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38-950: The CICC has its origins in the work of the London Missionary Society (LMS), which began work in the Cook Islands in 1821. In 1852, the LMS founded the Cook Islands LMS Church . The church became autonomous in 1968 with the passage of the Cook Islands Christian Church Incorporation Act by the Parliament of the Cook Islands . This Act officially changed the church's name to the Cook Islands Christian Church. The first president of

76-464: A campaign developed to raise money for the proposed society, and its first meeting was organised at Baker's Coffee House on Change Alley in the City of London. Eighteen supporters showed up and helped agree the aims of the proposed missionary society – to spread the knowledge of Christ among heathen and other unenlightened nations . By Christmas over thirty men were committed to forming the society. In

114-888: Is a member of the World Council of Churches . With the passage of the Cook Islands Christian Church Amendment Act by the Parliament of the Cook Islands in 2003, the CICC is permitted to alter its constitution without any action from Parliament. The church has sister church relations with the Uniting Church in Australia , Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand , the Congregational Union of New Zealand and

152-705: Is commemorated to this day by the Torres Strait Islanders in the annual Coming of the Light Festival . The Society soon sent missionaries all over the world, notably to India, China, Australia, Madagascar and Africa. Famous LMS missionaries included: The London Missionary Society merged with the Commonwealth Missionary Society (formerly the Colonial Missionary Society ) in 1966 to form

190-598: Is regarded as one of the founders of the British tobacco industry. He was born on 2 March 1761 in Salisbury , England , the son of Edmund Wills, a watchmaker, and his wife Rebecca, daughter of Henry Overton of Andover, Hampshire . He came as a young man by coach from Salisbury to Bristol where he formed a partnership with Samuel Watkins to open a tobacco shop on 73 Castle Street, Bristol. They named their operation Wills, Watkins & Co. When Watkins retired from

228-711: The Congregational Council for World Mission (CCWM). At the formation of the United Reformed Church in 1972 it underwent another name change, becoming the Council for World Mission (Congregational and Reformed) . The CWM (Congregational and Reformed) was again restructured in 1977 to create a more internationalist and global body, the Council for World Mission . The records of the London Missionary Society are held at

266-480: The Council for World Mission . In 1793, Edward Williams , then minister at Carr's Lane, Birmingham, wrote a letter to the churches of the Midlands, expressing the need for interdenominational world evangelization and foreign missions. It was effective and Williams began to play an active part in the plans for a missionary society. He left Birmingham in 1795, becoming pastor at Masbrough , Rotherham, and tutor of

304-825: The Maói Protestant Church . London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational missions in Oceania, Africa, and the Americas, although there were also Presbyterians (notable for their work in China), Methodists , Baptists , and various other Protestants involved. It now forms part of

342-950: The gospels . After attending Homerton College , then in Hampstead, William Ellis was ordained in 1815. Soon atter his marriage to Mary Mercy Moor on 9 November 1815 they were posted to the South Sea Islands returning in 1824. He later become Chief Foreign Secretary. In September 1816, Robert Moffat (1795–1883) was commissioned in the Surrey Chapel, Southwark , on the same day as John Williams . Moffat served in South Africa until 1870. Mary Moffat joined him and they married in 1819. The LMS only employed male missionaries and it preferred them to be married. The Moffats were to have several children who also became and/or married missionaries. In 1817, Edward Stallybrass

380-709: The CICC after the Act was passed was Bill Marsters , who in the late 1970s was forced to resign his position when he became involved in a scandal involving church funds that went missing. In 1978, the CICC established its first congregation in Auckland in order to accommodate church members who had emigrated to New Zealand. Today, there are 24 congregations in the Cook Islands, and 22 churches in New Zealand and 15 in Australia. The church employs 74 pastors , who are trained at Takamoa Theological College on Rarotonga . The CICC

418-544: The LMS mission was accepted and grew rapidly throughout the Samoan Islands. The eastern end of the Samoan archipelago, was the kingdom of Manu'a . The paramount chief, Tui-Manu'a embraced Christianity and Manu'a also became a LMS island kingdom. 1832 – John Williams ( Ioane Viliamu as he is known to Samoans) landed at Leone Bay in what was later to become American Samoa . (Tala faasolopito o le Ekalesia Samoa) He

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456-755: The Rev. Archibald Wright Murray evangelised among the inhabitants of the Ellice Islands . 15 October 1870 - Rev. Samuel James Whitmee arrived at Arorae (Gilbert Islands, now Kiribati ), and later that month he visited Tamana , Onoatoa and Beru . In August 1872, George Pratt of the LMS visited the Gilbert Islands. 1871 - London Missionary Society arrives in the Torres Strait Islands (now in Queensland , Australia). The event

494-606: The Samoa Mission Press. In 1840, the medical missionary and explorer David Livingstone (1813–1873) departed for South Africa, arriving in 1841, and serving with the LMS until 1857. Moffat and Livingstone met circa 1841. In 1845, Livingstone married Robert and Mary Moffat's daughter Mary (1821–1862). Around 1842, founded the London Missionary Society's School for the Sons and Orphans of Missionaries, now known as Eltham College . David Livingstone sent his son Robert to

532-753: The Society placed missionaries with the Rev. David Bogue of Gosport for preparation for their ministries. Captain James Wilson offered to sail the missionaries to their destination unpaid. The Society was able to afford the small ship Duff , of 267 tons ( bm ). It could carry 18 crew members and 30 missionaries. Seven months after the crew left port from the Woolwich docks in late 1796 they arrived in Tahiti , where seventeen missionaries departed. The missionaries were then instructed to become friendly with

570-570: The Tahitians, named Papehia, was used as intermediaries to convince local chiefs to join the new gospel. 1830 – John Williams sighted the coast of Savai'i in Samoa and landed on August 24, 1830 at Sapapali'i village in search of Malietoa Vai‘inupo , a paramount chief of Samoa. John Williams was greeted by his brother Taimalelagi. Upon meeting Malietoa at a large gathering in Sapapali'i,

608-464: The business in 1789, it became Wills & Co , with Wills as sole proprietor. He soon found new partners, and the company merged in 1791 with the firm of Peter Lilly, which had a mill to grind tobacco into snuff . Lilly and Wills named the new company Lilly, Wills & Co , and they consolidated the operations into Lilly's shop at 111–12 Redcliff Street, Bristol. In 1793 the company name was simplified to Lilly and Wills . When Lilly retired in 1803, he

646-716: The central north coast of Savai'i island in Samoa in August 1837. He left the LMS in 1850 when he accepted a position with the Congregational church in Auckland, New Zealand. 1839–1879 – The Rev. George Pratt served as a missionary in Samoa for many years, at the station at Matautu on Savai'i island. Pratt was a linguist and authored the first grammar and dictionary on the Samoan language , first published in 1862 at

684-551: The crew. Of the seventeen missionaries that arrived in Tahiti, eight soon left on the first British ship to arrive in Tahiti. When Duff returned to Britain it was immediately sent back to Tahiti with thirty more missionaries. This journey was disastrous. A French privateer captured Duff , landed its prisoners in Montevideo, and sold her. The expense of the journey cost 'The Missionary Society' ten thousand pounds , which

722-617: The finance because evangelicals belonged to many denominations and churches; all too often their missions would only reach a small group of people and be hard to sustain. Edward Williams continued his involvement and, in July 1796, gave the charge to the first missionaries sent out by the Society. The Society aimed to create a forum where evangelicals could work together, give overseas missions financial support and co-ordination. It also advocated against opponents who wanted unrestricted commercial and military relations with native peoples throughout

760-528: The firm until his death on 1 December 1826 in Bristol, when his sons took over their father's interest in the business. They subsequently became senior partners of the company in 1830 when their father's partner Samuel Ditchett retired, and they renamed the company W.D. & H.O. Wills , which grew to become one of the largest tobacco importers in Victorian England. He raised his children in

798-403: The following year, 1795, Spa Fields Chapel was approached for permission to preach a sermon to the various ministers and others by now keenly associated with the plan to send missionaries abroad. This was organised for Tuesday 22 September 1795, the host chapel insisting that no collection for the proposed society must be made during the founding event which would be more solemn, and formally mark

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836-597: The island of Erromango whilst he was preaching to them. He was traveling at the time in the Missionary ship Camden commanded by Captain Robert Clark Morgan (1798–1864). A memorial stone was erected on the island of Rarotonga in 1839 and is still there today. His widow is buried with their son, Samuel Tamatoa Williams, at the old Cedar Circle in London's Abney Park Cemetery , the name of her husband and

874-523: The largest constituent part of Imperial Tobacco . The 1966 Guinness Book of Records named the Wills family, descended from him, as containing the largest number of millionaires in the British Isles, of which 14 left estates in excess of one million pounds since 1910, totalling 55 million, of which 27 million was paid in death duties. Wills is said to have been a non-smoker , despite the fact that he

912-545: The library of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. [REDACTED] Media related to London Missionary Society at Wikimedia Commons Henry Overton Wills I Henry Overton Wills I (2 March 1761 – 1826) was a British merchant who founded the firm of W.D. & H.O. Wills in Bristol , England, which eventually became one of the largest tobacco companies in late 19th-century Britain, and later became

950-465: The nations which are in like condition with yourselves of old, to entreat them that they turn from their dumb idol to the living God, and to wait for His Son from heaven? Verily their debtors ye are. John Eyre responded by inviting a leading and influential evangelical, the Rev. Thomas Haweis , to write a response to Bogue's appeal. The Cornishman sided firmly with Bogue, and immediately identified two donors, one of £500, and one of £100. From this start,

988-417: The natives, build a mission house for sleeping and worship, and learn the native language. The missionaries faced unforeseen problems. The natives had firearms and were anxious to gain possessions from the crew. The Tahitians also had faced difficulties with diseases spread from the crews of ships that had previously docked there. The natives saw this as retribution from the gods, and they were very suspicious of

1026-659: The need to spread Christianity . Carey suggested that Ryland join forces with others along the non-denominational lines of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade , to design a society that could prevail against the difficulties that evangelicals often faced when spreading the Word. This aimed to overcome the difficulties that establishment of overseas missions had faced. It had frequently proved hard to raise

1064-670: The newly formed Masbrough academy . Also in 1793, the Anglican cleric John Eyre of Hackney founded the Evangelical Magazine . He had the support of the presbyterian John Love , and congregationalists Edward Parsons and John Townshend (1757–1826). Proposals for the Missionary Society began in 1794 after a Baptist minister, John Ryland , received word from William Carey , the pioneer British Baptist missionary who had recently moved to Calcutta , about

1102-794: The origin of the Missionary Society . Hundreds of evangelicals attended, and the newly launched society quickly began receiving letters of financial support, and interest from prospective missionaries. Joseph Hardcastle of Hatcham House, Deptford became the first Treasurer, and the Rev. John Eyre of Hackney (editor of the Evangelical Magazine ) became the first Secretary to the Missionary Society—the latter appointment providing it with an effective 'newspaper' to promote its cause. The Missionary Society's board quickly began interviewing prospective candidates. In 1800

1140-898: The record of his death described first on the stone. John Williams' remains were sought by a group from Samoa and his bones were brought back to Samoa, where throngs of the LMS mission attended a funeral service attended by Samoan royalty, high-ranking chiefs and the LMS missionaries. His remains were interred at the native LMS church in Apia. A monument stands in his memory across from the Congregational Christian Church of Apia chapel. The Rev. Alexander MacDonald and his wife Selina ( née Blomfield ) arrived in Rarotonga in May 1836, then Samoa in April 1837 and settled at Safune on

1178-591: The school during the 1850s. Eric Liddell , Olympic athlete and Missionary, also attended the school. 1844 – London Missionary Society established Malua Theological College at the village of Malua on Upolu to educate local men to become village clergy for the rapidly growing mission with over 250 villages and 25,000 membership. 1844 – London Missionary Society sent Samoan missionaries to surrounding islands; Rotuma , Niue , Tokelau , Ellice Islands , Papua , Vanuatu . Over 300 served in Papua alone. 1865 -

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1216-475: The strict Congregationalist faith, and his descendants actively supported the church in Bristol for more than a century. His sons were particularly generous in their support for non-conformist religious causes. The Wills family were also active in local politics, both by supporting the Liberal Party and by standing themselves for election to city offices as Liberal candidates. On 24 June 1790, when he

1254-713: The world. After Ryland showed Carey's letter to Henry Overton Wills , an anti-slavery campaigner in Bristol , he quickly gained support. Scottish ministers in the London area, David Bogue and James Steven, as well as other evangelicals such as John Hey, joined forces to organize a new society. Bogue wrote an influential appeal in the Evangelical Magazine for September 1794: Ye were once Pagans, living in cruel and abominable idolatry. The servants of Jesus came from other lands, and preached His Gospel among you. Hence your knowledge of salvation. And ought ye not, as an equitable compensation for their kindness, to send messengers to

1292-506: Was appointed superintendent of the London Missionary Society stations in South Africa where he fought for the rights of the indigenous people. 1821 – John Williams is the first recorded reverend of the Cook Islands Christian Church (CICC) in Arutanga, Aitutaki, Cook Islands. It is here that the missionary work was first established. In later years John Williams visited Rarotonga, taking with him two Tahitians he picked up from Tahiti. One of

1330-582: Was informed that men of their village have accepted the 'lotu' brought by Ioane Viliamu in Savai'i; not knowing John Williams now stood before them. A monument stands before the large Siona Chapel – now CCCAS in Leone, American Samoa – in honor of John Williams. In 1839, John Williams's missionary work whilst visiting the New Hebrides came to an abrupt end, when he was killed and eaten by cannibals on

1368-645: Was initially devastating to the Society. Gradually it recovered, however, and in 1807 was able to establish a mission in Guangzhou (Canton), China under Robert Morrison . Another missionary who served in China was John Kenneth Mackenzie. A native of Yarmouth in England, he served in Hankow and Tientsin . Starting in 1815, they hired Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir as a translator, to work on many texts including

1406-493: Was replaced by Samuel Ditchett, and the firm became Wills and Ditchett . Wills' partnership with Lilly proved to be profitable, and the company in 1804 was valued at £15,435 (2017 value: $ 1.67 million U.S.). In 1819 they again changed the name of their firm, to Wills, Ditchett & Co. , Wills by this time having brought into the operation his sons William Day Wills and Henry Overton Wills II , first as apprentices and later as junior partners. He continued to be involved in

1444-482: Was sent out to Russia to start a mission among the Buryat people of Siberia. The mission received the blessing of Alexander I of Russia , but was suppressed in 1840 under his successor Nicholas I . Alongside Stallybrass worked Cornelius Rahmn  [ Wikidata ] of Sweden, William Swan and Robert Yuille of Scotland. In 1818, the Society was renamed The London Missionary Society . In 1822, John Philip

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