Introduction

One of the inevitable phases human beings pass through on this planet is the time the wind of life howls dirges around them. It is a time when people easily admit the cruelty of life. During this time, all they can see is the black pot—thick darkness. However, the omniscient God, who does nothing without a purpose and whose providence, plans, and purposes are unfathomable, does, amidst the seemingly cruel life, unfold his eternal plans. The phrase “The white pap from the black pot” is a Yoruba proverb. Since the outer part of a typical Yoruba traditional pot is black, but the inside is usually filled with delicious food such as white pap (which represents something pure and good), the proverb teaches that with patience and hope, ugly situation (such as Ajayi’s slavery) will result in something pleasant.

Life was rude and dark for the teenage slave boy Samuel Ajayi Crowther when he began an unprepared journey that took him from slavery to stardom. This biographical article seeks to analyze the life of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther progressively—the white pap in the black pot—under the following subheadings: the early years, the manifestation years, the final years, his living legacies, and the missionary significance of his life to the contemporary Church.

The Early Years

His Childhood and Slavery

Ajayi was born in a town known as Osogun in Yorubaland in the area that is now Oyo State around 1810. Osogun had about 3,000 inhabitants.[1] Ajayi’s father was both a farmer and a weaver. He was one of the head councilors of the Osogun.[2]

At this time, warfare and slavery trade were very rampart. The Yoruba country had greatly suffered the inhuman pursuit of human capital.[3] In 1821, during the morning hours, Osogun was besieged by the desperate Fulani and Eyo Muslims. They killed people and burned houses. Among those who ran but were captured was Ajayi. Ajayi was traded in exchange for goods and animal six times before being sold to the Portuguese traders for the transatlantic market.[4]

One wonders what may have been in Ajayi’s thoughts at the moment. Three possibilities come to mind: maybe he was regretting not taking another rout of escape; maybe he threw in the towel—a possible reason for several suicide attempts; perhaps still, Ajayi longed to jump into the sea but for the chains.

The Portuguese ship was soon intercepted by British naval vessels.[5] The evil day turned into a red-letter day, and the thirteen-year-old Ajayi and other slaves were rescued and settled in Sierra Leone where Ajayi was freed. Such rescue could not have been a coincidence. Countless others like Ajayi had been transported into unknown markets. Many died. Ajayi himself later reported that 102 out of the 189 slaves on board the Portuguese schooner perished in the shipwreck.[6]

The pertinent question is why Ajayi was one of the slaves to be rescued. Why was he not one of the 102 who lost their lives on board? Inherent in him must be more than what mortal eyes could see. Lukado must be right when he said, “Grace is God’s best idea. His decision to ravage a people by love, to rescue passionately, and to restore justly—what rivals it?”[7] The grace that brought Ajayi freedom led him into a new phase of his earthly sojourn.

His Training and Marriage

The next twenty-five years became a period of acquisition, reorientation, and evangelization. He boldly confessed, “About the third year of my liberation from the slavery of man, I was convinced of another worst state of slavery, namely, that of sin and Satan. It pleased the Lord to open my heart. . . . I was admitted into the visible Church of Christ on earth as a soldier to fight manfully under his banner against our spiritual enemies.”[8]

The foregoing was a true picture of a man who had a genuine truth encounter with God. So at his baptism, Ajayi was christened Samuel Ajayi Crowther on December 11, 1825. He had training in the English language in Sierra Leone. He briefly trained in England on recommendation and bagged a degree at the newly hatched and famous Fourah Bay College in Freetown[9]. He later taught in the same college. The principal described him as “a lad of uncommon ability, steady conduct, a thirst for knowledge, and indefatigable industry.”[10] His life was not all academics; Ajayi found his soul mate, a former slave girl—Asano. Like Ajayi, she was baptized and took the name Susan Thomas. They got married and lived harmoniously for about fifty years.

The Manifestation Years

His Ordination

This was another important period in the life of Samuel Ajayi Crowther. The first Niger Expedition of 1841, which aimed at putting an end to the slave trade, and promoting Christianity as well as dignifying trades, had failed:145 people, including Crowther, were on board. Forty-five were Europeans of which forty died of malaria or what Burton called “jungle fever.”[11] This incident brought the idea that Africans must reach Africans. Corroborating this idea over two hundred years later was the famous missionary explorer Livingstone when he said, “This generation can only reach this generation.”[12] Rev. J. F. Schon and other comrades of Crowther recommended him for ordination. He was invited to England by the CMS and arrived there in September 1842. He had his ordination training at Islington Church College under the supervision of Dr. Schofield. Before meeting Crowther, Dr. Schofield did not believe that the mind of a black man could coherently have any logical reasoning. However, Crowther’s answers to the ordination questions proved him wrong. He hurriedly confessed to the college principal that

I should like, with your permission, to take young Crowther’s answers to those Paley questions back with me to Cambridge and there read a few of them to certain of my friends. If after hearing the young African’s answers, they still contend that he does not possess a logical faculty, they will tempt us to question whether they do not lack certain other faculties of at least equal importance, such as common fairness of judgment and Christian candor.[13]

Again, it is becoming more crystal clear that no one can take the wind out of Samuel Crowther’s sails—the black pot has a white pap in it. First, it was his college principal in faraway Sierra Leone. Then, in the white man’s land, he became outstanding. Crowther could not have been the only candidate who sat for the ordination examination. This landmark success, which corrected the wrong notion of the likes of Dr. Schofield on the capability of the black person’s mind, is a strong basis for correcting the anthropologists who still hold the belief of Morton that “the proportions of the skulls (blacks) are distorted, giving the impression that blacks might even rank lower than the apes.”[14]

Without further examination, Crowther was ordained on the Trinity Sunday June 11, 1843.[15] He was priested four months after. His priesthood ordination did not only confirm the dawn of a new era in African Mission work. In retrospect, it also indicated that God had a great plan of salvation in store in spite of Satan’s plan of slavery. An extract from the sermon of the presiding Bishop affirms,

What cause for thanksgiving to Him, . . . that from among a race who were despised as incapable of intellectual exertion and acquirement, He has raised up men well qualified, even in point of knowledge, to communicate to others the saving truths which they have themselves embraced, and to become preachers of the Gospel to their brethren according to the flesh.[16]

The bishop’s homily actually throws more light into the theme of this paper.

Hannah Releases Samuel

Rev. Samuel Ajayi Crowther immediately returned to Africa (Sierra Leone). At once, he began a new phase of mission work in Abeokuta where he learned that his mother was still alive. Just as the biblical Hannah released her only son, Samuel, to God, Ajayi’s mother who was later christened Hannah,[17] when Crowther told her the nature of his job, said, “You are no longer my son, but the servant of God, whose work you must attend to without any anxiety for me. It is enough that I am permitted to see you once more in this world!”[18]

Considering the joy that greeted Crowther’s mother’s heart for seeing her lost son and the pain of finally releasing him, such words indicate that even his mother in her little faith knew that her son was another Samuel that must be given totally to God.

The Second Niger Expedition

In 1854, the British Government decided to have another Niger Expedition. Crowther led the group up the Niger and Benue rivers, which were then known as “the Quorra and the Tsade.”[19] The enterprise was successful. In fact, Hanciles said, “The Niger Mission was a bold experiment in African leadership and initiative of Christian expansion on the African continent in the nineteenth century.”[20] More of Crowther’s involvement in the Niger mission shall be discussed under Crowther’s legacies.

In the meantime, the leadership of Henry Venn in the Church Missionary Society (CMS) became a window through which the commitment of the Society and its goal of getting African clergy trained was strengthened. The CMS adopted the “three selfs” strategy.[21]

Crowther’s Consecration

Henry Venn used the opening of the Niger Mission to push forward Rev. Crowther’s bishopric candidature. The CMS, having approved of the recommendation, invited Rev. Crowther to England. He objected his election on personal assessment: “I am not worthy.”[22] After a series of persuasions, Mr. Venn said, “Samuel Ajayi, my son, will you deny me my last wish asked of you before I die?”[23] Ajayi accepted, saying, “It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.”[24] Consequently, on June 29, 1864, on Saint Peter’s Day, Samuel Ajayi Crowther was consecrated Bishop at the Cathedral of Canterbury. Present among the crowd were two key people in the life of Crowther: Admiral Sir H. Leeke and Mrs. Weeks.[25]

Indeed, all these events lend credence to the theme of this paper. In spite of Crowther’s initial refusal, the providential plan, purpose, and program of God came to pass—the slave boy became an episcopate. He was greeted by an overwhelming reception in Sierra Leone. He immediately travelled to Lagos and then Onitsha. The mission work grew by leaps and bounds without compromise. On this topic Munroe says, “Kingdom culture manifests in godly values that are never surrendered, compromised, or watered down at any time for any reason under any circumstances.”[26] Therein lies the strength of Bishop Crowther in the final years.

The Final Years

His Encounter with Muslims

Bishop Crowther established a relationship with the Muslim chiefs of his days. He taught his workers to imitate Christ and warned them not to have any dispute with the Muslims. The experience he had with the Muslims in Sierra Leone made him say so. While a few might have accepted Christ, not too many did.

His Mission Outlook

Consistently, Bishop Crowther handled the mission work with the consciousness that to whom much is given much is required. At Bonny, the sacred land of the giant lizards, Bishop Crowther personally surveyed the land, mobilized personnel for founding a school, and built a chapel on the land.[27] Brass, the land of paganism, also received the gospel. The worship of the enormous snakes stopped. This exemplary and brave attitude of Bishop Crowther indicates what can happen when a minister of the gospel is reliant on Jesus and makes the Great Commission a priority. Lawless says, “If we are going to engage in a Great Commission Resurgence, it has to start with the pastor committing himself to personal evangelism. Evangelism must be intentional. We have to make it a priority.”[28]

However, Bishop Crowther had to face life challenges in his ministry. He lost his wife on October 19, 1880, and three years later, his mother died; he was also accused of lapses within his episcopal See. There were allegations of sexual immorality, drunkenness, and station women engaging in trades, and so on. While some were true, many were mere exaggeration. Bishop Crowther suffered from a stroke in July 1891 and died in Lagos on December 31, 1891, not as a failure but as a humble conqueror in God’s mission.

Living Legacies and Missionary Significance of Bishop Samuel A. Crowther’s Life and Ministry to the Contemporary Church

Having explored the background, early years, manifestation years, and final years of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, this article examines Crowther’s living legacies and the missionary significance of his life and ministry to the contemporary church.

Living Legacies

Following Samuel Ajayi Crowther’s ordination training at the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Training Institute at Islington and his exceptional performance, Fourah Bay College was upgraded to a befitting standard, and more schools were established. Fleck notes that following Crowther’s consecration as the Bishop of the Niger Territories at the Cathedral of Canterbury, more colleges and health centers were established for the people.[29] This upgrade and establishment of schools and health centers served as an incentive for a healthier learning environment for the well-being of people as well as a booster for motivation to seek formal knowledge.

Bishop Crowther was passionate about making the Word of God readily available to his audience in their local languages. He translated the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and the Acts of the Apostles into Hausa.[30] He translated the Bible into the Yoruba language and some parts of the Bible into other African languages. Bishop Crowther is generally viewed as the father of the African church and the father of the Yoruba people. He brought together the regional dialects of the Yoruba states into one organized language. He also embarked on the orthography of the Yoruba language. Crowther published grammar books in both Hausa and Yoruba languages.

Robinson outlines factors that opened doors to Christianity in the southern part of Nigeria. These factors include the ministry of the freed slaves who targeted their own people with the gospel and the ability to contextualize the gospel by retaining the name of the Supreme God in the languages of the people—such as Olorun among the Yoruba, Chineke among the Ibo, and Oghene among the Urhobo.[31] Other factors include “the introduction of education, medical help, and other benefits of Western Civilization in the first stages of mission work in Nigeria.”[32] Stressing the importance of Western education, it was said that “the school was Crowther’s chief method of evangelization,”[33] and Mary Slessor declared that “schools and teachers go with the gospel.”[34] Bishop Crowther’s method of the intentional spreading of the gospel through the instrumentality of education is highly commendable. Several missionaries and mission agencies have embraced this method.

The second and more prepared Niger Expedition took place in July 1856 with Crowther, Rev. J. C. Taylor (a son of slave parents of the Igbo tribe), Simon Jones, and others.[35] According to Fleck, what is most remarkable about this expedition was that no European died during the entire 118 days of the voyage.[36] The Niger Mission was founded on the land the chief of Onitsha allotted to the missionaries. The mission started with the effort of Africans. Among other difficulties, Crowther regularly faced the challenge of Islam. Crowther and Dr. Baikie made further efforts to reach the great Muslim Camp at Bida.[37] Fleck observes the wisdom of the four mission strategies of Crowther when he met the Fula king: friendship, an accompanied Muslim interpreter, teaching skills, and the introduction of trade.[38] The king favorably released land in Rabba for them. Crowther later visited many places on the banks of the Niger.

Another expedition supported by the government took place in 1857.[39] Crowther, Taylor, and twenty-five emigrants were on board. They were from Onitsha, Lokoja, Igbebe, Idda, and Rabba. Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder note that it was Crowther who “led an all-African group of missionaries to the Niger Delta.”[40] In the words of Fleck, Crowther “became the first member of the C.M.S. to make the overland journey between the coast and the river, that afterwards became a frequent route.”[41] It is quite significant that Crowther traversed such a vast distance, being the first member of the Church Missionary Society to do so.

In terms of civilization and cultural liberation, Samuel Crowther quietly but intelligibly proved to his European contemporaries that the only difference between Africans and Europeans was skin color. Walls notes the outstanding intelligence and the shocking control of English language expressed by Crowther when he addressed a European audience with Queen Victoria in attendance and how he responded to Prince Albert’s intelligent questions.[42] From this intellectual base, several shifts occurred, including accordance of respect for both African and English ministry, a quest to produce more educated Africans like Crowther, approval of equal academic training for both Africans and Europeans, establishment of the CMS grammar school in Freetown, and a change in the metrics of civilization. Walls remarks, “Sierra Leone wanted everything that would be expected in England, and they made sure they got it.”[43] This breakthrough was occasioned by Bishop Crowther’s intellectual ability, and it made a landmark impact on his generation and the generation after him.

Although the Church Missionary Society acclaimed the Niger Territories Diocese to be self-supporting, Samuel Crowther was consecrated Bishop over a geographically vast episcopal See—a missionary diocese—that lacked financial and personnel resources.[44] Nevertheless, this challenge did not deter Bishop Crowther from the mission God assigned had him. He labored for two decades to build the diocese with his limited resources.

While explaining how each community gives prominence to certain canonical scriptures because of how they address their situations, and how many practitioners of the Bible would not choose the book of Leviticus for sustenance, Andrew F. Walls makes a unique reference to Crowther: “Interestingly, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the great nineteenth-century Yoruba missionary bishop, thought it should be among the first books of the Bible to be translated.”[45] This statement lends credence to Crowther’s grassroots missiological approach. Rather than shy away from the book of Leviticus due to its density on sacrifices, ceremonial laws, structured Levitical priesthood, and violence, Crowther’s contextual mind saw strong cultural and religious parallels between Africans’ worldviews and practices and the detailed contents of the book of Leviticus. For Crowther, the translation of such a book from Hebrew to Yoruba and African languages at large would have missional relevance to the local culture, thereby endearing them to embrace the redemptive path provided by God.

Mission work in Nigeria began with freed slaves who returned to Nigeria (1837–1842) and who came home to Abeokuta to introduce Christianity to their people. Also of note was the quick support of the Church Missionary Society that sent Henry Townsend, and Wesleyan Methodists who sent Thomas Birch Freeman to reinforce the new efforts. The work in the Central Belts began by the passionate effort of Crowther who evangelized the people groups living along the banks of the Niger River.[46]

Hastings rated Crowther as “probably the most famous West African Christian of the nineteenth century.”[47] Hanciles supports this claim, stating that Crowther is “the most celebrated African Christian of the nineteenth century.[48] Bevans and Schroeder call Crowther “a remarkable representative of non-Western peoples in mission.” These claims point to Crowther’s Christlike character and deep sense of commitment to the spread of the gospel. He was humility personified, coupled with the spirit of gentleness and trust. These attributes are great leadership postures.

Missionary Significance of Bishop Samuel A. Crowther’s Life and Ministry to the Contemporary Church

One key word that underscores the nature and attributes of God in his relation to the cosmos is love (John 3:16; 2 Cor. 5:14). The essence of the incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, intercession, and anticipated final redemption is love. This theme of love—for God and for people—was at the center of Crowther’s life and ministry. By implication, evangelists, missionaries, and other Christians must engage in the proclamation of the good news in love. Any evangelism that is void of God’s love for the created world should be named something else. This knowledge makes Christianity different from other religions. Jones states, “If the whole of Christian life is to be understood as loving God and neighbor, then part of that love is the ministry of evangelism.”[49] Hence, motivation, intention, and drive, are key factors in faith-sharing. Oftentimes, people embark on evangelism or faith-sharing because of unhealthy motivation, intention, and drive. Therefore, the submission of the Apostle Paul that the most spectacular manifestations of gifts that are not motivated by love is nothing (1 Cor. 13) must be considered.

Like Crowther, the twenty-first-century Church is faced with the enormous challenge of Islam. The presence of Muslims and other Traditional Religionists in the neighborhood must not be seen as a threat to Christianity. Individual Christians should not engage them in unprofitable theological argument. Bevans and Schroeder remark that “Crowther avoided using the common language of denunciation and allegation in his encounters with Muslims.”[50] Rather, Christians should endeavor to win them through grounding in the Christian faith, Christlike compassion, fervent intercession, and sharing of the gospel of Christ in all spheres of life (workplace, schools, marketplace, festivals, and other occasions).

One of the key missionary strategies employed by Crowther was his devotion to relevance. Crowther knew the significance of language and cultural values, so he focused on the translation of the books of the Bible to different local languages in order to make its message relevant to the people. This more missional and accommodational approach explains how Crowther was able to penetrate several African cultures with the gospel. The twenty-first-century Church should leverage modern technology to contextualize the gospel message to its recipients without compromising its eternal message.

Conclusion

The goal of this article was to analyze the life of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther in the light of the Yoruba proverb, “From a black pot comes a white pap.” The outer part of a typical Yoruba traditional pot may be black, but the inside is usually filled with delicious food such as white pap. Crowther’s story confirms that with patience and hope, ugly situation will result in something pleasant. Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther left several living legacies including the translation of the Bible into the Yoruba language and translation of some parts of other African languages. He also embarked on the orthography of the Yoruba language. He was humility personified coupled with the spirit of gentleness and trust. Bishop Crowther is generally viewed as the father of the African church and the father of the Yoruba people. He brought together the regional dialects of the Yoruba states into one organized language. Whether it is through immortalization, memories, or the stories we tell, Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther left a legacy that lives on. As Christian leaders, missionaries, pastors, church workers, and laypeople, let us put on courage, humility, and commitment as found in Crowther and look up to God to work on our weaknesses. You may not be the best in your generation, but you can put in your best toward God’s mission in your generation.

Samuel Ayotola Odubena

Main Street UMC, Peru, Indiana

[1] Some people have suggested this could be about 12,000.

[2] H. K. W. Kumm, African Missionary Heroes and Heroines (New York: Macmillan, 1917), 46.

[3] Laura Murphy, “Obstacles in the Way of Love: The Enslavement of Intimacy in Samuel Crowther and Ama Ata Aidoo,” Research in African Literatures 40, no. 4, 49.

[4] G. H. Anderson, ed. “International Bulletin of Missionary Research.” 16, no. 1 (1994): 1.

[5] Jehu J. Hanciles, In the Shadow of the Elephant: Bishop Crowther and the African Missionary Movement (Oxford: Cathy Ross, 2008), 6.

[6] S. A. Crowther, Bulletin Issue, manuscript letter in Cape Town Diocesan Archives.

[7] Max Lukado, Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012), xiii.

[8] Andrew Walls, “A Second Narrative of Samuel Ajayi Crowther’s Early Life,” Bulletin of the Society for African History 2 (1965), 14.

[9] Margaret E. Burton, Comrade in Service (New York: National Board YWCA, 2016), 134. Fourah Bay College was established by the Church Missionary Society of England for the purpose of training young Africans to be missionaries to their own.

[10] Burton, Comrade, 134.

[11] Burton, Comrade, 135.

[12] Anne Dunagan, The Mission Minded Child: Raising a New Generation to Fulfill God’s Purpose (London: Authentic, 2007), 1.

[13] Burton, 136.

[14] Richard H. Robbins, Cultural Anthropology: A Problem Based Approach, 5^th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2009), 258.

[15] Jesse Page, Samuel Crowther: The Slave Boy Who Became Bishop of the Niger (London: S. W. Partridge & Co., 1890), 64.

[16] Page, Samuel Crowther, 65.

[17] Burton, Comrade, 138. “His [Crowther’s] mother was Mr. Crowther’s first Christian convert at Abeokuta, and was baptized by him.” Jeanne Decorvet and Emmanuel Oladipupo, Samuel Ajayi Crowther: The Miracle of Grace (Lagos: CSS Bookshops, 2006), 76. This work shows her picture with her baptismal name as Madam Hannah Afala.

[18] Burton, Comrade, 138.

[19] Kumm, African Missionary, 54.

[20] Jehu Hanciles, “Back to Africa: White Abolitionists and Black Missionaries,” in African Christianity: An African Story, ed. Ogbu U. Kalu (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2007), 176.

[21] Hanciles, “Back to Africa”, 176. The “three selfs” means self-supporting, self-propagating, and self-governing churches.

[22] Burton, Comrade, 143.

[23] Burton, Comrade, 143.

[24] Burton, Comrade, 143.

[25] Admiral Sir H. Leeke was a young captain on board H. M. S. Myrdon, the British ship that rescued Ajayi and other slaves from the Portuguese. Mrs. Weeks was the widow of Bishop Weeks of Sierra Leone where she taught Crowther the alphabet.

[26] Myles Munroe, God’s Big Idea: Reclaiming God’s Original Purpose for Your Life (Shipppensburg: Destiny Image, 2008) 146.

[27] Decorvet and Oladipupo, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, 106.

[28] Chuck Lawless and Adam W. Greenway, eds. The Great Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God’s Mandate in Our Time (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2010), 75.

[29] Ian Fleck, Bringing Christianity to Nigeria: The Origin and Work of Protestant Missions in Nigeria (Plateau, Nigeria: ACTS Bookshop, 2013), 72.

[30] Fleck, Bringing Christianity to Nigeria, 61.

[31] John B. Grimley and Gordon E. Robinson, Church Growth in Central and Southern Nigeria (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966), 276.

[32] Grimley and Robinson, Church Growth, 276.

[33] Grimley and Robinson, Church Growth, 276.

[34] Grimley and Robinson, Church Growth, 276.

[35] Fleck, Bringing Christianity to Nigeria, 69.

[36] Fleck, Bringing Christianity to Nigeria, 69.

[37] Fleck, Bringing Christianity to Nigeria, 70.

[38] Fleck, Bringing Christianity to Nigeria, 70.

[39] Fleck, Bringing Christianity to Nigeria, 71.

[40] Stephen B. Bevans and Roger P. Schroeder, Constants in Context: A Theology of Mission for Today (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2004), 213.

[41] Fleck. Bringing Christianity to Nigeria, 71.

[42] Andrew F. Walls, The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996), 104.

[43] Walls, Missionary Movement, 104.

[44] Adrian Hastings, ed., A World History of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 208.

[45] Walls, Missionary Movement, 12.

[46] Grimley and Robinson, Church Growth, 38.

[47] Hastings, World History of Christianity, 207.

[48] Jehu Hanciles, “Back to Africa: White Abolitionists and Black Missionaries,” in African Christianity: An African Story, ed. Ogbu U. Kalu (Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2007), 176.

[49] Scott J. Jones, The Evangelistic Love of God & Neighbor (Nashville: Abingdon), 2003, 16.

[50] Bevans and Schroeder, Constants in Context, 213.

Categories: (H) Article