Black Agency in Christian Development

This stream of research seeks to counter hegemonic discourses about the spread and development of Christianity in Africa, which not only centre European missionary agency, but also ignore the central role that Africans have played in developing Christianity, not only from antiquity but also in the 18th and 19th centuries. This stream of research looks to highlight the major contributions that African agents have played in the establishment of Christianity in South Africa.

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The spread of Christianity in Southern Africa was facilitated by black Christian converts who played the role of interpreters between European missionaries and African communities. One such example is Dyani kaTshatshu who was William Shaw's transporter and interpreter when Shaw sought to start the first Wesleyan mission station among amaGqunukhwebe in 1824. 

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Methodism in Southern Africa has contributed significantly in the hymnody of Christianity. The hymns that melodically echo and reverberate in many churches were written by Black hymnwriters whose stories has never been told. A contribution of this research seeks to tell the stories of black hymnwriters, the contexts during which the hymns were written so as to enrich our understanding of the meaning of these hymns. 

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