Black Missionary in an Age of Enslavement

Noel Leo Erskine

Black Missionary in an Age of Enslavement
Format
Hardback
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield
Country
United States
Published
15 August 2024
Pages
216
ISBN
9781538180051

Black Missionary in an Age of Enslavement

Noel Leo Erskine

Much discussion of Protestant Christianity and its missions in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries is focused on the work of English missionary William Carey and American Missionaries Adoniram and Ann Judson, who travelled to India in 1793 and 1813. This book reframes this conventional understanding of mission studies and outreach by exploring the legacy and life of the enslaved American Baptist George Liele (1750-1825)-the first African American ordained to the Christian ministry.

Black Missionary in an Age of Enslavement looks at Christianity and mission through the life and times of Liele, highlighting his travels as an itinerant preacher in South Carolina, Georgia, Jamaica (and through his protege there, David George), Nova Scotia, Sierra Leone and, toward the end of his life, England. Liele knew what it meant to be both slave and free. In Jamaica, as in Savannah, he was imprisoned for his faith and saw the survival of the church as pivotal. Liele was a man of firsts: the first African American ordained to the Christian ministry (May 20, 1775), and the first missionary to take the Christian gospel outside the United States. It was Liele, more than any other missionary, who initiated the practice of offering education to native people both enslaved and free. With the hymnal in one hand and the Bible in the other, Liele taught the enslaved and free that they were destined for liberation.

This item is not currently in-stock. It can be ordered online and is expected to ship in approx 2 weeks

Our stock data is updated periodically, and availability may change throughout the day for in-demand items. Please call the relevant shop for the most current stock information. Prices are subject to change without notice.

Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.