Christian Missions and Theological Training 1842-1970

Book excerpt: The training of African Christian ministers had been a matter of concern to the erstwhile International Missionary Council, now merged with the World Council of Churches. The reason was that it was believed by some critics that missionaries gave only low priority to theological training. This book recounts how the missionaries actually trained the indigenous leaders in the mission fields. The study covers the world of British, German, Swiss and American Protestant missionaries as well as that of two Roman Catholic orders in seminary training relating to Anglophone West Africa. The value of the book is that its contents, apart from filling a vacuum in the ecclesiastical history of West Africa, will supply the factual basis upon which an objective evaluation can be given about the efforts of the Western missionary theological training until 1970.