Island Ministers: Indigenous Leadership in Nineteenth Century Pacific Islands Christianity

by Lange, Raeburn (2006), 422pp., ISBN 1 74076 176 6.
Published in association with Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies
AUD$31.78 (Including GST: AUD$34.96) (softcover)

In 1837, the missionary John Williams described Tahiti as 'a bright speck in the midst of the ocean, whence the light of salvation was to diverge in all directions over the mighty mass of waters'. Island Ministers studies the spread of this light of Christian missionisation and concentrates on uncovering the story that belongs to the Pacific Islanders themselves and the Christian ministry they performed throughout the nineteenth century. Presented in narrative form and moving across the Pacific from east to west, the history follows the chronological movement of Christianity across the region. Acknowledging the hidden lives of the women who worked alongside the missionaries, the narrative focuses with great humanity on the stories of those indigenous men who worked in their communities as missionaries or pastoral carers and, where possible, uses their voices to tell of their experiences. This monograph makes an outstanding contribution to the history of the Pacific, and Christianity more generally.