First Missionaries
In 1797, the London Missionary Society (LMS) had failed its first attempts sending Christian missionaries to Tonga and Marquesas. Although it was successful in Huahine, Tuamotus, Cook Islands and later Samoa. In 1823, one of the LMS named John Williams took the missionaries to Rarotonga and other islands. Methodists began in Tonga in 1822. In Tonga, the Taufa’ ahau took the name George in 1833, and in 1845. The name Tu’i Kanokupolu became king of Tonga. In Tahiti, there was a revolt against the new Christian order by the supporters of the old ways. This in Tonga, there was a similar reaction in 1831. The holder of the chiefly title Malietoa in Samoa had embraced Christianity from Tahitian missionaries. The missionaries that landed in Fiji in 1835, accompanied by King George made no deals with the rising chief Cakobau who wasn’t converted until 1854.
Tonga became one of the main mission fields in the Pacific for the Wesleyan Mission Society. August 16, 1822, the first Wesleyan missionary that arrived in Tonga was Walter Lawry who was from Australia. His journey there wasn’t a major success. With support by the Wesleyans in Tonga, there was an affiliation between the Methodist church in Australasia and the Wesleyans in Tonga. The Kingdom of Tonga was unified in 1852.
Picture Above: John Williams landing in Tonga
begin his missionary work.
“Pacific Islands.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Inc., 2013. Web.09 Dec. 2013
-Lolohea Malupo
In 1797, the London Missionary Society (LMS) had failed its first attempts sending Christian missionaries to Tonga and Marquesas. Although it was successful in Huahine, Tuamotus, Cook Islands and later Samoa. In 1823, one of the LMS named John Williams took the missionaries to Rarotonga and other islands. Methodists began in Tonga in 1822. In Tonga, the Taufa’ ahau took the name George in 1833, and in 1845. The name Tu’i Kanokupolu became king of Tonga. In Tahiti, there was a revolt against the new Christian order by the supporters of the old ways. This in Tonga, there was a similar reaction in 1831. The holder of the chiefly title Malietoa in Samoa had embraced Christianity from Tahitian missionaries. The missionaries that landed in Fiji in 1835, accompanied by King George made no deals with the rising chief Cakobau who wasn’t converted until 1854.
Tonga became one of the main mission fields in the Pacific for the Wesleyan Mission Society. August 16, 1822, the first Wesleyan missionary that arrived in Tonga was Walter Lawry who was from Australia. His journey there wasn’t a major success. With support by the Wesleyans in Tonga, there was an affiliation between the Methodist church in Australasia and the Wesleyans in Tonga. The Kingdom of Tonga was unified in 1852.
Picture Above: John Williams landing in Tonga
begin his missionary work.
“Pacific Islands.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Inc., 2013. Web.09 Dec. 2013
-Lolohea Malupo
First Latter-Day Saints in Tonga
Brigham Smoot and Alva J. Butler were the first Latter-day Saints to attempt to bring the gospel to the Tongan islands. They landed on July 15, 1891, at Nuku’alofa, Tongatapu. Their arrival seemed well timed, as the Tongan legislature was holding its annual meeting. Leaders had gathered from all three island groups. The two missionaries met with many important national and local leaders and ultimately received permission to proselyte from King George himself. However, after six years of sustained effort, including the establishment of Church-run schools and the preaching of the gospel on all three island groups by many missionaries (Tongatapu to start, Ha’apai in May 1893, and Vava’u in September 1895), only sixteen Tongans were baptized. As a result, “the First Presidency recommended that the Tongan Conference be closed,” and the missionaries departed from Tonga on April 18, 1897. The facts surrounding the growth of the Church in Tonga from such inauspicious beginnings in the nineteenth century to having the highest percentage of members of any country in the world in the twenty-first century are therefore quite remarkable.
Picture Above: The LDS Temple in the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa
Michael A. Goodman, “Church Growth in Tonga: Historical and Cultural Connections,” in Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: The
Pacific Isles, ed. Reid L. Neilsen, Stephen C. Harper, Craig K. Manscill, and Mary Jane Woodger (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young
University, 2008), 37–54.
Britsch, Unto the Islands of the Sea, 431.
Britsch, Unto the Islands of the Sea, 434.
-Lose Moala
Brigham Smoot and Alva J. Butler were the first Latter-day Saints to attempt to bring the gospel to the Tongan islands. They landed on July 15, 1891, at Nuku’alofa, Tongatapu. Their arrival seemed well timed, as the Tongan legislature was holding its annual meeting. Leaders had gathered from all three island groups. The two missionaries met with many important national and local leaders and ultimately received permission to proselyte from King George himself. However, after six years of sustained effort, including the establishment of Church-run schools and the preaching of the gospel on all three island groups by many missionaries (Tongatapu to start, Ha’apai in May 1893, and Vava’u in September 1895), only sixteen Tongans were baptized. As a result, “the First Presidency recommended that the Tongan Conference be closed,” and the missionaries departed from Tonga on April 18, 1897. The facts surrounding the growth of the Church in Tonga from such inauspicious beginnings in the nineteenth century to having the highest percentage of members of any country in the world in the twenty-first century are therefore quite remarkable.
Picture Above: The LDS Temple in the Tongan capital of Nuku'alofa
Michael A. Goodman, “Church Growth in Tonga: Historical and Cultural Connections,” in Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: The
Pacific Isles, ed. Reid L. Neilsen, Stephen C. Harper, Craig K. Manscill, and Mary Jane Woodger (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young
University, 2008), 37–54.
Britsch, Unto the Islands of the Sea, 431.
Britsch, Unto the Islands of the Sea, 434.
-Lose Moala