Christianity has deep roots
in Samoa, but the established churches are facing keen competition
from younger, more zealous creeds
By
LISA CLAUSEN Apia
Sunday
morning in apia, and church doors are flung open along the
town's streets. The sound of hearty hymn-singing swells out
over the hot roads toward the harbor. Inside are wooden pews
filled with women in wide-brimmed white hats and white lace
dresses and men in traditional skirts, praying and fanning
themselves, sometimes weeping as they sing or scribbling notes
in their prayer books. After the service, the congregations
disperse for Sunday lunch, leaving the streets deserted except
for tourists and taxis. But the church windows are left open,
ready for the next service in a few hours' time.
Such devotion resonates throughout Samoa, in the pearl-colored churches that line the roads like sentinels. This is a deeply religious country even by the standards of a region that's sometimes called the world's "Bible belt": a country where a young man in the back of a truck crosses himself when passing a church, where one of the nation's two television channels shows almost nothing but religious services, and where the national motto-Fa'avae i le Atua -means Founded on God. Most Samoans are Christians, adherents of the Congregational, Methodist or Catholic churches, but increasingly other, newer faiths are expanding their flocks.
The missionary path to Samoa was blazed in 1830 by the London Missionary Society-forerunner of the Congregational Church-which beat the Methodists and the Catholics to the lush group of islands and soon became the biggest denomination there. Matai, or chiefs, were among the earliest converts from the worship of ancient deities, and by 1907, about 60 Samoan missionaries had set sail to preach the new law to their neighbors.
These days evangelical missions are called "personnel exchanges," says Otele Perelini, principal of the Malua Theological College. But the missionary impulse is still there. The 157-year-old college-founded by the LMS-is the oldest continuously operating seminary in the Pacific. Seventy students pad barefoot through its graceful buildings and there's a surplus of graduates, waiting for the call to local villages or to Samoan parishes overseas. Through the minister's relationship with his congregation (a bond called feagaiga), the church exerts a powerful influence over village life, a hold for which it has been criticized-"and sometimes rightly so," says Perelini, "because of the demands it puts on people." Ministers have traditionally been supported by the villages they serve, but even some church members are now calling for an end to the requirement that parishioners, many of them poor, make donations and raise church funds. "The ministry has to give back what it can to make people's lives better," says Featuna'i Liua'ana, a teacher at Malua. "People still have the conservative mentality that if you give to the church you will be blessed."
Change is coming, too, in the shape of a new evangelical wave. Faiths like the Assemblies of God and the Mormons, who even have their own Apia-based public relations officer, are becoming more popular, and groups like the U.S.-based Word of Life Fellowship are spreading their messages of redemption. Word of Life made its first mission visit in July, using puppet shows and plays. Samoans "have a great respect for God," says New Zealand ministry director Tom McIvor, who led the mission. "But many of them have never had a personal relationship with God. We give them an opportunity to trust Jesus in a visible way." The visit was so successful he's planning a Samoa ministry.
The arrival of modern charismatic faiths has the established churches worried-not only about congregation sizes but about the effect on traditional customs, says National Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Fepai Kolia. "The Gospel has many faces now," he says. "Some of the new religions have very different teachings of the Bible and they are stopping the cultural connections of the people which unite our family and our extended families." Samoan cultural norms are powerful, and a special occasion like a marriage normally obliges other villagers to donate money and finely woven mats. But now, says Kolia, some are turning away: "They say our religion does not allow that."
In the village of Saipipi last year, a villager was forbidden by the fono, or council, in his largely Congregationalist community to build an Assemblies of God church next to the Congregational church. So he took his fight to court-and won. With at least 15 faiths now in this tiny nation, there's sure to be more jostling ahead. It's 171 years since the London Missionary Society landed its boats, but the years haven't dented the zeal of missionaries, each group claiming that it holds the key to saving Samoan souls.
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August 20-27, 2001 |
No. 33
COVER
STORY
The
New Pacific
Setting off to explore the islands, Time found an ocean of stories. Faced
with the challenges of the global village, some peoples are prospering,
easily melding old ways with new; others struggle to cling to tradition
in a cyclone of change
TO
OUR READERS...
TRAVELERS ADVISORY...
PACIFIC
BEAT: Bougainville talks; West Papua in coventry...
SPECIAL:
Pacific Journey
CLIMATE: Not Waving, Drowning... Kiribati
and Tuvalu fear being erased by rising seas
MIGRATION: Outgoing Tide... Small
nations are losing their best and brightest people
LAND RIGHTS: At Loggerheads... Landowners
and opportunists vie for Fiji's mahogany wealth
MEDIA: Telling It Like It Is... Nervous
governments make life tough for local newsmen
GOVERNMENT: The Falling-to-Pieces
Process... The Solomon Islands is riven by corruption and lawlessness
DRUGS: Brewing Trouble... As drinking
rules lose their grip, kava is becoming a social bane
RELIGION: Shopping for Jesus... In
Samoa, new brands of Christianity are giving old ones a jolt
BUSINESS: Blooming Economy... Fijian
housewives find growth potential in their backyards
WOMEN: No Room to Move... In Vanuatu,
women's freedom often sits uneasily with tradition
SCIENCE: Gene Blues... Tongans debate
whether to give researchers access to their dna
MEDICINE: Sweet and Deadly... Long-isolated
islanders are vulnerable to diet-related diseases
THE ARTS: Bringing Samoa to Book... Sia
Figiel writes about her homeland with novel candor
ENVIROMENT: Nowhere to Throw... Places
like the Cook Islands have little room for waste
FISHING: Conserving the Catch... Fearful
for the sea's health, Samoans apply their own First Aid
THE ARTS: Tapa Recording... Bark cloth
documents island peoples' lives and legends
THE ARTS: Islamic
art; Pee-wee's back...
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