"Church of the Torch"

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Senior Lister
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"Church of the Torch" is the oldest PCEA church in East Africa. It was completed in 1909. It is built in neo-Gothic style, with galvanised corrugated heavy gauge iron sheets to the walls + the steep raked roof. It is gazetted as a national monument.

It was also known as Watson Memorial Church, in memory of the pioneer missionary, Thomas Watson. Windows are of wooden casements, some in clear glass + others in stained, depicting different holy sacraments. Doors are of timber boards hung on pointed arched frames.

The inner walls + ceiling are paneled timber boarding. All the timber members are of cedar wood. Most of the building was fabricated in Scotland and shipped to Kenya. Dr John William Arthur had earlier, in 1907, established the Kikuyu Mission Station. The church became a pivotal part of the mission. Mzee Kenyatta was a student of carpentry at the Mission. Dr. Arthur also played a key role in establishment of the Alliance High School in 1926.
 
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