Fellow Voyagers,

Today we recognize Bishop John Coleridge Patteson (1827-1871) and companions (martyrs).

Born in England, John Patteson was ordained a priest in 1854. Within the year he set sail to New Zealand as a missionary.

In 1861 he was consecrated the first bishop of Melanesia and founded the St. Barnabas College on Norfolk Island where he established a training center for new missioners. As he traveled Melanesia, Patteson would collect young men from the islands, educate and return them to lead the next generation.

Being a bishop in Melanesia was difficult, as the islands in the region are scattered over 1800 miles. Patteson who already knew Greek, Latin, German, Italian, and Arabic, learned 23 of over 1000 different languages and translated sixteen readers and some gospels into the Mota language.

He was said to be gentle, quickly made friends, and was a protector of the islanders against a flourishing slave trade in the area. For years he sailed on the schooner Southern Cross visiting the indigenous people spreading Christianity.

Unfortunately for Patteson slave traders (“blackbirders”) often impersonated missionaries.

On a visit to the island of Nukapu within the Soloman Islands on September 20, 1871, Patteson was clubbed to death as revenge for the kidnapping of five young men days prior (note: other theories exist). His companions on a boat nearby were also killed.

Realizing their error, the islanders wrapped his body in a woven mat and placed it in a canoe with palm fronts in his hand. When the canoe was found floating in the sea as it was headed to the cemetery, it was intercepted by his surviving companions and Patteson was buried at sea.

When news of the events reached England, it caused an increase in missionary work in the area and mobilized the British government to take measures to stamp out the slave trade in the Pacific territories.

Patteson’s work and influence can be seen in the Anglican Church of Melanesia and The Melanesia Mission.

As we remember the work of Patteson and his mission for the church, we should pause to remember that his evangelism and the education of islanders broke up families.

Finally, on a somewhat related note, the Southern Cross, a prominent constellation visible in the southern sky and name of Patteson’s schooner, is the inspiration for pendants and jewelry. The perfect gift for a seafaring or star gazing Christian!

—Edina