page_title: Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tonga
section_title: Initial work 1895–1912
hierarchical_section_title: Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tonga / History / Initial work 1895–1912
caption_attribution_description: English: Edwin Sebastian Butz and Florence Butz, Seventh-day Adventist missionaries
context_page_description: The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tonga, is one of the smaller religious groups in the South Pacific island state of Tonga with over 3,599 members as of June 30, 2018, started by Seventh-day Adventist missionaries from the United States who visited in 1891 and settled in 1895. They set up schools but made very little progress in conversion, handicapped by dietary rules that prohibited popular local foods such as pork and shellfish, and that also banned tobacco, alcohol and kava.
  The church was revitalized in 1912 with renewed emphasis on evangelism. In 1922 it resumed its strategy of providing education, which resulted in an increase in conversions. After keeping a low profile during World War II, the church grew quickly from 1950 to the 1970s. However, membership subsequently declined due to emigration and competition with other churches. The SDA of Tonga is part of the South Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists. It operates several schools in Tonga, and provides opportunities for further studies at Adventist institutions abroad.
  Tonga lies to the east of the 180° meridian but to the west of the International Date Line, in the time zone UTC+13:00.
context_section_description: The SDA missionary Edward Hilliard, his wife Ida, and daughter Alta arrived at Nukuʻalofa on 30 August 1895. Ida Hilliard was a teacher, and started a small school late in 
  1895. At its peak the school had 28 pupils, paying $3 per quarter. The school closed in mid-1899 just before the Hilliards left the islands for Australia.
  Edward Hilliard earned an income as a carpenter. He understood the importance of learning the local language, and translated some religious tracts into the Tongan language. 
  He was no longer young and found the language difficult. He seems to have focused on converting Europeans.
  On 29 September 1896, more Adventist missionaries arrived in Tonga on the Pitcairn, including Sarah and Maria Young, two nursing trainees from Pitcairn Island, and Edwin and Florence Butz with their daughter Alma. The Butz family initially had difficulty being accepted, as they were Americans and most European residents were British. This was eased by Florence Butz' provision of medical services. 
  In September 1897 Doctor Merritt Kellogg and his wife Eleanor Nolan came to assist with the medical work. 
  He built a timber home at Magaia that was long used as the home of the mission superintendent.
  The Butz's tried to establish a permanent mission, but were mainly limited to working with the small papalagi (European) colony.
  They made sporadic missionary efforts in the islands of Haʻapai and Tongatapu.
  In June 1899 the Pitcairn again visited, bringing a small prefabricated building that was used at first as a mission home and as a chapel. 
  After 18 months it was taken apart and rebuilt as the small Nuku'alofa church, 5 by 10 metres (16 by 33 ft).
  The church almost failed to survive.
  The Butz's were taken to Vavaʻu on the Pitcairn, since it was thought that there were too many missionaries at Nuku'alofa, but they returned after the Hilliards left later in 1899.
caption: Edwin Sebastian Butz and Florence Butz c. 1914
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