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William Wadˇ Harris & the Harrist Churches
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William Wadˇ Harris was a Liberian Grebo who had been brought up Methodist, but later worked for the Protestant Episcopal Church as a teacher. He fought Americo-Liberian rule and was imprisoned when implicated in a rebellion which would have invited the rather more enlightened British rule into Liberia as a liberation from Americo-Liberian oppression. When in prison he received a vision from the Archangel Gabriel who proclaimed him a prophet sent to prepare the way of Jesus Christ. The Archangel, however, commanded him to abandon the European clothes he took pride in, and particularly the shoes he had just ordered from America. Rejecting European clothes would be the sign of his conversion and the symbol of the simplicity and humility of the gospel message.
Towards the end of 1913 Harris began his preaching journey from Liberia through the Ivory Coast and on into the Gold Coast (modern Ghana). He walked barefoot, wearing a long white robe with black bands across the chest, carrying a tall cross made of cane, a calabash to fill with water for baptism, a gourd rattle, and a Bible. He was accompanied by two or three women (who may have been his wives). These women would sing, dance and play the rattle to accompany his preaching. The response to his preaching was quite extraordinary and the trip, which lasted until early 1915 was the most effective evangelistic crusade in modern African history.
HarrisÕ preaching itself was anything but extraordinary. At its core lay the claim that God and Christ had come to vanquish and replace the spirits of tradition. he taught that ChristÕs return was immanent and that the people were to prepare for his return by a radical conversion of life. Conversion entailed obeying the ten commandments, keeping the Sunday, accepting the authority of the Bible, and burning the ŌfetishesÕ of traditional religion which were thought to keep evil away. In many ways Harris set up a fundamental conflict and contest between Christ and the fetishes. Christ was coming soon and would punish those who rejected his prophet, ignored the Sabbath, kept fetishes or despised his commandments. Harris did not condemn polygamy and may have had several wives himself.
Those who believed the message were immediately baptised, and then told to enter whatever Christian church the missionaries provided for them in their village or town. Where there were no mission churches to send his converts to, Harris, after burning the fetishes, baptising the converts, and giving them some elementary instruction in the Christian faith, appointed twelve apostles in each place to provide leadership. Many of apostles carried out their task with great perseverance, building solid Harrist churches characterized by faithful obedience to the Ten Commandments, observance of Sunday in particular and fidelity to a fairly simple, straightforward gospel of God, Jesus and love. They continued to spread, baptising converts and instructing them in the rudiments of the faith. They also continued to accept polygamy.
One such church, among the Dida in the Ivory Coast, flourished due to the work of the Apostle Latta Gnandjouˇ who was appointed apostle by Harris in January of 1915 and remained leader of the congregation until his death in 1931. Harris gave him a copy of an English bible, which he could hardly read, but his young literate nephew had learned English and accompanied his uncle on his preaching and baptising tours. They built chapels, women among them composed hymns and they developed a strong and healthy church.
When the missionaries finally came into their region, these Harrist Christians greeted them with great rejoicing, since they had not forgotten HarrisÕ instructions to join the churches that missionaries provided. The Methodist missionaries, however, found that their intransegience over the issue of polygamy meant that not nearly all of the Harrists became Methodists.
This page was based on the following sources, which you can consult for more detailed information:
Gordon MacKay Haliburton, The Prophet Harris. London: Longman , 1971.
Adrian Hastings, The Church in Africa: 1450-1950. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994 pp. 505-508
Sheila S. Walker, "Women in the Harrist Movement" in The New Religions of Africa, edited by Benetta Jules-Resette. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corp, 1979, pp 87-115
Elizabeth Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa from Antiquity to the Present. London: SPCK, 1995 pp. 284-86
Lamin Sanneh, West African Christianity: The Religious Impact. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1983, pp. 123-5