Harvey C. Kwiyani. Decolonizing Mission. London, UK: SCM Press, 2025. Paperback. 240 pp.
The complex relationship between Christian mission and imperialism is, and should be, a major topic in missiology and history. Since the latter half of the twentieth century, secular historians have often labeled missionaries as agents of cultural imperialism. In contrast, historians of Christianity offer more nuanced interpretations, arguing that missionaries relied on imperial structures but were primarily motivated by their convictions. Harvey C. Kwiyani, writing from a missiological perspective, offers a compelling contribution to this debate through the book under review here, Decolonizing Mission.
Kwiyani, Director of the Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration at the Church Mission Society, originally from West Africa taught theology, missiology, and leadership in Africa, Europe, and the United States. At Liverpool Hope University, he worked with eminent historian Andrew Walls. Kwiyani founded Missio Africanus: The Journal of African Missiology and has authored several books, including Sent Forth: African Missionary Work in the West (Orbis, 2014), Multicultural Kingdom: Ethnic Diversity, Mission and the Church (SCM Press, 2020), and Africa Bears Witness: Mission Theology and Praxis in the 21st Century (Langham, 2024), the last of which he considers a predecessor to this volume.
In the Preface and Introduction, Kwiyani articulates the dual significance of the term “decolonizing” in the book’s title: as a verb, the work refers to a decolonizing mission theology and practice; as an adjective, decolonized describes the nature of mission. Born in Malawi, where European missionaries established mission stations, Kwiyani shapes his argument from that background. He does not denounce individual missionaries, but rather the ongoing system linking mission and imperialism. Kwiyani warns against justifying wrongdoing by saying “God uses flawed people.” Drawing on his academic and practical expertise, instead, he offers a renewed, Jesus-centered, and decolonizing understanding of mission for the twenty-first century.
In Chapter 1, Kwiyani discusses his origin in Magomero, Malawi, to illustrate the intertwining of mission and colonization. He appreciates the efforts and sacrifices of white missionaries. Yet he argues that their mission was influenced by the ideology of white supremacy, the doctrine of discovery, and civilizing mission. Chapter 2, “Jesus and the Empire,” anchors the book theologically, with Kwiyani—like theologian John Howard Yoder—suggesting Jesus’ mission had the dimension of subverting the empire.
Next Kwiyani surveys the history of Christianity through a missiological lens. In Chapter 3, he highlights Paul of Thebes, whose mission model—going to the margins—suits those outside imperial power. Chapter 4 examines fifteenth-century Papal bulls that justified European domination and the Christianization of “pagans.” In the next chapter, the author notes that by the nineteenth century, the idea of a civilizing mission was closely tied to European imperialism and paternalism. Kwiyani notes that these attitudes persist in today’s mission, with global strategies and Jesuit-like military metaphors still influential. In Chapter 6, he argues that mission should not require imperial power, though missiology remains “white-dominated.” For Kwiyani, political correctness is not the motive for this reconceptualization but rather recalls Jesus’ mission without imperial backing. Thus, the author envisions mission led by those with little or no imperial power, especially in the non-Western world.
In Chapter 7, Kwiyani offers practical suggestions for decolonizing mission. Citing Andrew Walls, he urges breaking the “untroubled rule of palefaces” by amplifying non-Western voices in missiology. He notes the resistance faced by non-Western scholars, such as an Ethiopian woman who critiqued power imbalances in US missions. Kwiyani insists mission should be led by the less powerful, as in Jesus’ time, and be multi-directional. He challenges terms like “unreached people groups” and the “10/40 window” as Eurocentric, and calls for decolonizing Evangelical missions, which remains centered on US and UK institutions—even when involving non-Western Christians. The concept of “missional church” also needs decolonizing, as it often excludes non-Western perspectives and relies on church marketing.
In Chapter 8, Kwiyani adds nuance regarding the African context. When Africans engage in “mission,” their concepts can be borrowed from the West and remain colonial. However, contemporary African missiology, rooted in African identity, could foster a unique “lay-led missionary movement” blending Evangelical and ecumenical traditions. Kwiyani concludes in Chapter 9: “It is high time we agreed that God’s mission does not colonize… We need to learn how to engage in God’s mission…with no armies to make the way before us and no empires behind us.”
While the book provides rich historical accounts, the chronology is sometimes inconsistent, making it difficult to follow the historical flow. For example, Chapter 4 disrupts the timeline started in Chapter 2 by drawing freely on incidents from different eras, and later chapters jump between centuries. His thematic approach may justify this, but it requires closer attention from the reader.
This book will be of considerable value to scholars and practitioners engaged in the study or practice of Christian mission. Kwiyani carefully builds on previous scholarship and offers fresh insights relevant to missiology today. Members of Stone-Campbell churches should pay special attention, as Kwiyani is essentially talking about restoring Jesus’ vision of mission as reflected in the Bible. Furthermore, consistent with the book’s ethos, I recommend this book for non-Western Christians—not only in Africa, but also in Asia, Latin America, and Oceania—any who seek to participate in decolonizing mission.
