The Role of the Church of Scotland in Kenya 1972–2022

This article traces the Church of Scotland's involvement in Kenya from the arrival of missionaries in 1891 through to 2022, examining how this relationship shaped both the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) and the Kenyan nation. Beginning as a spin-off from the Imperial British East Africa Company, the mission at Thogoto grew into a movement marked by Bible translation into Gikuyu, land ownership fostering self-reliance ( jitegemea), and education that produced much of Kenya's post-independence leadership. The article traces the PCEA's journey toward autonomy, notably through Secretary General John Gatu's 1971 moratorium urging African churches toward self-determination, and highlights tensions around ethnicity, the female circumcision controversy, and racial divisions within church structures. It also covers the PCEA's evolving Evangelical spirituality shaped by the East African Revival, ongoing Scottish involvement in theological education and medical work (particularly at Chogoria, Tumutumu and Kikuyu hospitals), and the PCEA's remarkable growth even as the Church of Scotland declined. The piece concludes by considering the changed nature of partnership since Scottish mission-partner appointments ended in 2005, exploring how mutual respect and shared history now coexist with unresolved questions about reciprocity and ongoing relational connection.