Biographical entry: Kwaisulia, Christopher England (Igilana Kwaiga) (1902 - )

Born
1902

Details

Born in 1902, Christopher England (Igilana) Kwaisulia was the grandson of Kwaisulia (q.v.), a powerful Malaitan labour trade passage master from Adagege in Lau Lagoon. In 1921, England joined the Police Force and in 1928 was part of the punitive expedition sent to Kwaio after the massacre of a party led by District Office William Bell in 1927. England's life changed later in 1928 when he attended an SSEM Gospel Rally at Tulagi, and he left the Police and returned home, where he stayed until 1934, the year he married. In 1935, he claimed to have received a revelation from God, and the next year he joined the Melanesian Mission, but he soon returned to the SSEM. England became a 'leader chief' for the Lau area during Maasina Rule (q.v.), while remaining an important church worker. In 1955, England, Alpheus Afurara, Hamuel Akosia, and Alan Te'eakalo all left the SSEM to form the Remnant Church (q.v.), later joined by Zebulun Sisima (q.v.) from Kwara'ae, who was brought up in the SSEM but had become a Seventh-day Adventist. Visitations from the Holy Spirit and ecstatic performances were part of the creation of the new church. (Maetoloa 1985; Burt 1983)

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Published resources

Book Sections

  • Maetoloa, Meshach, 'The Remnant Church: Two Studies', in Carl Loeliger;Garry Trompf (ed.), New Religious Movements in Melanesia, University of the South Pacific and University of Papua New Guinea, Suva and Port Moresby, 1985, pp. 120-148. Details

Journal Articles

  • Burt, Ben, 'The Remnant Church: A Christian Sect of the Solomon Islands', Oceania, vol. 53, no. 4, June, pp. 334-346. Details