RP-Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies

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Browsing RP-Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies by Author "Gathogo, Julius"

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    Ecclesia Anglicana Conference of September 2020: Cooking Anglican ecclesiology in a Kenyan Pot?
    (Jumuga Journal of Education,Oral Studies, and Human Sciences, 2020) Gathogo, Julius
    Asthe first wave of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)was beingexperienced in Kenya since 13 March 2020,when a 27-year-old Kenyan woman became the first person to be diagnosed with it, some Anglicans in Kenya were contrariwiseovercomingthe shock,that went with it, as they undertook nobleintellectual activities. As numbers went on soaring,andassome celebrated artists, scholars, clerics, and other cadres of society became early casualtiesof Covid-19, an Ecclesia Anglicanawas boldly entering the ecclesiastical market-place with new rhythms hitherto unknown in Kenya’s historiography. In other words, atheo-ecclesial creativity was cooking inan African pot, and cooking well from the nethermost depths of the Ocean floor, rather than from thetopstratums. While the revolutionary trigger was set on 6 August 2017, it had to await the worst pandemic since the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 before it pickedupits momentum. Put it differently, the momentumpickedup astoundingly during Kenya’s Covid-19 lockdown,as two major conferences were successfully held during this chillingmoment. The first major webinars’conference was held on 26 August 2020;while the second one was held on 16 September 2020. Characteristically, the two conferences made a bold attempt at understandingthe Anglican ecclesiology by cooking it from the local resourcesand spiced itupthrough the modern science and technology. Was it a protest against theo-intellectual lockdowncutting across the continent, a phenomenon where a casual observation shows that social and ecclesial leadership has largely attractedthe less intellectually-inclined sons and daughters of the land? Methodologically, this article seeks to explore, and indeed make a survey of Ecclesia Anglicanaand attempt to understand it beyondthe founders’perspectives, after interviews with some of them, and make an informed analysis. Second, this article will attempt to show how Ecclesia Anglicanais usheringina new rhythm,as it beats the drums of science and technology, modern communicationand social mediaplatforms,and hopefullychange the status quo for the better. It appears that nothing will slow down this rapid tempo; for if the pandemic has not, what else can do so?Third, the article will focus more on the 16 September 2020 webinar conference which, in my view, was the most climactic moment for Ecclesia Anglicanasince 2017 when the idea was mooted and subsequently released to the public squarefor broaderconsumption.Will Ecclesia Anglicanahelp in buildinga more informed and/oran intellectually engaging Kenyan Anglican society?
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    Settler-Missionary Alliance in Colonial Kenya and the Land Question
    (Church History Society of Southern Africa and Unisa Press, 2020) Gathogo, Julius
    This article sets out to demonstrate the hugger-muggers that oiled the existence of an unholy alliance between European settler-farmers and missionaries—the Anglicans and Presbyterians and/or the Protestant wing in particular—in 20th century Kenya and East Africa, and especially on land policies. With land for settlement being the key factor to both missionaries and settler-farmers, the land question undoubtedly became one of the major factors that glued them together in colonial Kenya (1895–1963). Was the settler-missionary alliance meant to hurt the same people whom the missionaries had come to convert to the God of Christendom? Most importantly, how did the missionaries relate with the African chiefs regarding the land question, especially with reference to Kirinyaga County of central Kenya? This further drives us to wonder: Was the Devonshire White Paper of 1923 and/or the Indian Question related to the land question? The article sets out on the premise that while land remained the most prized commodity in colonial Kenya (1895–1963) and the entire 20th century, the 21st century has seen the church—and especially the afro-Pentecostal wing of the church—focusing on money and wealth without necessarily focusing on land. In its methodology, the article has heavily relied on archival resources, unpublished works, and field work materials, especially with regard to Kirinyaga County of central Kenya where oral sources on missionaries and land acquisition were sought. It also reviewed existing literature regarding settler-missionary alliances, especially on land-related matters.