This book is a critical and evaluative research that describes the differential effects that the early missionary work of the Protestant Episcopal Church USA had among indigenous/natives and the settlers/colonists societies in Liberia, from 1821 to 1871. We have sought to uncover the strategies implemented and the results attained by the early American missionaries who struggled to plant the Protestant Episcopal Church among indigenous Africans and black American emigrants in early 19th century Liberia. The native peoples, black returnees from America and white missionaries, each, played a significant role during the early years of missionary activities in Liberia. While we applauded the missionary efforts of the DFMS to evangelize and establish the Episcopal Church in Liberia, we also scrutinize the approach and method used to institutionalize the Protestant Episcopal Church in Liberia, without much alteration or revision. Three groups of people and cultures, the American missionaries (who were mostly white), the black settlers/colonists (Africans who were repatriated from America) and the natives (indigenous tribal people who inhabited the land prior to the arrival of the settlers and missionaries) influenced the planting of Christianity and the establishment, growth and development of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Liberia. Racial, cultural, social, political and religious differences existed among these groups of people and their relationship was characterized by prejudices, falsehood, distorted assumptions, deep-rooted suspicions, misperceptions, constant misunderstandings, conflicts, etc. Upon their arrival in Africa, many of the black colonists made efforts to create a class system in Liberia, in which the natives were treated as second-class citizens and with disrespect. As a result, there were frequent tensions that often resulted into frictions and sometimes led to violent confrontations between the settlers and indigenous Liberians.
About the Author: The Reverend Doctor James T. Yarsiah is an Episcopal Priest who was born and raised in Liberia, West Africa. In May 2010, James graduated with the Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) degree from the School of Theology, The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. Dr. Yarsiah obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Theology (B.A. Th.) degree from the Cuttington University College, Suacoco, Liberia. Father Yarsiah has been a priest for fourteen years. He has served in several dioceses, including the Episcopal Church of Liberia, the Diocese of Cape Coast, Ghana, the Diocese of Tennessee, and he currently serves in the Diocese of South Carolina. James is married to Ophelia Nyenowin Gibson Yarsiah and they are blessed with three wonderful children, Wede, Temah and Kenneth. In July 2003, due to the escalation of fighting among rebel groups in Monrovia, James and his family fled Liberia and spent six months in exile in Ghana. Through the kind assistance of special friends at the Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, Tennessee, the Yarsiah family returned to the United States of America in February 2004