in the Presbyterian Church of Congo The concept of generosity with sin is used here in the sense of tolerating sin. This is particularly important because as previously mentioned, people living in constant turmoil often become extremely passive to sin, or even current doctrines. In this sense, due to the fear of losing their members, many pastors became indifferent about teaching their members, particularly those from their tribe or clan about the allurement of sin. They also did not speak about sin to avoid losing the support of their churches. By their attitudes, the majority of those who make up the tribal or clan base operate in an environment whereby the leaders (pastors) do not seem to have complete control over the members. 92 Due to the high social status desired in the church, church offices are often obtained through money. By offering gifts to leaders, some persons gain access to leadership positions. Similarly, to be elected to the next mandate, candidates for ecclesiastic office use thousands of dollars to curry favour with their electors (Kadisha, 2016:123). This attempt to make a profit out of the things that concern God is none other than simony, because simony also refers to any attempt to sell or buy the ecclesiastical position. Since this activity is linked to the name of Simon the sorcerer, it denotes the crime and seriousness of attempting to buy or sell a spiritual office or benefit from sacred objects (Elwell and Beitzel, 1988:1966; Marthaler, 2003:135-136). Even the resources generated by the church's self-financing operations, such as hospitals, clinics, and schools, are now controlled and used with the aim of preparing for the next electorate. As a result, during this period of native leadership, self-financing practises are collapsing, with widespread embezzlement and corruption as major factors (Mutshipayi, 2001:87). This is a call to those in charge of the Presbyterian Church in Congo to be mindful of the situation. 4.4.2.3 Tribalism in the Presbyterian Church of Congo The Democratic Republic of Congo is a vast country of several hundred tribes, languages, and dialects (Mukadi, 1990:21). This multi-tribal and multi-lingual nature means that people are grouped by tribal affiliation or by region or sector, either in churches or in non- governmental associations. The question however is: Since it is the Presbyterian Church in the DRC, why are some members victimised even though they are from the same region, Kasai? To answer this question, it is important to note that leaders were divided in the first place because of their different cultures: Kete, Cuba, Kasai-West Luba and East Kasai. Conflicts arose with the autonomy accorded to the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. The early Kasai-Western Christians, through the proximity to the missionaries benefited more than other members from other regions. They held senior positions with the missionaries, a situation that caused feelings of resentment after the missionaries left6. The leaders of Western Kasai origin were the perpetrators of the misery of the servants from other regions. Therefore, the deprived servants responded by initiating 6 Later exploited by political leaders in times of crisis. 93 hostilities, so that they remained in rivalry despite being Christians in the Presbyterian Church (EPC, 2001:230). The Kasai West leaders sought to lead the Church along with those from their province to maintain control. In confirmation of this claim, a leadership dispute occurred in the Kasai-Oriental ecclesiastical province during the years 1966 and 1968. To achieve leadership equilibrium, the General Assembly transferred the leadership of the Presbyterian Church Ecclesiastical Province in the Congo to Bena Tshibanda7 (EPC, 1999:32). Whereas the Bena Mutu wa Mukuna8 only allowed their sons access to the leadership of the Presbyterian Church. This catastrophic clan situation significantly influenced the Presbyterian Church. As if it were not enough, the same Kasai Oriental ecclesiastical province plunged the Church into a similar crisis between 1999 and 2003, this time in a crisis that affected the entire Presbyterian Church, and led to the fractionalisation of the Church (Kadisha, 2016:76). Alternative a crisis was observed in the province of Katanga. Meanwhile, the natives of the West Kasai and the Eastern Kasai came into dispute with one another centred on their tribal-clan motives. 4.5 Attempts at reconciliation Based on the foregoing, one can assert that the Ecclesiastical Institution never experienced crisis of such magnitude before its autonomy. Although the tensions were characteristic of the native government, there were also several attempts at brokering reconciliation. For example, some pastors9 tried to restore the leadership structure within the Presbyterian Church; prominent among them was Pastor Mukuna Tshitebua. Pastor Mukuna Tshitebua was one of the native Presbyterians who contributed to ensuring the stability of effective leadership in the Church during the post-missionary period. Pastor Mukuna Tshitebua who was fondly known as Tshinkunku fought for change and unity in the Church. He made remarkable attempts at solidifying reconciliation within 7 Clan of the inhabitants of the lower hill in the Kasai-Oriental province. 8 Clan of the inhabitants of the Kasai-Oriental upper hill. 9 Masters and professors at Kasai's Faculty of Reformed Theology. 94 the Church. For instance, with the support of the missionary Metzel10 (EPZa, 1986:23), he wrote a book entitled "Bena Eglise Presbytérienne au Congo, Tulamatayi ku Dilongolola Dietu" (Members of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo, let us join our organisation the Church of the Church) in which he encouraged the Church leaders to be diplomatic in their leadership of the Church. Unfortunately, at the General Assembly, the book was criticised for being an unauthorised, and was labelled in the local language "Tshifundafunda tshia mikanda bu kunyanga Ekklezia"11 (EPZa, 1986:29). As a result, he was suspended by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Congo in 1986. Despite his suspension, Pastor Mukuna Tshitebua effectively amended some specific mistakes in the management of the Church, as he facilitated the acceptance and recognition of some trained members as pastors. In spite of the numerous glitches of the native leadership, the involvement of the young trained pastors in the governance of the Church undoubtedly led to substantial transformation in the status of the Church12. 4.6 Summary This chapter explored the impacts of the post-colonial political and socio-economic realities on the leadership styles of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo. It examined the extent to which these factors contributed to the leadership crisis in the Church. It was noted that although the missionaries adopted a democratic approach to leadership, their predecessors, that is the leaders of the Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo diverted to the autocratic style. The discussions in this chapter revealed that there were several reasons why the autocratic style was preferred by the native leadership, these include its efficacy for the achievement of immediate goals and its correlation to poverty. As far as the traditional leadership system is concerned, the village chief is sovereign and everything he says must be respected and followed up. This system has been effaced by the ideology of the recourse to authenticity which was the dictatorial ideology of the former Mobutu regime. Regarding the issues of poverty, it was 10 Tshimanga wa Mupindula. 11 Translates as "Writing useless books that aim to destroy the Church". 12 The quantitative growth of the Church foot-notes. 95 noted that many, if not all the indigenous leaders came from poor backgrounds, therefore becoming a leader in the Church signifies an automatic escape route from poverty. Since the successors of the missionaries had to live like the White missionaries, they strived to perpetuate their access to power for as long as possible. Therefore, several pastors, elders and deacons would either refuse to relinquish power at the end of their tenures or would fiercely oppose suspension from office or even excommunication from the Church. This chapter also evinces that the use of the autocratic style in the Presbyterian Church of Congo instigated widespread frustrations that culminated into the leadership crisis and persistent schism in the Church. The argument here has been that, the prevalence of tribalism, corruption, and sinfulness in the life and ministry of leaders is not only deplorable, but that it has deleterious impacts on the missio Dei of the Church. On flip side of the coin, the negative aspects of the autocratic style of leadership notwithstanding, the post-missionary period (1960 to 2003) has recorded the most significant advancements in the history of the Presbyterian Church in Congo. Conclusively, this chapter provides a repository of insights that will prove instrumental to the provision of recommendations to enable the leaders of the Presbyterian Churches in the Congo to efficiently lead the body of Christ while avoiding the consequences of misapplied autocracies in the Church. 96 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Introduction As the discussions thus far have shown, the Presbyterian Church of the Congo has undergone numerous transformations in its leadership styles from the earliest days of the missionaries’ governance through the post-missionary era spanning between 1960 and 2003. Evidently, the change of leadership styles after the departure of the missionaries was influenced by the socio-political and socio-economic realities of the country. This chapter focuses on the summary of the discussions and findings of the study. It discusses also proffers practical recommendations that if adopted by the leadership of the Church, would propel the resolutions if the incessant leadership and reinvigorate its missio Dei. The argument here is that even though this study focussed on a critical historical reflection of the leadership within the Presbyterian Church, it has only scratched the surface. This is because it is pertinent to not only assess the extent of the devolution of leadership in the Church or measure its progress, but to also inspire the leaders of the Presbyterian Church in the DRC to proactively work together towards the reinstitution of unity and progress in the Church through the recommendations made herein and suggestions for further research. 5.2 The organisational structure of the dissertation The first chapter in this dissertation provided a general contextualisation and background to the topic under study. The definitions of the core concepts in the study were provided to enable an in depth understanding of the discussions that followed in the subsequent chapters. The second chapter presented a literature review of the origin and development of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo. The concept of leadership discussed and the leadership styles adopted by leaders of the Church beginning from the earliest American Presbyterian missionaries to the current indigenous leadership was explored. The crux of the argument in this chapter was that efficient leadership in the Presbyterian Church must be such in which the well-being of the members is at the core of the leaders’ priorities, only next in order after the preservation of the Church’s missio Dei. From a biblical point of view, leadership adheres to the prescripts of servitude and complementary relationship 97 with the subordinates. This is evident in the exemplary leadership of Jesus Christ and his manner of living in unity and harmony with others whether in the social sphere, familial bond or through the covenant relationship. Consequently, leadership is considered the principal attribute of God. The third chapter centred mainly on the preparation for political transition to independence in the DRC and by extension, in the Presbyterian Church in the Congo. The interrelation between the state of politics and the political crisis in the country and that of the Church was discussed. In chapter four, the postcolonial factors (political situation, social and economic) that influenced the styles of leadership adopted by leaders of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo were examined. As the discussion have shown, native leaders utilised the autocratic leadership style which combines the traditional governance system and the dictatorial model of the former head of state President Mobutu (recourse to authenticity). By doing, they deviated from the democratic leadership style of the American Presbyterian missionaries. The study shows that the adoption of autocratic leadership was instigated by socio-political and economic factors and led to schism within this Christian association. The chapter also examined the influence of the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC) on the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo as a means by which the government maintained systematic control over protestant churches. Finally, chapter five serves as a conclusion to this study. After the extensive discussions in this study, the research concludes with the presentation of suggestions and recommendations. Suggestions and recommendations are made for future research based on the findings presented in this thesis. 5.3 Conclusion This dissertation sought to analyse the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo from the inception of the church till 2003. It also examined the leadership styles adopted by the leaders of the church that has plunged the church into crisis. In 1891, two American missionaries arrived in the Congo, specifically in Luebo, west of Kasai. They met other missions such as the Catholic mission and other Protestants already established in the region. Initially, their attempt at proselytising the Congo was hampered by factors such as the language barrier between them and the locals, and the natives’ 98 resistance of the gospel. Regardless of the challenges they faced, the mission extended throughout the province and even to the urban centers. When the missionaries left in 1960, the year the country gained independence, the political and socio-economic situation influenced the leadership style of the church. Unlike the missionaries who adopted a democratic leadership style and involved members who were considered mature in the decision-making process, the indigenous leaders chose the autocratic style of the church to lead the Presbyterian Church in the Congo. As the discussions have shown, there were many reasons for this choice of leadership style. The most important were the influence of the country's politics, the imitation of the traditional system of governance and poverty. Regarding the traditional leadership system, the village chief was authoritarian in his leadership and unquestionably revered. The system was also an emulation of the Mobutian ideology of "recourse to authenticity", the dictatorial ideology of the former president, Mobutu. Finally, since the indigenous leaders came from poor families, on becoming church leaders they sought to acquire living standards similar to those of the white missionaries. Thus, the inheritance of mission assets became a primary cause of division within the church, leading to the mass excommunication of some servants such as pastors, evangelists, and elders without taking cognisance of biblical principles or the Church’s constitution. Consequently, the Presbyterian Church of Congo has found itself in a state of turmoil and moral confusion which seriously affects the prophetic mission of the church within the context the wider missio Dei. 5.4 Research findings The hypothesis of the study was that the leadership crisis in the Presbyterian Church in the Congo deviates from and therefore devalues the missio Dei of the Church. This has caused critical crisis within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. From the discussions in this study, it is plausible to deduce two implications of the prevailing situation for the Church. 99 The first implication entails the risk of the establishment of a tribal church13 and corruption. For instance, shortly after independence, there was remarkable passion among indigenous leaders to spread the gospel throughout the churches. Many of the indigenous people were inspired by what they observed and learnt from the missionaries and sought to live according to the Christian model. As a result, many people had made a definitive break with traditional beliefs. All those who joined them embraced the brotherly love and unity preached by the missionaries. Unfortunately, due to the recurring divisions in the Church, the messages and principles of the Church seem to have lost their meaning. The members now live under the oppression of tribal affiliation: Betu, mwana mamu, (translated as “ours, son of ours”). In fact, tribalism has imbued a sense of triumphalism within the Church. Yet for Paul, God's love through the Holy Spirit does not lead to triumphalism, but to triumph in Christ, even amid circumstances that others reject or avoid as signs of weakness and powerlessness (1 Corinthians, 1:25; 2:3; 9:22). As previously discussed, in Chapter 4 (4.4.2.2) those who develop this tribalistic spirit become very generous with sin and even passive toward established doctrines to retain members. Although they keep their membership numbers intact, this underscores the kind of moral corruption that is engulfing the community. For this reason, many of the leaders (pastors) desist from orienting their members in the light of truth for the fear of losing them. To do so, moral virtues, social justice and solidarity need to be a common ground for a life of dependence on one another. The second implication is the possibility of the disappearance of the Seine Doctrine. In its early days, the Presbyterian Church in the Congo was unequivocal about its doctrines and precepts, and the adherence thereof. For instance, new members had to go through a sincere confession of sins, in addition, they had noticeably clear choices to make about the biblical messages. The messages differed distinctly from what they heard from traditional chiefs and from politicians (political speeches). In addition, during the missionary period, there was no substitution of the message. In fact, the missionaries' messages reflected solid Christocentric orientation, especially the image of Christ in this Christian association. It was an exemplar of the message of Jesus through the Holy Spirit for the salvation of the unbelievers. On the contrary, the messages currently proclaimed 13 Composed of a single tribe, or even a single village or family. 100 by the leaders of the Church are neither biblically based nor Christocentric. Instead they instigate the spirit of divisiveness among Christians thereby leading them to idolatry. 5.5 Suggestions and recommendations This critical analysis of leadership development in the Presbyterian Church in Congo in the post-missionary period from 1960 to 2003 should only be considered as the first step taken towards a much larger project. This is because beyond the findings of this research, there is much more to learn about other historical aspects of the Presbyterian Church in Congo. First, this research has reiterated the opinion of several thinkers who believe that if redefined, the leadership potential of the Protestant Churches in the DRC, particularly the Presbyterian Church in Congo, can play a significant role in the salvation of the unbelievers. This necessitates not only a theological dialogue on the leadership styles to be adopted within the church, but also a critical dialogue about the leadership of the Presbyterian Church in Congo, its adherence to the Scripture and its impact on the qualitative growth of the membership. Also, it is crucial to reflect further upon the harsh socio-political and economic realities and the nature of the conflicts that are tearing the community apart. This is important because these are the root challenges hindering the promotion of effective leadership and perpetuating bad governance. Church leaders should not fixate their abilities on delivering impressive sermons alone; they must be proactively involved in the advocacy for the socio-economic equality within the community of saints. In this regard, it is important to ask the tough questions and address the issues that are often pushed to the backburner within the Presbyterian Church of the Congo. For example: Why are leaders of the Presbyterian Church in the Congo indifferent to the incessant unrest that is tearing the Church apart? Why do they become defensive and whenever their unscrupulous actions they are interrogated or criticised? What model of leadership could be adopted to rectify the current crisis within the Presbyterian Church in the Congo? Until all the stakeholders of the Church and the laypeople concede to out rightly tackle these issues, the likelihood of ameliorating the crisis in the Church will remain elusive. 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