The Legacy of Peggy Hiscock: European Women’s Contribution to the Growth of Christianity in Zambia

Introduction

Postcolonial historians have often blamed European missionaries to Africa for supporting colonialism and contributing to the current erosion of African indigenous culture. ¹ European missionaries are seen as having been agents of colonial authorities. ² This school of thought insists that mission Christianity was an agent of European imperialism. Christianity ‘aimed at a cultural as well as a religious conversion’. ³ It is true that most European missionaries who worked in Zambia between 1800 and 1960 were insensitive to the culture of the indigenes. Their method of evangelisation was influenced by a European worldview. There was less dialogue between the Africans as recipients of the gospel and the European missionaries themselves. ⁴ However, there were also European missionaries who respected African culture and participated in the fight against colonialism. They embraced dialogue when propagating the gospel. ⁵ Such European missionaries in Zambia included Collin Morris, Mable Shaw and Peggy Hiscock. ⁶ They balanced between the fight against the bad elements of African culture and the fight against colonial law and order. ⁷

While the contributions of male missionaries such as Collin Morris have been highlighted in the mission documents, the contributions of female counterparts such as Peggy Hiscock have almost been ignored. The missionary historiography has also marginalised the contribution of indigenous African women. ⁸ Mercy Oduyoye observes,

The way western Churches that have been implanted in Africa look at women mirrors their Euro-American predecessors . . . issues such as the ordination of clergy and ecumenism are prime examples . . . These Churches, which most often take the form of patriarchal hierarchies, accept the material services of women but do not listen to their voices, seek their leadership, or welcome their initiatives. ⁹

This article considers the contribution of Peggy Hiscock to the growth of Christianity in Zambia, especially with regard to the United Church of Zambia (UCZ). Hiscock was sent to Zambia as a Methodist deaconess to work with the United Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia (UCCAR), which in 1965 became part of the UCZ. ¹⁰ But who is Peggy Hiscock?

Peggy Hiscock: A White Missionary with an African Heart

Peggy Hiscock was born on 24 December 1922 in England. She is the third-born daughter of Alice and Albert Hiscock. Her parents were Christians from a humble background. Hiscock was introduced to the Methodist Church by her parents while she was a little girl. ¹¹

Hiscock started her primary school in England. However, she left school at the age of 14 years to work at a little hut dealing with the sale of coal to make money. She was responsible for making invoices. During the Second World War (1939–1945), Hiscock worked at a Glove Factory office. The factory was making gloves for the British Army, Navy and Air Force. ¹² The First World War (1914–1918) and the Second World War changed the life of British women in many ways. During the First World War, there was a shortage of men in the industries as many of them were recruited into the military. To fill the gap, women began to take on men’s jobs. Although women were not in battle front, many of them found jobs in the industries that produced material for the war such as gloves and munitions. Full-time women metropolitan police were introduced in 1917. ¹³

The increase in the number of women in the industries and their participation in the public sphere of life contributed to the decline in the opposition to women’s suffrage. In 1918, Parliament passed an Act that granted the vote to women over the age of 30 who were householders or the wives of householders. The same year, the Parliament (Qualification of Women) Act of 1918 was passed. This allowed women to be elected into the House of Commons. ¹⁴ Women were no longer confined to the private spheres of life. Maggie Andrews succinctly notes,

More than 18,000 charities and organisations such as the Women’s Institute were started during the war and these gave ordinary women – not the aristocracy or the upper classes – their first taste of running a meeting. They were fundraising, organising the collection of clothing for men at the front. For years, these women had run the household, now they were bringing those talents to the public sphere. Suddenly, women had a voice. ¹⁵

Campaigns to raise awareness on the rights of women and the need for maternal and infant welfare continued after the First World War as many women especially the poor and those under the age of 30 were still subjected to discrimination in society. ¹⁶ Stereotypes about the capacity of women to do the jobs which were a preserve of men persisted. In 1925, the Widow’s Pension was introduced. ¹⁷ This was followed by the passing of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act in 1928. Women over the age of 21 now had voting franchise on the same terms as men.

The Second World War – like the First World War – opened the door for more women to be employed in the factories to replace men who were conscripted. Hiscock’s work in the glove industry reflects the efforts made in the British society during the Second World War in challenging gender inequalities which excluded women from working in industries. Women worked in factories that produced gloves, munitions, aeroplanes and building ships. They also worked as air-raid wardens, evacuation officers, drivers of fire engines, fire officers, nurses, and drivers of trains and trams. All these jobs were traditionally a preserve of men. It was during this period that some trade unions began to admit women as members. ¹⁸

In 1941, single women between the age of 20 and 30 were employed in the Armed Forces and war industries for the first time. ¹⁹ However, women were paid less than their male counterparts. Women were deployed to work at night, putting them at risk from bombing. And yet based on the Personal Injuries Scheme of 1939, they were entitled to lower compensation for injuries compared to men. It was until 1943 that equal rates were introduced. ²⁰ The rise in the employment of women necessitated the need for childcare. As a result, more wartime nurseries were provided. ²¹

After the war, Hiscock went to work at Portsmouth Gas Company. ²² During her time at the Glove Factory and the Gas Company in Portsmouth, Hiscock was very much involved with the Methodist Church. She taught in Sunday school and began a Girls Brigade Company of which she was captain. She did the local Preachers’ exams and eventually became a qualified lay preacher. At this time, she felt a call to work as a missionary overseas and she applied to the Methodist Mission House for consideration. The Methodist Mission House advised that she needed to be trained either as a nurse, teacher or deaconess in order to be considered for missionary work overseas. Consequently, she applied to enter the Deaconess Order in 1947 and was accepted. ²³

Hiscock entered the Training College in Yorkshire, Ilkley, in 1948, where she trained as a deaconess for 2 years. She was ordained as a deaconess in 1952, after 2 years’ probation. She worked as a deaconess for 5 years in the United Kingdom after her ordination. However, Hiscock continued to feel the call to mission work overseas. In 1957, she applied for mission work overseas, was interviewed at the Methodist Mission House in London and was accepted. She was sent for further training at Kingsmead Methodist College in Birmingham before being sent to Africa. ²⁴

Hiscock came out to Zambia (then Northern Rhodesia) in 1958 as a Methodist deaconess. ²⁵ She sailed from Southampton to Cape Town in South Africa, then travelled for several days by train from Cape Town to Lusaka in Zambia. She was seconded to the Copperbelt province of Zambia to do the women’s work in the UCCAR. ²⁶ The UCCAR was formed on 26 July 1958 when the Church of Central Africa in Rhodesia (CCAR) joined with the churches under the London Missionary Society in Northern Rhodesia (LMS), the Church of Scotland, the Union Churches of the Copperbelt and the Copperbelt Free Church Council of European Congregations. ²⁷ Hiscock’s own church, the Methodist District of Northern Rhodesia, was not a member of the union. The Methodist District continued with its work in Southern and Central areas of Zambia while seconding Morris and Hiscock to the UCCAR. Earlier, in an effort to promote ecumenism and the unity of the churches in Northern Rhodesia, the United Mission on Copperbelt (UMCB) was formed in 1936 and the CCAR followed in 1945. ²⁸

Hiscock arrived in Zambia at a time when negotiations for church union had gained momentum. Colin Morris was the minister in charge of the Chingola Free Church (now UCZ St. Marks congregation) in the Copperbelt. Morris was very much involved in the political movement for independence. He strongly spoke against colonialism, especially the racist tendencies of the Europeans in the church and society. ²⁹ The wind of political independence motivated the mission churches and organisations to unite in the spirit of ecumenism to respond to social, economic and political problems which affected the Zambian society. Mindolo mission station became the centre for such ecumenical activities, leading to the formation of Mindolo Ecumenical Foundation in 1958. ³⁰

Hiscock stayed at Mindolo Mission station in Kitwe to learn the local language (Bemba). She lived for a little time together with two deaconesses, one from the Church of Scotland and the other one from the United Church of Canada, who had also joined UCCAR. The other two deaconess missionaries were also learning the local language. After a few weeks, all the three deaconesses were given their appointments to different places. Hiscock stayed to work in the Kitwe area and lived at Mindolo mission station. The two other missionary deaconesses left the country a few years later, before Zambia’s independence in 1964. ³¹

Hiscock was appointed coordinator of the Women’s Group (Fellowship or Guild) of the UCCAR in the Copperbelt. The UCCAR Women’s Group was called Kwafwana Banakashi Bena Kristu (KBBK), which simply means a fellowship of Christian women. ³² The uniform of the KBBK was a blue dress. The KBBK uniform was changed after the formation of UCZ in 1965; having a red blouse symbolising salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ, a black skirt symbolising the days of darkness, and a white headscarf symbolising walking in the Light of Christ. This uniform was worn by women in the Methodist Church in many areas of Zimbabwe and South Africa. ³³

During her time on the Copperbelt, Hiscock was asked by the Presbytery to go to Chililabombwe (then Bancroft) when the European English-speaking congregation in the area had no ordained male minister. The Presbytery of the UCCAR thought she had the qualification to be in charge of the congregation until an ordained male minister was found. The Women’s Work Committee of the Methodist Church agreed with the proviso and Hiscock started working in Chililabombwe. She was still a Women’s Work person despite executing the duties of a minister in the area. Hiscock was also in charge of the African Bemba-speaking congregation in Chililabombwe. The congregation was comprised of indigenous Africans who had migrated to the Copperbelt to work in the mines. In other words, Hiscock was in charge of both the European English-speaking and the African Chibemba-speaking congregations. This was in addition to her work with the women. ³⁴

While working with the European English-speaking congregation in Chililabombwe, Hiscock started the project of constructing a permanent church building. The foundations of the church had been done when a male ordained minister from Canada came. Hiscock was asked by the UCCAR Presbytery to move from the Manse (the minister’s house) into a little house set aside for a deaconess. She continued working with the African Chibemba-speaking congregation and the Women’s Group. ³⁵

The life and work experience of Hiscock as a missionary in Zambia shows that the Methodist Church as well as the churches which united to form the UCCAR regarded ordained male ministers as superior to deaconesses. As regards the Methodist Church, ‘the relationship between ministerial and women missionaries was a tricky one to handle both at headquarters [in Britain] and in the local situation [overseas]’. ³⁶ There were many instances of male ministers treating deaconesses and other female missionaries in an oppressive manner. As Pritchard records, ‘women missionaries had to be strong characters, if they were not to be under the thumb as well as under the eye of the ordained man, who might well be younger and far less experienced than they were themselves’. ³⁷ This was the situation Hiscock found herself in.

The African Bemba-speaking congregation in Chililabombwe had a very large membership. Hiscock preached in the local language which made her to be loved by the members of the church. Her pastoral duties included visiting the sick in the hospital and in the homes. She joined often with many at a bereaved home during the funerals. She would carry some members of the church in her car during the funerals. Funerals are very much respected in Africa. ³⁸ Every member of the community is expected to attend funerals. Those who do not attend funerals are regarded as wicked people. By joining members of the community during funerals, illnesses and other social gatherings, Hiscock won the confidence and the respect of the people. She stood out as a European missionary who respected African culture.

In church and during other Christian gatherings, she preached against oppressive elements of African culture as well as those of Christianity. She condemned African rituals and practices that dehumanised human beings. These included oppression of widows, killing of babies who cut teeth on the upper jaw, stigmatising of twin children and the forcing of girl children into prostitution in the mining towns of the Copperbelt. Prostitution was rampant in the Copperbelt due to rural–urban migration which came as a result of the opening of the mines. ³⁹

In 1962, after working in Zambia for 4 years, Hiscock went back to England on furlough. She went around England talking about the work of the Church in Zambia. On her return, she went back to Kitwe and lived in one of the student houses at the UCCAR Ministerial Training College. Earlier, in 1958, the UCCAR resolved to close the Kashinda Bible College and built a Ministerial Training College at Mindolo mission station. ⁴⁰ The college officially started its operations in 1961. In 1962, Hiscock occupied one of the students’ houses at a newly built Ministerial Training College. She continued working in different areas on the Copperbelt. For a while, she was sent to live in the minister’s house at Kalulushi, working with the African Chibemba-speaking congregation, the European-English speaking congregation and the Women’s Group. Hiscock was discharging all the duties of an ordained minister despite not being ordained because she was a woman.

Hiscock was one of the Methodist missionaries who supported the independence of Africans. Rev. Collin Morin and Rev. Merfyn Temple were other Methodist missionaries in Zambia who promoted the liberation of Africans. ⁴¹ Hiscock attended some rallies organised by the United National Independence Party (UNIP) where Kenneth Kaunda and other nationalists spoke. Zambia gained its political independence on 24 October 1964. In the company of missionaries who supported the emancipation of Africans, Hiscock went to Lusaka to celebrate the independence of Zambia. At midnight on 23 October 1964, 39-year-old Kenneth Kaunda was inaugurated as the first President of the independent Republic of Zambia. Evelyn Hone, Governor of Northern Rhodesia, and Kenneth Kaunda stood together in Independence Stadium in Lusaka. There was fanfare from the Trumpeters of the First and Second Battalions of Northern Rhodesia, then the British National Anthem was played. The Union Jack was lowered, a solitary aircraft of the Air Force flew over the stadium in salute, and then the new national anthem of the Republic of Zambia was played and the new flag of the Republic was raised. ⁴² Hiscock and other European missionaries wore the independence cloth (chitenge) and participated in the dancing and singing. The Queen of the United Kingdom represented by the Princess Royal handed over the instruments of power to Kenneth Kaunda. Morris, in his capacity as president of the UCCAR, was one of the ministers who offered prayers at the event. Others were Rev. Bishop Clement Chabukasanshya of the Roman Catholic Church and Rev. Bishop Filemon Matakan of the Anglican Church. ⁴³

At the time of Zambia’s political independence, the UCCAR, the Methodist Church in Zambia and the Church of Barotseland were talking to become the UCZ. When the churches agreed to form the UCZ, Rev. Colin Morris was appointed President and Rev. Doyce Musunsa as General Secretary (clerk) of the UCZ. The Methodist Church was very much involved in the negotiations to form UCZ, given that Morris was president of UCCAR. There were great celebrations at Mindolo Mission on 16 January 1965 when the UCZ was finally formed. Hiscock did not attend the event as she had gone back to the United Kingdom on furlough towards the end of 1964. ⁴⁴

While on Furlough in the United Kingdom, Hiscock spent part of 1965 going around the United Kingdom talking about ministry and the work of the Church in Zambia. She was keen and able to speak about her experience in Zambia and make the case for more money and more women on the mission field. Methodist missionaries used their furlough to share about their mission work and make appeals for more funding. They told stories about their successes and challenges on the mission field. Through the stories they shared, more men and women found themselves called by God to work as missionaries overseas. ⁴⁵

On her return to Zambia in 1966, Hiscock went back to one of the student houses she was occupying at the Ministerial Training College, now renamed as the UCZ Ministerial Training College. The name of the institution later changed to UCZ Theological College. ⁴⁶ Hiscock continued working with the Women’s Guild of the Copperbelt Presbytery. The same year (1966), Hiscock and other women missionaries were talking with UCZ Synod about the possibility of having full-time lay women in ministry in the UCZ. Morris, the Synod President, and Doyce Musunsa, the Synod clerk, agreed to the proposal. The UCZ Synod of 1966 resolved to start the training of full-time lay women in ministry. ⁴⁷ This opened the door for the training of deaconesses in the UCZ.

Beatrice Mulenga was the first woman to offer for training as a deaconess in the UCZ in 1967. The UCZ Synod had approved a curriculum for the training of women for full-time lay ministry in the church but no college was established for the training of deaconesses yet. Consequently, Beatrice Mulenga was trained at UCZ Ministerial Training College under the tutorship of Hiscock. She lived in one of the student houses behind the Administration block, opposite the one occupied by Hiscock. At that time, Hiscock represented the UCZ with others at an All African Assembly in Abidjan and 4 years later the one held in Lusaka. ⁴⁸ Beatrice Mulenga was sent to the United Kingdom for work experience where she met up with Hiscock when on her furlough in 1968.

While on furlough in the United Kingdom in 1967 and 1968, Hiscock undertook a course in theology at Wesley House in Cambridge. Morris recounts,

By 1967 when she went back to Britain on Furlough she was a very experienced minister in all but name. Harry Morton, who was Africa Secretary of the Overseas Division, arranged for her to spend a term at Wesley House, Cambridge. Because it was at the time an all-male college, she had a room in the house of the principal, Professor Gordon Rupp, and his wife. This experience had a decisive impact on her and she returned to what had become Zambia with a strong conviction that she should seek ordination. ⁴⁹

On Hiscock’s return to Zambia in 1968, Morris was speaking with the Synod about opening the door for ordained women in the ministry and put to the Synod the possibility of Hiscock being ordained under the UCZ. Hiscock was a strong advocate for the ordination of women and always discussed with Morris the possibility of her being ordained. Hiscock applied for ordination in the UCZ. She could not apply to the British Methodist Church for ordination because the Church was not ordaining women at the time. The Conference of the British Methodist Church held in 1966 resolved to start ordaining women but it decided to wait until negotiation towards union with the Anglican Church had been concluded. ⁵⁰ The Methodist Church in Britain agreed with the UCZ to ordain Hiscock on condition that she be called a Reverend in Zambia and a Deaconess (Sister) in Britain until the conference authorised the ordination of women. ⁵¹

On 7 April 1968, Hiscock was ordained in the Mindolo Mission Church by Rev. Colin Morris, President of the UCZ, and Rev. Doyce Musunsa, the Synod clerk of the UCZ. Both Morris and Musunsa were Methodists. From the little student house she was occupying at the Ministerial Training College, Hiscock was escorted by the women to the church at Mindolo. It was an ecumenical ordination and there was the laying on of hands. The Zambian Moderator of the Copperbelt Presbytery, and a minister from the Church of Scotland who worked at the Ministerial Training College, participated in the laying on of hands. ⁵² Four years later, the Anglicans in Britain voted to reject the union. Consequently, the Methodist Church in Britain agreed to proceed with the training and ordination of women as presbyters. ⁵³ Therefore, Hiscock entered ordained ministry earlier than any other Methodist woman.

The ordination of Hiscock opened the door for African women in Zambia to offer for ordained ministry in the UCZ. The first woman to offer for ordained ministry was Violet Sampa. She was accepted and joined the UCZ Theological College. She began her training with the male students, but was living with Hiscock and the student deaconesses Fanny Kaite and Esther Mutemwa, and went daily over to the college to study with the male students. She was the first African woman to be ordained in the UCZ after her probationary period. Violet Sampa was later sent for a degree programme in Australia. Other indigenous African women who offered for ministry after the ordination of Hiscock were Esther Mundemba, Juliet Matembo, Peggy Mulambya Kabonde, Catherine Mumba, Evelyn Chibwe, Ellen Nachali Mulenga and Jane Kilembe Chibubi. The first generation of indigenous African women held Hiscock in high esteem. They looked up to her as their mentor. Violet Sampa and Peggy Kabonde have often visited Hiscock in the United Kingdom to get more inspiration for ministry. ⁵⁴

Around 1974, Hiscock started a formal Order of Deaconesses in the UCZ. She became the first Principal and tutor of the centre for the training of deaconesses across the road from the Theological College at Mindolo mission station. The centre came to be called the Deaconess House. The two first students to be trained there were Fanny Kaite from the Northern Province and Esther Mutemwa from the Lozi land in Western Province of Zambia. Fanny and Esther went back to be deaconesses in their respective provinces. Hiscock attended, at different times, the commissioning (day of acceptance) of the two deaconesses after a probationary period. Both deaconesses did excellent work in their areas of appointment. ⁵⁵

Hiscock worked as minister at different congregations between 1969 and 1974, including St. Andrews congregation in Ndola. She also lived in Lusaka for some time when she became Synod coordinator of the Women’s Group in the UCZ. She travelled around the country coordinating the work of women. She visited Western Province (Barotseland) on one occasion to meet with Deaconess Esther Mutemwa for a women’s rally she organised. She visited Western province on another occasion, and with Esther Mutemwa and the Presbytery Moderator, they visited many remote areas, crossing at one point in a small canoe to get to a village and crossing the Zambezi River. They took the Land Rover to preach the gospel in the remotest parts of Africa. Such was Hiscock – a brave woman who defied all odds to preach the gospel to the Africans. ⁵⁶

On Zambia’s political independence in 1964, there was discussion about the future of UCCAR hospitals. Hiscock was given the task of looking at the hospital work and evaluating their future in the UCZ. She held discussions with Dr Shaikes Nalumango who was the first Minister of Health in the Zambian Government. Hiscock had known Dr Nalumango and his wife Paulina from the time she was serving in Chililabombwe. It turned out that many Zambians felt that mission hospitals would well be managed by the government. There was uncertainty about the financial ability of the African-led mission stations to run the hospitals after independence. Consequently, Mbereshi and other mission hospitals were handed over to the government. The government indicated that the church was free to repossess the running of the hospitals whenever it was ready to do so. ⁵⁷

At the end of 1974, Hiscock felt it was right for her to go back to the United Kingdom where she stayed at the Methodist International House. Methodist International House is a student hostel for mainly overseas missionaries or mission partners. Hiscock warmly welcomed Zambians who went to study in the United Kingdom and lived in the Methodist hostel. ⁵⁸ Hiscock’s life and ministry in Zambia brings to the fore four important realities about mission work in Zambia, namely, embodiment of resistance against the oppression of women in the church, promotion of partnership between deaconesses and presbyters, rejection of colonialism, and promotion of ecumenism in the mission field.

Embodiment of Resistance against Oppression

African women theologians have shown that churches in Africa have patriarchal structures which are modelled on their European mother-churches. ⁵⁹ These churches have a history of excluding women from ordination and leadership positions in the church. Isabel Apawo Phiri shows the exclusion of women from ordination and reasons for such exclusion. She notes,

[. . .] androcentric and patriarchal traditions present within the Judeo-Christian scriptures, together with similar aspects within traditional African religion, have conspired together to the almost complete exclusion of women from the religious cultus, and reduced considerably their contribution to religious practice. Issues of women’s pregnancy and menstruation, which bring life, are used to exclude women from ordination to the Christian ministry of the Word and Sacrament. ⁶⁰

The Methodist Church in Great Britain, where Hiscock came from, had a long history of excluding women from ordained ministry as presbyters. The origins of the diaconal ministry in the Methodist Church in Great Britain is found in the works of Rev. Dr Thomas Bowman Stephenson, a Wesleyan Methodist minister who founded the National Children’s Home in London in 1869 and the Sisters of the Children in 1878 to look after the children. ⁶¹ In 1887, Rev. Hugh Price Hughes founded the Sisters of the People to work in Central Mission London. This was followed by the founding of the Wesley Deaconess Order by Dr Stephenson in 1890. The order followed the ideal model of nurse or deaconess which started earlier in Germany. ⁶² In the Methodist Church in Great Britain, deaconesses are ordained to the ministry of witness through service. Diaconal ministry is not divorced from worship but it is not related directly to the ministry of the word and sacrament. Deaconesses are ordained as local preachers, but their role is different from that of the presbyter (one who is ordained as a minister of the word and sacraments). ⁶³

It took until 1918 for the Methodist Church in Great Britain to officially recognise women as local preachers in the same manner as their male counterparts. In 1919, deaconesses were also recognised as local preachers. This was despite there being deaconess evangelists in practice since 1891. Before, women could only preach to children and fellow women. ⁶⁴ After 1919, more women offered for diaconal ministry, serving as evangelists, nurses, in circuits, in foreign missions and in army camps. ⁶⁵ However, it was not until 1974 that the Methodist Church in Great Britain started ordaining women as presbyters. ⁶⁶

The ordination of Hiscock at the time when the Methodist Church in Great Britain had not yet started accepting the ordination of women is indicative of how missionary women became a force of liberation for women within Christianity. In Africa, they challenged the social and political structures in both Christianity and African culture. They raised critical questions about the place of women in church and society. As Pritchard rightly notes, ‘the journey of the missionary women was a journey into freedom’. ⁶⁷ In 1897, there were only four Methodist deaconesses serving overseas. The number of women missionaries increased significantly when the responsibility of caring for women was transferred to the women’s department. In 1958, the Methodist Church celebrated the centenary of the Ladies Committee. There were already 218 women workers on its records. ⁶⁸ It is surprising that none of these women missionaries was an ordained presbyter.

The movement for political independence in Africa gained in strength after 1950. Political independence opened the door for ecclesiastical independence. As a result, the number of female missionaries serving in Africa reduced after 1958. ⁶⁹ Churches in Africa began to develop the local leadership – both lay and ordained. Missionaries such as Hiscock worked together with indigenous Africans to fight for the liberation of women in the church. Oppressive elements of Western Christianity and as well as African culture were challenged. As already stated, the ordination of Hiscock in 1968, 6 years before the Methodist Church in Great Britain accepted the ordination of women, opened the door for the ordination of women. Women challenged the ecclesiastical structures which confined ordained ministry to men. They also fought for good education and conditions of service for those who wished to join ordained ministry.

Hiscock became the first woman to be ordained presbyter in the Methodist Church in Great Britain, a historical fact which has been downplayed in the historical documents of the Methodist Church in Great Britain. She was also the first woman to be ordained presbyter in the UCZ. In 1974, the Methodist Church officially accepted the ordination of women as presbyters, as already stated. This new development resulted in a reduction of deaconesses in the mission field in Africa. Many women could now offer for ordained ministry. Some women who were working as deaconesses or lay leaders overseas were ordained and some went back to Britain. ⁷⁰ The ordination of women revealed how patriarchy in the church is multi-layered. Women who were ordained as presbyters were regarded as superior to those who were ordained as deaconesses. Hiscock stood against this form of oppression targeted towards some sections of women in the church.

Promotion of Partnership between Deaconesses and Presbyters

After her ordination, Hiscock served as presbyter in the UCZ and as deaconess in the Methodist Church in Great Britain. This dual status helped Hiscock to advocate for mutuality between presbyters and deaconesses in the church. ⁷¹ In many churches, women are marginalised. Those who are not ordained presbyters face the double sword of oppression. The ordination of Hiscock and the subsequent formation of the Order of Diaconal Ministry shows how women fought for their place in the church. Hiscock fought for good education and conditions of service for those who wished to join diaconal ministry. She believed in the principle of mutuality, partnership and equity in mission. Women who were studying as deaconesses and those who were studying to be presbyters had respect for each other and they stayed together. Hiscock, who was both a presbyter and a deaconess, served as their mentor. ⁷²

Many mainline protestant churches have traditionally believed diaconal ministry is inferior to that of a presbyter. They hold that diakonia expresses a biblical call to service. ⁷³ This view has been challenged in the recent past. It is becoming increasingly clear that diakonia refers to mission or a particular assignment in the service of God. Diakonos refers to messenger or a go-between. The diaconal ministry cannot be confined to a ‘humble and lowly service directed towards the sick and the poor’. ⁷⁴ It encompasses the whole work of God. The definition of diakonia by the Church of Norway reflects a life-giving understanding of New Testament ecclesiology which is based on partnership in mission:

Diakonia is the caring ministry of the Church. It is the Gospel in action and is expressed through loving your neighbour, creating inclusive communities, caring for creation and struggling for justice. ⁷⁵

The Apostle Paul argued that God had made him an ambassador and apostle (diakonos) of the new covenant and had entrusted him with the ministry (diakonia) of reconciliation as indicated in 2 Corinthians 3.6; 5.18; 4:1–6 and I Corinthians 3:5. ⁷⁶ On this basis, Hiscock believed that both deaconesses and presbyters were commissioned by God to preach the gospel that enabled human beings to have the fullness of life in Jesus Christ. It is the Church that allows every member to participate regardless of their gender, colour, age, lay or ordained that reflects the true image of the Church Jesus established. Oduyoye notes,

Participation in the ministry seems to be the most undisputed way of ‘Being Church’. As the Circle maintains, the ordained ministers are not the Church. Rather, everyone – ordained or not – comprises the Church. We all know this, but living it out is a different matter. The decision-making process remains central to membership of the Church. The inclusive community that welcomes all and accepts their offering of self and skills is the image of the Church of women. ⁷⁷

Many churches have become too hierarchical and patriarchal. Ordained presbyters are regarded to be experts in everything when in actual fact, the growth of the Church depends on lay members of the Church, especially women who make the majority of the membership. The growth of the Church in Africa has shown that Christianity is essentially a lay movement. It represents de-clericalism by emphasising the priesthood of all believers. Each and every member of the Church is free to participate in the different ministries of the Church depending on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ⁷⁸

In the modern ecumenical movement, diaconal ministry is understood in the context of empowerment, autonomy, interdependency and partnership. Every human being is understood to be created in the image of God with dignity. Ministry, be it in the context of the word and sacraments or in the context of social service, should be done from the perspective of partnership, interdependency and respect for the dignity of human beings. ⁷⁹

Responding to the needs of the time, Hiscock proposed the introduction in the UCZ of the New Testament model of deaconesses. Zambia’s political independence and the growth of the mines in the Copperbelt saw a lot of changes. The growth of the mines meant large populations grew around the mines and other industrial centres in the country, bringing vast movements of the population from the rural areas to the cities. By 1965, towns on the Copperbelt had grown considerably. ⁸⁰ The evolution brought hunger, slums, Westernisation and the erosion of African cultural values. There was a need for mission work among those who moved to the cities and those who remained in the rural areas of the country. With this background, it became necessary to start the training of deaconesses who would work in partnership with the presbyters. She also saw the need for the establishment of a training centre for deaconesses in the UCZ. Another matter of equal importance to Hiscock was partnership in the mission field between missionaries belonging to different denominations, in the spirit of ecumenism.

Promotion of Ecumenism

Denominationalism compartmentalised Christianity in Zambia. Missionaries in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries often competed for converts. Missionary societies created territories. Those who encroached on the territory of another mission were called ‘poachers’. ⁸¹ To promote unity among missionary societies in the mission field, the General Missionary Conference in Northern Rhodesia (GMCNR) was established in Livingstone in 1914. Denominations and organisations represented in the GMCNR included the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (PEMS), the LMS, the Methodist Missionary Society, the Livingstonia Mission of the Church of Scotland, the Dutch Reformed Church Mission, the South African Baptist Missionary Society, the Seventh Day Adventist Mission, the Brethren in Christ and the Universities Mission to Central Africa. ⁸² The different denominations and societies discussed the possibility of having a united church which was eventually realised in 1965 when the UCZ was formed. ⁸³

Hiscock was seconded to the UCCAR, a church which was formed as a result of negotiations for church union in Zambia. She worked in an environment where ecumenism was emphasised. The word ecumenism (oikoumene) refers to the fellowship or a coming together of Christians or churches on earth as a household of God. ⁸⁴ Ecumenism became an important tool of mission, especially in Zambia in the Copperbelt where people from different parts of the world had migrated due to the growth of the mining industry. The understanding of mission based on denominational allegiance proved to be problematic in many parts of Africa, including Zambia. Hewitt observes,

The strategic principle of the LMS stated that it would endeavour not to evangelise people into sectarian or denominational commitments but to allow the people to choose the ecclesial structures that they wished to govern their lives. In theory the vision was laudable. However, in practice, the missionaries that represented LMS did not leave behind their European denominational allegiances. ⁸⁵

While there were missionaries who held on to their denominational allegiance, there were also those who promoted unity among churches and the development of an African clergy. Such missionaries included Hiscock, Collin Morris, J.B. Moore and Merfyn Temple. They focused on doing the mission of God rather than promoting denominational structures. They promoted ecumenism and the doctrine of all believers. Ecumenism enabled Morris and Hiscock to overcome the rigidity of Presbyterianism and episcopacy as regards the ordination of women at the time.

Hiscock worked with Zambians and people from other parts of world. Christians from different backgrounds worked together towards a common goal – the spread of the gospel and the emancipation of Africans from colonialism. Hiscock reflects,

Zambia will always remain so very much part of my life. I learnt so much from the people of Zambia. We came from different traditions but lived as one in Christ and in fellowship within His Spirit. We preached the gospel and worked together in the world God loves so much. ⁸⁶

Ogden has rightly argued that ecumenism is important for the church to promote unity in the preaching of the gospel. He identifies two features of ecumenism, namely, structural unity and spiritual unity. ⁸⁷ Ecumenism as structural unity happens when the Church learns to avoid putting too much emphasis on its hierarchy and bureaucracy at the expense of cooperation with other churches in the field of mission and evangelism. Flexibility in any church polity is important, as denominational structures are simply historical and visible expressions of the body of Christ. They are created to enable the Church to fulfil its mission of preaching the gospel of salvation to people rather than to them. ⁸⁸

Another feature of ecumenism is spiritual unity. Here there is less emphasis on denominational distinctions. The focus is the mission of God and loyalty to Jesus Christ. There is promotion of the priesthood of all believers and every member of the Church is allowed to participate in the work of God. Both ecumenism as structural unity and as spiritual unity can be seen in the ministry of Hiscock and other missionaries such as Morris. The dignity and well-being of people were considered to be primary to institutional structures. ⁸⁹ They built bridges between the Church and a world whose needs were constantly changing. They had the ability to draw alongside others, enabling them to fulfil their own calling in the mission of God in the world. It was for this reason that they supported the movement for political independence.

Rejection of Colonialism

The participation of the missionaries in the movement for political independence is well documented. The UMCB, the CCAR and the UCCAR challenged the colonial government and the owners of the mining companies to look into the plight of the Africans. Morris, Temple and other missionaries openly and individually supported nationalists such as Kenneth Kaunda and Simon Kapwepwe. The resoluteness of the missionaries to support the fight for the plight of Black Africans is well recorded by Taylor and Lehmann:

We should always try to represent the needs, claims or rights of the African workers directly to the Mining companies. But we must claim very definitely that the United Missions to the Copperbelt is interested in all matters concerning native welfare, even if they may be classed as highly controversial. The scope of Missionary activities cannot be limited in such a way as to exclude political questions. We must make it clear that money does not buy our silence in such matters. ⁹⁰

Different churches – the Methodists, Anglicans, Catholics, Baptists and Presbyterians – often united on the political front to speak for Africans. They challenged the colonial authorities to allow the Africans to rule themselves. Morris argued that ‘God did not select certain races for his honour, nor did he give it to men as a prize on attaining standards of culture and civilisation’. ⁹¹ Temple became the deputy leader of the Constitutional Party in 1958. He also donated a Land Rover to the UNIP, a political party which was fighting for political independence, to be used in the campaigns. The Land Rover was nicknamed mama UNIP (mother UNIP). ⁹²

It was not easy for European missionaries to work in the Copperbelt in the years prior to independence due to the racial tensions between Black Africans and European settlers. ⁹³ However, there were European missionaries who stood strong and supported the African nationalists. Morris is the most popular of these missionaries, although he was not the only one. Morris’s popularity is due to protests against racial discrimination being publicised in the newspapers and on radio and television programmes. ⁹⁴

What has been downplayed or ignored almost completely is that there were women missionaries who participated in the struggle for independence in Zambia. Some women missionaries condemned racial discrimination in Zambia as early as 1923. ⁹⁵ Missionaries such as Hiscock and Mable Shaw supported the liberation of Africans. In their work, they challenged the colonial authorities. In many instances, these women worked alongside their male counterparts. Hiscock worked along Morris and other male missionaries in the Copperbelt. The problem is that in mission historiography, the contribution of female missionaries to political emancipation has been recorded in reference to their male counterparts or it has been downplayed.

Leslie Charlton records that in the years prior to Zambia’s independence, Black Africans in the Copperbelt protested against the colour bar, a colonial policy which stopped Black Africans from using the same public facilities as White settlers. In 1958, Black Africans became violent to any White person they associated with the colonial government. They also organised to boycott churches countrywide. The matter was only dispelled when the Black Africans were reminded that there were White missionaries such as Morris who respected Africans. ⁹⁶ Hiscock managed to work with Bemba-speaking African congregations because Africans were convinced that she was not one of those who were promoting the colour bar. Africans had seen her working with Morris in support of the independence for Africans. ⁹⁷

Hiscock understood ministry as solidarity work and advocacy among those who are marginalised. She was committed to the lifting up of justice, peace and the liberation of Africans who were suffering under the colonial government. The patterns of her ministry emerge within the social context. She was able to respond to the social, economic, political and religious needs of the community in a practical way. She condemned the colonial authorities for oppressing the Africans and the authorities in the mines in the Copperbelt for not improving the working conditions of the Africans. This was in line with the church’s realisation that it was its role to speak on behalf of the marginalised Africans. Hiscock and other women missionaries who supported the liberation of Africans attended the independence celebrations in Lusaka in 1964. They were clad in African female outfits and participated in singing and dancing at the dawn of the new nation, Zambia. ⁹⁸

Conclusion

The history of Christianity in Africa will remain incomplete if stories of women, both African and European, who have contributed to its growth, are not told properly. This article has made a contribution in this regard by telling the story of Peggy Hiscock. Hiscock was a woman missionary who was sent by the Methodist Church in Great Britain to serve in Zambia. She challenged patriarchal hierarchies that denied women ordination and leadership positions in the church. Hiscock became the first Methodist woman missionary to be ordained as a presbyter. She also founded the order of diaconal ministry in the UCZ. This article shows that while the Western-led missionary enterprise was inextricably bound up with patriarchal and colonial tendencies, there were women missionaries from Europe who rejected the marginalisation of women and Black Africans. Hiscock was such one woman. She therefore deserves a special place in the annals of the history of Christianity.