Trailblazer who molded the ‘Jitegemea’ spirit

It is a year since the death of the Very Reverend Dr John G Gatu, the respected clergyman who was the first African Secretary-General of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) and Moderator of the ninth and tenth General Assembly of the same church.

Family and friends are unveiling the cross today at the burial site in his Karen home after a memorial service at the PCEA Muteero, Karen. Rev Gatu was a trailblazer in many spheres. In church, he shocked the faithful in Africa, Europe and North America when he, the most senior Presbyterian cleric in Kenya, called for the immediate stoppage of both missionary personnel and material support to the local church.

CHARITY

This gave rise to the moratorium debate in which the churchman argued that continued charity by Western missionaries inevitably resulted in the destruction of the dignity of the recipients of aid, turning them into perpetual beggars. Rev Gatu drew a blueprint for a self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating church whose clarion call was Jitegemea, or self-hood.

This pastoral policy brewed in the crucible of the PCEA had far-reaching implications and impacted on many other Christian denominations.

Talented with remarkable attributes, he was a bold man who stoutly stood his ground. In his book Fan into Flame, he narrates how early in life as a peacekeeping trooper in Abyssinia, he threw an Ethiopian off a moving train. Decades later, as a minister of the gospel, he returned to that country in contrition to confess the sin publicly and to seek forgiveness, which he was grateful to receive.

POET

Besides being a person of courage, Rev Gatu was also a poet, as evidenced by his Gikuyu book He Gatu, Nguhe Kanua (Lend Me Your Ear, I have Something to Tell You). He had the rare gift of being a fine writer and a great orator. Many of these matters are in the public domain. He owned other attributes that are less known and which offer an insight into his persona.

Since the 1950s, the Rev Gatu made careful notes, some handwritten, others typed, on important matters and themes. This writer had the benefit of consulting with Mr Kibacia Gatu, son of the departed prelate and who is also the custodian of Rev Gatu’s personal papers. The documents reveal a man of great character and discipline.

In a file on the Moratorium Debate, one marvels at the number and variety of people Rev Gatu had conversations with before he finally called for a suspension of missionary agents and aid to Africa.

Thinkers and theologians consulted included Canon Burgess Carr, who was General Secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches; Fr Adrian Hastings, a leading Roman Catholic theologian who was a professor at Makerere University; Rev Paul Hopkins of the United Presbyterian Church, USA; Mr John Mpaayei, the first person to translate the New Testament into the Maa language; Bishop Zablon Nthamburi of the Methodist Church and Bishop John Henry Okullu of the Anglican communion.

PERSONAL RECORDS

Rev Gatu is systematic and methodical in his personal records. Only after consulting this wide variety of people did he offer his reasoned position. The personal papers reveal a person who thought deeply on subjects such as pastoral challenges facing the Church, tribalism, liberating cultures, health and development, and the role of the Christian in bringing about a fairer economic order.

Two of the recurring motifs are self-hood and culture. Rev Gatu is greatly inspired by Brazilian thinker Paulo Freire and his concept of conscientisation in a bid to attain self-hood. While Rev Gatu draws from the seminal thinking of Henry Venn to envision a self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating church, the Kenyan prelate recast the idea to make it relevant in the African context.

Rev Gatu is a champion of inculturation, even as he opposes retrogressive practices such as female genital mutilation.

As the debate rages on whether it is proper for PCEA believers to join traditional councils that discuss matters of culture and community welfare as they consume goat-meat, it may be helpful to ask: What would be the attitude and spirit of Rev Gatu in this matter of faith and culture?   

 Father Lawrence Njoroge is a professor of Development Studies and Ethics at JKUAT, where he serves as Catholic Chaplain.  [email protected]