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The website of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) recalls these people's first Christmas as servants of Christ: "With the untiring efforts of these evangelists [Crowther and the Rev. Henry Townsend of CMS], Nigerians began to believe in Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of the entire world. And so, on December 25, 1842 in Abeokuta, Nigerians were able to celebrate for the very first time the glorious annunciation that the Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, was born. They gave glory to God Almighty, experiencing the peace and joy of the Lord; Anglicanism had been born in Nigeria."

Crowther became the lead translator on a Yoruba Bible—the first native speaker to take such a role. Then, in 1854, he headed an even more ambitious project. This was a second Niger Mission, whose mission force consisted entirely of Africans from Sierra Leone.

Western opposition, native ability
Throughout his distinguished career, Crowther joined Henry Venn, the British leader of the CMS, in promoting the "indigenous church principle." This was a creed of self-government, self-support, and self-propagation, under a fully indigenous pastorate. In 1864, through Venn's influence, Crowther was consecrated bishop of "the countries of Western Africa beyond the limits of the Queen's dominions."

The later years of the Niger church were marked, however, by struggle and disappointment, as young liberal ministers opposed Venn's principles and bucked Crowther's leadership, firing many of his staff. Crowther died, a discouraged man, in 1891, and a European bishop succeeded him. Indigenization found itself in temporary eclipse while the European nations busied themselves carving up the continent of Africa.

But during the ensuing century, even in the thick of colonialization, African Christians took matters into their own hands. A veritable army of African evangelists covered the continent, triggering phenomenal growth in the mainstream denominations and founding new churches that now number in the millions of adherents.

Today the Anglican church enjoys the fruit of that army of African pastors who carried on the legacy of Samuel Ajayi Crowther. In 1900, the Anglican church claimed 35,000 adherents in Nigeria—2 percent of the country's whole population. By the mid-1990s, this had become a stunning 14,800,000, or 17 percent of the entire population of Nigeria, prompting the Archbishop of Canterbury to declare the Church of Nigeria "the fastest-growing church in the Anglican Communion."

Today the denomination has 76 dioceses, each served by a bishop. Most of these serve churches in urban settings—thousands of villages remain to be reached by the gospel.

The wounded prophet
But the Nigerians have faced other challenges besides the still-crying need for evangelization. Nominalism—that is, half-hearted Christian faith and action—is not an exclusive Western preserve. African hearts, too, are prone to wander— "Many adherents pay little attention to Bible study, prayer and fasting," reports the denomination's website. "Although the Church has witnessed significant growth numerically, its spiritual growth rate in recent times has significantly declined." This lackluster spirituality prompted Archbishop Akinola to present, in March, 2000, a new vision for his Church of Nigeria—one committed to deepening members' "commitment to sacrificial love as exemplified by Jesus Christ."

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June (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47