DISCUSS THE CAREER AND CHALLENGES OF BISHOP AJAY CROWTHER

Approach.
• Describe the career of Bishop AjayCrowther
• Show his role in the spread of Christianity
• Identify the challenges faced by Bishop Ajay Crowther
• Conclude.
His background and role
1. He was born in1806 in Oshogun near Iseyin in Yoruba land.
2. He was sold as a slave during the time of Yoruba civil wars in 1821 but rescued by the British anti-slave squadron and resettled in free town in Sieraleone in 1823
3. Crowther got converted to Christianity and baptized on 11th December 1825 and renamed Samuel Crowther.
4. He joined Islington parish school or missionary training in London in 1826.
5. In 1827 he joined Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leon.
6. In 1841 he was sent to the Niger Delta territories where he did commendable work and his service won him credit
7. In 1843 he was ordained as a reverend having spent a long period after his studies.
8. In 1845 he was sent to Yoruba land as a missionary
9. In 1857he helped in the establishment of Onitsha and Igbebe mission stations
10. He is credited for having translated Christian books into Yoruba local language and other dialects.
11. He further wrote books in the grammar of Nupe and Ibo.
12. In 1864 having been consecrated as a Bishop he was supported by Rev. Henry Venn a white although other whites protested it because of his colour.
Challenges
1. While a bishop he faced many challenges such as diverse languages in West Africa thus he could not effectively communicate to all his people.
2. There were long distances over which he had to travel much of it on foot and water transport which was irregular.
3. He faced commercial struggle between the European companies and the African coastal tribes.
4. There were many customs and cultures that were against Christianity. Thus
he faced stiff resistance from them
5. Muslims who were in most parts of West Africans refused to cooperate with him and were spreading their faith by jihads.
6. The diocese given to him was not under the British area of control yet he was a protestant and thus agent of the British.
7. Therefore he could not work under the French and Muslims who were enemies of the British and protestant faith.
8. He was not an independent Bishop with established revenue but depending on church missionary society for his salary and subject to itscontrol.