ABSTRACT
The history which has shaped the Kwara’ae society of from their ‘tradition of the past’ is all the history of Christian conversion. The South Sea Evangelial Mission (SSEC) continues to build upon the social transformation achieved under the European-led SSEM to develop an indigenous Christianity which also has strong foundations in the religious experience and values of Kwara’ae traditional culture. Once baptised a person becomes a full ‘member’ of the church, a ‘Christian’ in the strict SSEC sense of the word, qualified to take part in the most important ritual of the ‘Lord’s Supper’ and in the running of the local church. Kwara’ae generally take a quite pragmatic attitude to church membership, changing it as they once exchanged the traditional religion for Christianity, according to the benefits they expect to receive. In 1983 a few men in West Kwara’ae, including Jemuel Misialo, Paramount Chief among the Kwara’ae chiefs, joined the Apostolic Church.
