Missionary Influence in Liberia

Earliest Missions Activity

Along with the arrival of American settlers in Liberia came the desire to preserve and spread their faith through missionary activity. 

The Baptists claim to be the first denomination to enter Liberia. Two black families from Virginia were commissioned in 1821 to pioneer the work: that of Colin Teage and that of Lott Cary.[1]

Lott Carey
  Photo Source: Unknown author, Lott Carey, c. 1825, accessed August 12, 2016, http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/lott-carey-11630295.html.

The group worked in Sierra Leone for a time before getting established in Liberia in 1822. After that, Teage and his family went back to Sierra Leone, while Cary remained with his family in Liberia. Meanwhile, Cary not only planted a church in Liberia, but also became involved in the government of the newly founded colony. Tragically, Cary was killed in a munitions explosion in 1828 [2], after which the Teage family returned to Liberia to continue the work, co-pastoring the Providence Baptist Church in Monrovia, which Cary had founded. [3] 

Providence Baptist Church - Monrovia, Liberia
Photo source: Dave Almack, Providence Baptist Church where the nation of Liberia was founded, 2012, accessed August 12, 2016, https://faithlit.wordpress.com/2012/02/.

One of the founders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Daniel Coker, however, had also already set sail with the first group of settlers aboard the ship Elizabeth in 1820, intending to establish a church of their own in Liberia. Later, when Coker's missionary teammates died, he decided to move on with a group to Sierra Leone and establish a church in Freetown. He remained the leader of that church until he died in 1846. [4]

Daniel Coker 

Photo Source: Unknown author, Daniel Coker, African-American missionary to Sierra Leone, 1820, Public domain, accessed August 12, 2016,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Coker#/media/File:Daniel_Coker,_Sierra_Leone,_AME,_1820.JPG.

The Protestant Episcopal Church began organizing a mission to Liberia in 1821, but their work was delayed by several years when first one missionary was refused passage by the Colonization Society, then later a second missionary passed away just before his departure. By 1833, however, an Episcopal church known as St. James' had set down roots, drawing from within the settlers themselves, as opposed to bringing in foreign missionaries from the U.S. [5]

Impact of Missions

Unfortunately, good intentions did not necessarily lead to good practices. As the colonizing ex-slaves found their way in their new "homeland," often political influence came before spiritual influence. They came to be seen as outsiders by the native tribes, and Christianity was viewed as an American anomaly. [6]

Outreach to the native tribes was a slow development, and yet certainly there were safety considerations to be made. Sadly, it was more than just safety precautions that damaged the witness of the Americo-Liberians to the indigenous tribes. 

Joseph C. Wold, author of God's Impatience in Liberia, summarizes the obstacles:

“First the wars between the pagan tribes and settlers kept the former geographical isolated from the Christians. Second, the tribesmen never considered Christianity a real possibility for themselves because it was identified with a foreign culture.  And third, unfortunately, the moral laxness and social injustice of the settlers in their relation with the tribes did not commend Christianity as a way of life.”[7]

So unfortunately, faith in Liberia has still not reached ever corner of the country. "Superficial Christianity became a way of life of the people for more than a century.  Even today Christianity in some major cities of Liberia still bears the brunt of a Christianity that has 'a form of godliness but denying its power' (2 Tim. 3:5)." [8] 

The message of the Gospel is further obscured by mixing in influences of Freemasonry and the secret societies native to this region of Africa. "Since many top Church leaders were deeply rooted in secret societies, the Church tolerated the practices to the extent that they comingled with worship services in certain mainline Churches." [9]

Nevertheless, more than 10% of Liberians today are evangelical Christians. That puts it at the highest progress level of "5 - significantly reached" according to the Joshua Project. [10] Still, Liberia remains a target for Islamization in Africa [11], and is engaged in the continued struggle against the influence of animistic practices.



[1] William A. Poe, "Not Christopolis but Christ and Caesar: Baptist Leadership in Liberia," Journal of Church and State 24, no. 3 (1982): 536, accessed August 11, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23916665.
[2] Diane Severance, "Lott Carey," Church History Timeline on Christianity.com, accessed August 12, 2016, http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/lott-carey-11630295.html.
[3] Alan Neely, "Teague, Colin," in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 660, reprinted with permission in "Teague, Colin [Teage, Collin] (c. 1780-1839): Pioneer African American Baptist Missionary to Africa," History of Missiology, Boston University School of Theology, accessed August 12, 2016, http://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/t-u-v/teague-colin-collin-teage-c-1780-1839/.
[4] Rachel Gallaher, "Coker, Daniel 91780-1846)," Blackpast.org, accessed August 11, 2016, http://www.blackpast.org/aah/coker-daniel-1780-1846.
[5] George D. Browne, "History of the Protestant Episcopal Mission in Liberia up to 1838," Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 39, no. 1 (1970): 18, accessed August 11, 2016, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42973243.
[6] "History of Liberia," Vision Liberia 2027, accessed August 12, 2016, http://www.liberia2027.com/627324.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.[10] "Country: Liberia," Joshua Project, accessed August 12, 2016, https://joshuaproject.net/countries/LI.
[11] "Liberia," Operation World, accessed August 12, 2016, http://www.operationworld.org/libe.