For many of the Khoekhoe, the church provided a centre to their lives, both emotionally and organisationally. During the first half of the nineteenth century, the missions had worked with singular success among the Khoekhoe. As a result, there were many devout Christians, who had used the teachings of the missionaries and the self-discipline which conversion entailed to gain control of their own lives, and develop a level of respectability which surprised, and indeed threatened, the image of the Khoekhoe prevalent in white settler society. There were also increasing numbers of Khoekhoe, particularly among the youth, who were becoming literate. What this meant was that, certainly in the LMS with its Congregational traditions, the members of the church increasingly wanted ecclesiastical control. They were becoming used to being elders and deacons, and one or two could look forward to being ordained as pastors.

The various documents in this chapter provide evidence of these tendencies, first with regard to the ideals within the Philipton church, and secondly with regard to the ordination of Arie van Rooyen as the first pastor of Khoesan descent, apart from James Read Junior. The letters were addressed to the Rev. J.J. Freeman, who was on a tour of inspection of the South African mission field. He was known to be sympathetic towards those of the missionaries who welcomed the emergence of church officials, ‘native assistants’ and, indeed, members of the clergy from among the ranks of the Khoekhoe. This was in contrast to those, notably Robert Moffat and Henry Calderwood, who were unable to accept the shift in the hierarchical relationship between missionary and convert that this entailed.