On 16th September 1920, the first local Kirk Session in what became the Presbyterian Church of East Africa was constituted at Kikuyu. Three days later, on 19th September 1920, 26 African men were ordained as Elders at Thogoto; a further 17 were ordained at Tumutumu on 26th September. On 17th September, the Presbytery of Kenya Colony was itself constituted by the Nairobi Kirk Session together with the newly ordained Kikuyu elders. Those 43 men were the first Africans to hold the office of Elder in the denomination — the foundation of the Presbyterian, elder-led form of church government that PCEA Milimani South Presbytery’s own parishes still practise today.
Every time a Kirk Session meets in a PCEA parish today, it is exercising a form of church government that traces directly back to a specific week in September 1920 — and to 43 named men whose ordination the whole denomination marked at its centenary.
Mission Roots: Kibwezi to Kikuyu
The PCEA’s story begins earlier still. The first missionary pioneers of what would become the Church of Scotland Mission arrived from Kibwezi in September 1898, settling at Kikuyu. It would take another 22 years, though, before the distinctly Presbyterian form of church government — leadership by Elders, gathered in representative courts — was formally established among the African congregations that mission work had produced.
The word itself carries the history. “Elder” in English translates the Greek presbyteros, from which “Presbyterian” derives. Presbyterian government is government by representative assemblies of Elders — both “Ruling” and “Teaching” Elders together — the foundational structure of Reformed church polity, still the structure behind every Kirk Session and Parish Session across PCEA Milimani South Presbytery.
The Week That Established It: September 1920
The first local Kirk Session was constituted on 16th September 1920. Three days later, on 19th September 1920, the first ordination of African Elders took place at Thogoto — 26 men, whose names the denomination’s own centenary record still lists: Ishmael Wango, Samuel Gitau, Daudi Makumi, Benjamin Githiaya, Filipu Karanja, Andrea Wainaina, Samson Njoroge, Ibrahim Njuguna, Zakaria Wambura, Yusuf Ngwaci, James Muriu, Musa Ngururia, William Njoroge, Tomaso Wanyoike, Shadraka Mbirua, George Njoroge, Joshua Matenjwa, Musa Gitau, Daudi Ndatha, Shadraraka Kang’u, Ayub Nguyai, Douglas Itotia, Joseph Ngure, Musa Ndirangu, and Elijah Kibacia.
A week later, on 26th September 1920, a further 17 Elders were ordained at the Tumutumu Kirk Session: Solomon Ndambi, Gideon Gatere, Jonathan Ng’ang’a, Joshua Riunga, Musa Matu, Daudi Kamau, Maina Maina, Zakayo Kagotho, Luka Macaria, Samson Maingi, Zakaria Mutahi, Asa Muhuga, William Mwema, Jeremia Waita, Lazaro Theuri, Paulo Kahuho, and Simeon Karecu.
In between the two ordinations, on 17th September 1920, the Presbytery of Kenya Colony was itself constituted — formed jointly by the Nairobi Kirk Session and the newly ordained elders from Kikuyu. In a single fortnight, the structural backbone of what would become the PCEA — local Kirk Sessions governed by African Elders, gathered into a Presbytery — was put in place.
“Bearing Lasting Fruits”
In 2018, the denomination marked 120 years since those first missionary pioneers reached Kikuyu; in 2020, it marked a century since that founding ordination, under the theme “Bearing Lasting Fruits.” The centenary’s own reflection framed the calling of an Elder in terms that still describe the office today: commissioned to proclaim the saving power of Jesus Christ, starting wherever they are and going wherever the Lord leads — not measured only by the expansion of the church’s reach, but by the church’s full involvement in human affairs: to weep when weeping is called for, to comfort where comfort is needed, to challenge where challenge is due, and to build where duty calls.
From those 43 men ordained in a single September, the centenary record notes, “little seeds… have germinated and multiplied a hundred-fold” — evidenced today by congregations across Central, Eastern, and Rift Valley Kenya, in Uganda and Tanzania, and among worshipping Presbyterian communities as far as the United States and Britain. PCEA Milimani South Presbytery’s own eight parishes, thirty-four congregations, and every Kirk Session that has ever met within them stand downstream of that single week.
Why It Still Matters Today
We have already written about what eldership means in a Presbyterian church — the theology of the office, why it matters, and how it distinguishes Presbyterian government from other traditions. What the centenary adds is the human history behind that theology: eldership in the PCEA was not an abstract import from Scotland, transplanted unchanged. It became real, local, and African on a specific week in September 1920, through 43 specific men whose names the church still keeps. Every elder ordained since — in every congregation whose founding story this series has told — stands in a line that begins there.
Frequently Asked Questions
When were the first African Elders ordained in the PCEA?
26 Elders were ordained at Thogoto on 19th September 1920, followed by 17 more at Tumutumu on 26th September 1920 — 43 men in total, ordained within the same week that the Presbytery of Kenya Colony itself was constituted, on 17th September 1920.
Why does “Presbyterian” refer to Elders specifically?
The word derives from the Greek presbyteros (“elder”), reflecting the denomination’s form of government: leadership by representative courts of Elders rather than by bishops or a single congregational vote — the same structure PCEA parishes still use today.
How does this history connect to PCEA Milimani South Presbytery today?
Every one of the Presbytery’s eight parishes and thirty-four congregations operates under the same Kirk Session structure established in that founding week — Elders, both ruling and teaching, gathered in representative assemblies, a direct institutional descendant of the 1920 ordinations.
Final Thoughts
A hundred years and more separate today’s Kirk Sessions from the ordinations at Thogoto and Tumutumu, but the office has not changed shape: elders commissioned to weep with the grieving, comfort the hurting, challenge what needs challenging, and build what the moment calls for. The centenary’s own words remain the fitting charge for every session still meeting in the Presbytery’s parishes: “Let us therefore re-dedicate ourselves… and continue bearing lasting fruits for our Master.”
Want to Learn More About Our Presbytery’s History?
Reach out to the Presbytery office to learn more about our history and heritage.
Historical details in this article are drawn from the PCEA’s own published Centennial Celebrations record. Compiled by the Editorial Desk.