Category Archives: CCAP

Update On Issues In Blantyre Synod, CCAP

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Speaking of Moderators…

In the Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian there has been a developing situation where the Moderator of the Synod, with the deputy general secretary, held a press conference where they spoke out against a pastoral letter by the local Catholic bishops.  They claimed to be speaking for the church but an emergency special Synod meeting resulted in 1) a statement agreeing with the bishop’s letter, 2) an apology to the bishops, and 3) a committee to conduct an investigation.  Check out my previous post on the subject for a more detailed version.

The investigating committee has now reported and the giant headline on the front of the print edition of the newspaper The Nation says “SHAKE-UP AT BT CCAP SYNOD.”  The headline for the on-line story is slightly more descriptive with “Heads Roll At BT CCAP Synod.”  The lede has the details:

Heads have rolled at the Blantyre CCAP Synod where moderator Reverend
Reynold Mangisa and deputy general secretary Reverend Austin Chimenya
have been forced to step down.

Yesterday’s Synod meeting, where the committee reported, was closed so only commissioners were present. There is no report yet of a statement from the Synod office. The newspaper had a source at the meeting who added a few details.  The General Secretary, Rev. MacDonald Kadawati was also under investigation and was asked not to run for a new term when his current term concludes in August 2011.  This was apparently not related to this matter but a generally poor working relationship with his colleagues.  The source made no mention of any action regarding the fourth officer, deputy moderator Rev. Mercy Chilapula, who has never been included in any of the reporting of this issue.

The paper contacted Rev. Mangisa last night and he confirmed that he had stepped down and stated he did not regret making the initial statement.  (I would note that this appears to differs from his stance following the first emergency meeting where he signed the apology statement.)  The article also quotes him to say that the decision of the investigating committee was a foregone conclusion because “The composition of the committee and the method used were not right.
It’s like an opinion had already been formed.”  He did say that he appreciated that the committee cleared up some misconceptions.

Getting to the polity matter of who speaks for the Synod, the article says “The insider said the probe faulted the two for speaking without
authority and for claiming they never called for the press conference in
question.”

I will leave it at that for now.  We will see what other details come out about the meeting and if an official statement is released by the Synod.

Mixing Politics and Religion In The CCAP – Or – Who Speaks For The Church

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In Presbyterian polity it is usually the understanding that when a leader (moderator or clerk) of a governing body makes a statement they speak for themselves unless that governing body has taken an on the record position and then the leader can officially convey the position of the body.

At the present time in the Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian there is a complicated situation that not only raises the question of a leader speaking for a body when the body is not on the record, but also possibility taking action in consultation with the civil government.  Hold onto your hats as I unwind this, and hopefully I have a good enough handle on this to get it right and do it justice.

Just as background, the last time I looked at church and state in the CCAP it was with one of the other three Malawi synods, the Livingstonia Synod in the northern part of the country. This new controversy is with the synod in the southern part of the country.

This current controversy began at the very end of October when all eight of the Roman Catholic bishops and bishop elect from the Karonga diocese signed an open pastoral letter directed to Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika and his government.  There are eight specific issues dealing with the workings of the government and the President’s party and they caution the President that he is heading towards becoming a dictator.  The article also notes that another pastoral letter from the bishops played an important role in moving the country from one-party rule to a multi-party system in 1992.

From a polity stand point it is helpful to note that this letter is coming from a unanimous group of bishops in an episcopal system to a political leader who an adherent with their church.  It is also worthwhile to know that this is the twentieth such pastoral letter the bishops have issued over a period of several years.

A bit over a week later, on November 11, the Moderator of the Blantyre Synod, the Rev. Reynold Mangisa, and the deputy general secretary of the Synod, the Rev. Austin Chimenya held a press conference where they criticized the bishops’ actions because “it did not follow protocol.”

Now, while I refer to the two leaders at the press conference, based on the reporting on the conference by The Nation, it would appear that Mr. Mangisa did most, if not all, the talking.  In one quote he does begin by saying “As officials of Blantyre Synod, we believe…”  But this article is very good from the perspective that it attributes the position to these officials only and, as I will discuss in a moment, it has a number of contrary quotes from other Presbyterian leaders, both in the Synod and around the country.  On the other hand, an article in Malawi Voice not only begins with the headline that says in part “CCAP attacks Catholic Bishops” but continues the point in the lede to the article where they say:

The Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP)
has attacked the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) of the Catholic
Church over its last month’s pastoral letter to President Bingu wa
Mutharika.

In this article the remarks are clearly reported as coming from the church, and not just the synod but the whole church, if you only read the headline.  And if you want another variation, an article from ENInews says in the headline that the criticism came from the leader, but the lede says it comes from the Synod.

As I said, the article in The Nation is good because, with out explicitly saying so, they make it very clear the opinions expressed come from those leaders, even if the leaders though they were representing the church.  Among the contrary voices in that article is that of the General Secretary of the Synod, the Rev. McDonald Kadawati, who is also the acting chair of the ecumenical Public Affairs Committee (PAC).  In fact, the PAC came out in support of the bishops’ letter.  When asked for comment he indicates that he is not aware of the new synod statement and is quoted as saying “I don’t think what you are
saying is true about my officers. They can’t say that.”

Well, “They can’t say that” pretty much sums up where it went from there.  The next step was a emergency special meeting of Synod.  In the Malawi Voice article about calling the meeting General Secretary Katawadi chooses his words carefully.  The article indicates he said that he was not around when Mr. Mangisa made his comments so he does not know if the rest of the Synod was behind them as well.  He is quoted as saying “It is not tension per say, [sic] but we are meeting this evening to hear from
our moderator first before we come out with a stand as Synod.”

The meeting was held on Monday and Tuesday of last week, November 15 and 16.  The first thing to come out of the meeting was an official apology to the Roman Catholic Bishops for the Moderator’s comments.  According to The Nation, the official statement from the meeting reads in part:

We withdraw the statement made on our behalf by the synod moderator, the
Reverend Reynold Mangisa. We apologise for the divisions and hatred
that may have been caused to both our Catholic brothers and sisters as
well as within our synod, other CCAP sister synods, the public at large
and development partners.

And it is reported that the statement includes support for the Bishops’ statement, that it was overwhelmingly approved and that Mr. Mangisa’s signature is found with the others on the document.  He is not responding to media questions other than to confirm that they see his signature on the statement.  However, in an article about the apology from Afrique en ligne, former General Secretary and designated spokesperson, the Very Rev. Silas Mcozana, says of the meeting and Mr. Mangisa “at first, there were differences but later Rev. Mangisa saw the point.” In addition, the article informs us that a five-member team was appointed to handle the apology and the statement and that the team, or some of its members, had met with the Roman Catholic Archbishop to personally apologize for the comments.

The second item to come from the meeting is an investigation into this whole incident.  A story from The Nation indicates that all four top officials of the Synod – Kadawati, Chimenya, Mangisa, and Vice-Moderator Rev. Mercy Chilapula – will be subject to this investigation.  But the twist in this matter came from a series of articles by the Nyasa Times that allege the involvement by the Presidential Adviser on Religious Affairs Rev. Billy Gama in the original statement.  The first article talks about how Gama and two other government officials tried to talk the bishops into recalling the letter and not reading it in the congregations.  A second article alleges that Gama had Mangisa call the press conference and Gama funded it.  A third article talks about how Gama is not a subject of the investigation by the Synod but a following article says other sources in the Synod claim that he is.  The most recent article from yesterday says that the paper has a source that says the Office of the President and Cabinet was directly involved and the Rev. Gama was the intermediary.  The problem, of course, is that there is as yet no corroboration or named sources so verification of the allegations is difficult.  We will see what, if any, of this is part of the Synod report next week.

But getting back to Presbyterian polity and Biblical instructions, an article from the Nyasa Times today is particularly interesting.  This article says that the Rev. Mangisa had substantial support in the Synod meeting.  His supporters are reported as saying that he was right to criticize the bishops for their openly criticizing one of their own rather than first rebuking the President privately.  Also, his supporters say that he does have the authority to speak, without prior instructions, for the Synod.  The article says “Those backing the Spiritual Father said as a sitting moderator, Rev
Mangisa is the official mouth piece of the Blantyre Synod and does not
need permission to speak.”  The article also claims that Rev. Mangisa agreed to the apology under pressure.

As I said, the next installment of this drama is scheduled to play out in a week when the six unnamed members of the investigating committee report.  That is, unless the Nyasa Times or someone else doesn’t come out with new claims or evidence before than.

But as I highlight throughout this post, aside from the charges of government influence, this episode raises questions of what a Presbyterian official can do apart from the governing body they have leadership in.  The General Secretary seems to think that speaking for the Synod requires the explicit backing of the Synod.  Some of the members of the Synod are reported to fell that having been selected by the body to be the moderator then endows him with the authority to speak for the church.  We will see how this develops within that branch.

Situation In Malawi With The CCAP — Update And Reaction

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Last Saturday I tried to outline the news out of Malawi regarding some clergy leadership of the Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) that crossed some national political leaders in their messages at a funeral for a doctor who had only days before been removed from his position as the Minister of Health.  For more details see my writing from Saturday, but the bottom line is that when I was writing on Saturday the three pastors had been arrested Friday but two were released the same day.  A magistrate had denied bail for the third on Saturday.

I am pleased to report that on Monday the magistrate granted the Rev. Levi Nyondo, Secretary-General of the Synod, his release on bail of K100,000 (about US$658) with instructions to check in regularly with the police.  Trial is set for September 14.  (coverage from The Nation )

What has been interesting has been the reactions reported by the media from other groups in the country.

In the message at the funeral Rev. Nyondo is reported to have suggested that the Livingstonia Synod would be supporting current Vice-President Joyce Banda of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for president in 2014.  Then there was an article in the The Nation where DPP member and government minister Symon Vuwa Kaunda said at a Tuesday news conference that Ms. Banda was not the party candidate for 2014.  Then today the official party spokesman is reported to have said that Tuesday’s comments were only “an expression of interest” by Mr. Vuwa and that there is no official party candidate yet.

Another article talks about the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) calling on the DPP and Livingstonia Synod needing to come together to mend their differences for the good of the country.  The spokesperson is quoted as saying “It is dangerous for church and state to be fighting, both are entities that yield (ed. wield?) power in their own right and for them to be fighting each other can put the whole country in a very awkward situation.”  However the response from the DPP is that “The issue is between police and the Livingstonia Synod, and I wonder how the DPP is coming in…”

Even more interesting from the point of view of a GA Junkie is the reaction from another CCAP synod, Nkhoma Synod generally in the central part of the country.  I say “generally” because Livingstonia and Nkhoma have had disagreements about church planting in each others territory as individuals from different tribal groups move around the country.  They have now agreed to be flexible in their geographic nature.

With that as background, it is noteworthy to see an article where a spokesperson, the Deputy Moderator, for the Nkhoma Synod denies giving “moral support” as claimed by a Livingstonia speaker.  Instead they “only prayed for sustainability of his spirit silently.”  To me prayer is a substantial form of support but I think they are looking for public support because he goes on to say that “As any other Malawians we were concerned, but chose to speak through silence.”

The best article I have read today on this whole situation is an op-ed piece in the Nyasa Times titled “Marginalizing the north.”  The author, whose name I can’t seem to find in the article, writes as someone from the south of the country but provides a very insightful and balanced view of the geographic/ethnic/religious dynamics and tensions that exist.  He starts off by saying “As a Southerner, I feel the North has been hard done by when it comes to certain elements of how public life and civil service have been organized and structured in Malawi.”  He discusses several issues but within the political representation section he says:

The refusal by Livingstonia Synod to come to terms with Nkhoma Synod is a complex, very complex political issue. It should not just be understood as a mere squabble over boundary issues. It is a political conflict, largely because Nkhoma Synod, glorified and represented the Banda regime, something the Livingstonia Synod rejected throughout.

To ask or even condemn Livingstonia Synod for ‘failing’ to come to agreeable terms with Nkhoma, an iconic representation of the demagoguery of the MCP is, is in my opinion, overstretching the tortured political memories. It’s almost like criticising the people of Moto Village in Mangochi for not voting for MCP.

A bit later he says of the clerics that were arrested:

Instead of arresting them, let us mediate  on what may have transpired such ‘treasonous’ statements. Think about the progression of political developments: the quota system (I was not a beneficiary and will never support preferential treatment in education); the sacking of DPP officials and ministers from the North; the feeling of marginalization, after the North staunchly supported Bingu’s survival under intense persecution from the UDF and MCP between 2004 and 2009; the firing of three DPP ministers from the North (even when one or two from the same region replaced them); and then, the death of a minister after being sacked.

He does say that the north has its own problems, issues, and reasons that it is not innocent in this.  But as this situation develops I found this a wonderful insight from a Malawian who is outside the current tensions.  We will see what happens in the trial in two weeks.

Disagreement Between CCAP Livingstonia Synod Leadership And Malawi Government Continues — Three Clerics Arrested

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Malawi Police arrest 3 CCAP clerics: Treason!

That is the headline on one on-line story in the Nyasa Times about yesterday’s incident at the funeral for recently sacked health minister Prof. Moses Chirambo that is related to the continuing dispute over the education quota system.  The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Livingstonia Synod has for over six months now been voicing concern about the government’s quota system that, in the church’s opinion, restricts the number of students accepted to university from their region in the north.

Yesterday the issues arose again at the funeral for Moses Chirambo.  Prof. Chirambo was a trained ophthalmologist who, up to a few days before his death, was serving as the country’s health minister.  I will let the account of the funeral from the Malawi Voice tell the next part of the story:

After eulogies from various dignitaries that included Vice President Joyce Banda and speaker of national assembly Henry Chimunthu Banda, it was the turn of the Synod to take over the proceedings.

When the Synod’s General Secretary Rev. Levi Nyondo took to the podium, he openly criticised President Bingu wa Mutharika for firing Chirambo out of his cabinet last week.

The Reverend said Mutharika erred in firing the late Chirambo saying there was nobody matching his academic and profession reputation hence it made no sense to have him fired from the cabinet unceremoniously.

But Nyondo’s remarks did not go down well with the DPP youth director for Rumphi Christopher Mtambo [sic] who shouted on top of his voice telling the Reverend to take politics out of the proceedings.

Ntambo’s reprimand to the Reverend irked Moderator of the Synod Mezuwa Banda who stood and starts accusing the DPP of trying to intimidate the church telling Ntambo to shut up as time for the party to speak was gone.

This triggered the cacophony which took the DPP’s former member Harry Mkandawire and Themba la ma Themba Chikulamayembe to calm down. When the dust settled down, the ceremony proceeded.

Friday evening, following the funeral and interment, police arrested Livingstonia Synod Moderator Rev. Mezuwa Banda, Synod General-Secretary Rev. Levi Nyondo and his deputy Rev. Maurice Munthali.  Mr. Banda and Mr. Munthali were released later Friday evening but General-Secretary Nyondo remains in custody.  According to the Malawi Voice article:

Northern Region police spokesperson confirmed of the release of the two. “But we are still keeping Rev Nyondo because we have found out that he was the one who uttered most of the treasonous words at the funeral, but so we are still doing our investigations.”

While that is the only direct quote from a police spokesperson reported in the media, from the news reports the charge seems to simply be “treasonous words,” the closest to a specific comment the news sources identify seems to be the “hint” or “comment” that the Synod would support current Vice-President Joyce Banda in the 2014 Presidential elections.

According to another article from the Nyasa Times Mr. Nyondo was denied bail today.  The article says

Magistrate Justus Kishindo rejected Nyondo’s bail application, saying he would “tamper with evidence”.

At last report that is where the judicial process stands although the article also reports that people are gathering outside the Court to protest the arrests and detention.

The second Nyasa Times article also reports on the response from Malawi’s Human Rights Consultative Committee.  Here is an extended quote for the full statement as reported:

The Human Right Consultative Committee (HRCC) has also condemned the arrest of Rev Nyondo.

HRCC executive director Undule Mwakasungula said on Saturday, “Malawi was heading back to the one party dictatorial rule practiced during the MCP [Malawi Congress Party] regime.”

“History is repeating itself,” said Mwakasungula while pointing out the church had a social role to play in society and that the views of the Livingstonia Synod clergy were critical to addressing issues affecting people of the northern region.

He said “Malawi is a democratic country” and people with dissenting views with the government “should not be oppressed.”

“We cannot undermine the importance of the clergy in the consolidation of our democracy.   The clergy were the pioneers of advocating for democracy and human rights in Malawi and they continue to take a leading role in safeguarding our hard won democracy,” said Mwakasungura.

“We at CHR would also like to remind the DPP led government to realize that the law should not be used to target those that do not share their views.”

The rights defenders added:”It is a pity that in this age the DPP led government just like the Malawi Congress Party and United Democratic Front before it used the treason and sedition charges to settle political scores with those deemed to be from the other political divide.

“It is even more disheartening and costly to tax payers to note that most if not all perceived treason and sedition cases either die a natural death or are still being dragged through the corridors of our justice system. Tax payers have been forced on numerous occasions to pay compensation to those that have been wrongly accused of treason and sedition.”

CHRR said the moves by Mutharika government of turning Malawi into a police state need to be checked now and for all.

“We do not want to find ourselves in the bottom pit that Zimbabwe has found herself in. It is high time that the DPP realize and learn to live with those that have different point of view and accommodate their view. It is possible to practice clean politics.”

CHRR pressed for the immediate and unconditional release of Rev Levi Nyondo.

Two notes from the polity wonk perspective:  1)  It is interesting to see the HRCC make statements supportive of the role of the church in social issues. 2) I find it interesting that the views of who one or two leaders will support in an election four years away are taken so seriously.  Normally under Presbyterian polity we acknowledge that individual leaders can speak for themselves but unless endorsed by their governing body they do not speak for the larger church.

This has a ways to go and is part of a larger disagreement.  We will see where it goes.  Stay tuned.

There is additional coverage by NewZimSituation.com, and AFP.

News From The CCAP: Synods Become Flexible And An Ecumenical Alliance To Monitor Democracy

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Over the last couple of weeks one news item from Malawi is that the three synods of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in Malawi have agreed to an arrangement that would end their dispute over having churches in each others’ territory.  The synods have essentially agreed to become non-geographic or flexible synods.

The disagreement goes back a number of years.  I became aware of it when it hit the media in the late summer of 2006 when there were complaints that Tumbuka language congregations associated with Livingstonia Synod were established within the boundaries of Nkhoma Synod which is predominantly Chewa speaking.  However, the reverse of Chewa language congregations in Livingstonia had been the case for a substantial time before that.  Over the last three years there have been additional developments in this story but recently there has been news of an agreement to end the disagreement.

The solution – an agreement that all three Synods will have flexibility in membership.  Essentially, each will have a geographic component but will be non-geographic to the extent necessary to include churches based on their predominant language.  While the news broke at the beginning of the month (Nyasa Times Feb 2 article, Feb 4 op-ed) the Livingstonia Synod Moderator did a radio interview on Thursday with some more information.  The Nyasa Times writes:

CCAP’s Livingstonia Synod moderator, Rev. Mezuwa Banda has said the wrangle over border issue with the Nkhoma Synod has been settled with a “gentleman’s agreement” and is not legally binding.

and

“That’s no longer an issue. You will remember that Nkhoma recently has agreed with us to say there is no border not only with Livingstonia but with Blantyre as well.”

“Let Nkhoma go as far as they can go, Livingstonia can go as far they can go. The matter is over.”

However, the story does say that this agreement comes at a loss of connectionalism:

On membership, Nkhoma Synod said in a statement signed by moderator Vasco Kachipapa that any individual will have the right to belong to any congregation under a synod of their choice and not have allegiance to another synod.

“That there shall be no transfer of eldership or deaconship across synods and that church leadership shall only be attained through the expressed wishes of the local congregation, presided over by an ordained minister of the same Synod,” the statement reads.

While this interview was with the Livingstonia Moderator the two earlier articles both indicate that this ultimately came about by a unilateral decision of Nkhoma Synod.  The Feb 2 article begins:

Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) Nkhoma synod has finally given up  over the boundary wrangle with Livingstonia synod and say the synods should operate on a no boarder basis.

Nkhoma Synod the made its position in a pastoral letter that was read in all its prayer houses signed by the moderator Vasco Kachipapa and senior clerk Rev Kamwendo.

…

In a statement the synod said, it has finally decided to stop pursuing the matter following the disturbing and worrisome developments that have taken place since the row started.

And the Feb 4 Op-ed includes:

Going by recent events, I am relieved to see that the hot air seems to be simmering away, what with the Nkhoma synod declaring unilaterally the new “no boundary policy”, not just with their erstwhile “enemy” but across the country and beyond, meanwhile bringing Blantyre and other international synods into the fray.

So where is the General Assembly in this?  The Feb. 2 article quotes the Nkhoma statement with a mixed assessment – “We acknowledge with gratitude the initiatives taken by the CCAP General Assembly in order to resolve the border conflict, which to say, have all been in vain.”  And the Christian Observer reports that Livingstonia Synod requested a postponement of the December 2009 meeting of the General Assembly as Nkhoma Synod worked out their current response to the situation.

From the viewpoint of being Presbyterian this would not be the end point.  Will this loss of connectionalism continue and the two or three synods essentially operate as independent denominations on the same territory? Or, over the next few years can the General Assembly work out an arrangement that will preserve the flexible nature of the synods while recognizing membership and ordinations across the boundaries?

In other news, and with a touch of irony, about a month ago it was reported that a faith-based alliance called Church Foundation for Integrity and Democracy (CFID) was launched in Malawi.  In an interesting commentary on the boundary dispute resolution the General Secretary of the new organization is the Reverend Andrew Kamponda from Blantyre Synod of the CCAP.   At the conference announcing the new group his comment was that it is time for the church to stand and speak with one voice against evil.  What is one of the particular evils named?  Tribalism, often cited as being at the root of the boundary dispute between the other two CCAP synods.

(Editorial note:  While this story talks about the launch of the group I do find it on an old list of organizations (#58) accredited to provide voter education for the 2009 elections.)

The group is chaired by the Reverend Malani Mtonga, a former adviser to Malawi’s president.  The Nyasa Times reports:

According to Mtonga the organization has been formed to restore human dignity and sustain moral responsibility in the country and was quick to tell the audience that came to witness the launching ceremony that the organization is purely apolitical.

“We are here to pursue a common goal of seeing to it that the country (Malawi) is fully enjoying the fruits of democracy attained in 1994,” Mtonga told Nyasa Times on the sidelines.

He said the grouping will not tolerate evils to take roots in Malawi.

Mtonga cited homosexuality, tribalism and intra-party divisions as some of the things the clergy need to stand up against.

Readers are probably aware that in many places in Africa homosexual practice is a topic of some debate and illgele.  While the proposed legislation making homosexual sex a capital offense is Uganda has been grabbing headlines, in Malawi the arrest of a gay couple has been lower profile but raising complaints and requests for release
of the couple from NGO’s.

Finally, I mentioned at the beginning of January how pastors from Livingstonia Synod were protesting against the University Council and government quota system for getting into the University.  That is ongoing with comments on both sides being disputed by the other, as evidenced by an article in the Feb. 14 Nyasa Times that quotes critics (not necessarily from the CCAP) of the Education Minister, and another from Feb. 18 where the Moderator of the Livingstonia Synod has critical comments of the President and the government about this.

We will see how all of these situations develop.

Livingstonia Synod CCAP Tries To Make A Statement In Malawi

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In the past two weeks news sources have reported plans by the clergy of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Livingstonia Synod to hold a march to present a petition to the government and the response of police with riot gear and tear gas surrounding the church offices to stop the march.

The first news story discussing what information was known about the petition and planned march came from the Nyasa Times.  This article from December 20 discussed the fact that a petition would be presented to the government but said the final wording was not established yet.  The article says “Officials at the Synod headquarters say there are a number of issues which they are petitioning the government but top of the subject is the education quota system which has seen the northern regions share of form one secondary school selection dropping to less than fifty percent.”  The root of the complaint is an on-again/off-again quota system for students from different regions of the country to get into public schools.  The clergy are advocating for a merit system.  (This article outlines the chronology of the use and dropping of the quota system.  The government has indicated they will use it again in the coming year.)

The second article, from Afrique en ligne, begins with

Heavily-armed police officers Thursday used tear-gas and road blocks in the northern Malawi city of Mzuzu to stop a protest march organised by church and civil society leaders, to protest against the policies of the administration of President Binguwa Mutharika.

It goes on to say

“They used teargas to prevent reverends from getting out of church premises,” said Yeremiah Chihana, a politician and bitter critic of the Mutharika administration. “We are ready to march but police are everywhere in the streets. They are threatening to shoot us.”

This second article adds more details about the perceived problem with the quota system – the charge is that the quota system unfairly limits students from the northern part of the country where Livingstonia Synod is located.  One of the arguments made is that the system should be competitive to keep the education system strong and counter a trend towards laziness.

There is no word on what is next.

One of the most interesting things is the comments on the first article.  One person identified as Khowu says

Livingstonia Synod, please wear your armour and let’s match on! And you people who are calling our clerics names, you mean you do not see that this is more than this stupid quota thing? You cannot see that this is the beginning of ethnic cleansing? We shall fight and you know what, we are going for a federal arrangement…

Livingstomia [sic] Synod, you are the custodians of our faith, our culture, our development, our inheritance, our pride. PLEASE PROTECT US!!

Another, writing under the name Malawian, adds an interesting detail:

To understand the Livingstonia Synod one has also to consider the fact they actually run the best primary school system in the country and in many ways it is this system that accounts for the success of the “North”. The government should try to understand that incredibly successful system and see how it can be “nationalised”.

In this case I read “nationalised” to mean taking the model national, not to have the national government take over the school system.

It will be interesting to see how this develops.  Three of the CCAP’s five synods are in Malawi and each represents not just a region but strong ethnic traditions.  In addition, it has been my impression that the synods have significant autonomy and the central CCAP organization is not particularly strong.  At the present time statements are made on a regional level by the synods – it would be interesting to see some unified, and more influential, action taken by the three synods together.

UPDATE: Victor Kaonga in his blog NDAGHA has posted on “Which way Malawi and the Faith Community?” where he mentions the Livingstonia Synod clergy actions in the larger context of what is happening in the country.  Thanks for the context.

Addendum: On a completely different topic, but related to the church in Malawi, there has been a series of moderate earthquakes including a magnitude 6.0 earthquake in the Karonga area of Malawi on December 19.  The current numbers that I am seeing list three deaths, 256 injured severely enough to be treated at hospitals, and upwards of 6000 in need of relief aid.  There is work within the CCAP to round up relief supplies and among the world-wide appeals include those in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the PWS&D of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (and many individual PCC churches have gotten the word out on their web sites) who are working with the CCAP.  Within the PC(USA) there is a situation report and fund at PDA and Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery has a Malawi Partnership and is soliciting relief aid on their web site.

Boundary Dispute Between CCAP Synods Continues in Malawi

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One of the continuing news items that I have followed on this blog is a dispute between two Synods of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP).  I first mentioned this issue almost exactly two years ago and then did a follow-up in December of last year.  From recent reports it appears that this situation is no better, and has possibly worsened.

Some background:  The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian has five Synods: Zambia and Harare (Zimbabwe) are pretty much national Synods in those countries.  In Malawi there are three Synods – Livingstonia in the north, Nkhoma in the center, and Blantyre in the south.  From reading up on this it is important to note that these Synods have more autonomy than many American Presbyterians would expect, a legacy that derives from their missionary heritage.  As I read about the CCAP it seems that it might be better described as a “confederation” than a “denomination.”  It is also interesting to note that its confessional standard is not Westminster but the Belgic/Heidelberg/Dort standards.

Quick recap:  While Livingstonia and Nkhoma are supposed to be geographic Synods with specific boundaries, over the last several decades as workers migrated the Synods have followed and churches have been established among their respective language groups, Chewa for Nkhoma and Tumbuka for Livingstonia, even across Synod boundaries.

This week a new, detailed article in Nation Online titled Synod Fight Turns Nasty reports that the dispute continues and appears to be worsening.  The lede:

It started as a border dispute 50 years ago but
it is now much bigger. The battle lines have been drawn between
Livingstonia and Nkhoma synods of the CCAP. The former has since
declared a ‘Holy War’ while the latter wants its adversary to quit the
General Assembly.

and later in the article:

The [Nkhoma] synod also said it is not prepared to go to
war with its sister synod; it will continue pushing for discussions as
men of God but said if Livingstonia insists on its new stand then it
has to move out of the General Synod and stop using the name of CCAP.

Continuing to read through the article the point the writer of the article wants to make is that this is all about… Money.  The article says:

“All those areas such as Kasungu are just
scapegoats, the main target is Lilongwe. Money is central to the whole
issue,” said University of Malawi historian Professor Kings Phiri.

He explained that Lilongwe, being the capital and having a lot of
members from the North, gives Livingstonia Synod the feeling that if
they have a congregation in the Capital City there will be prospects of
beefing up the synod’s revenues.

Phiri, who once chaired a task force appointed by the General Synod
to look into the problem, also said the other factors to the issue are
tribalism and politics.

He said after the task force came with its
recommendations Nkhoma Synod accepted while Livingstonia rejected the
proposals and clearly showed that their minds had already been made to
plant churches in Lilongwe.

This situation is clearly getting heated and the article quotes Livingstonia officials as saying that they will continue development in Lilongwe to show Nkhoma “how it pains.”  In addition, a Deputy Minister of Education said that as a Northerner he would rather go to a Livingstonia church in the capital to keep his money in that Synod.  There are also warnings that a continuing church dispute could break down into a political dispute with the potential for violence.

The article concludes with a discussion about the General Synod getting involved, getting respected members of the church engaged as part of discussions to resolve the dispute, and making sure all the parties are at the table.  There is an acknowledgment by one theologian that it can not be a one-sided resolution on territory, implying that both Synods will need to stop their encroachment.  And there is also the necessity for a discussion about the status of the General Synod — Does it become a strong central unifying body, or do the individual Synods go back to their previous, fully autonomous status.

There is also a recent editorial in The Daily Times — Why Should Synods Forgo Boundaries?  The editorial argues that the CCAP is one church and members originally from a different synod should not have a problem worshiping in a different synod when that is where they live.  The editorial then says:

But probably we are working on the surface when
looking at the wrangle between the two warring synods. Probably, there
are other motivations for the synods to encroach into each other’s
territory beyond serving God’s flock. It appears the two synods know
why they want to operate in each other’s territory but cannot bring
these reasons to the public domain. And if this is the case, then they
are failing as God’s messengers because their first call should have
been to serve God and His people.

The editorial concludes with this:

How can the clergy be trusted to mediate between
fighting politicians when the clergy themselves do not reconcile and
resolve their conflicts?

The only way to solve the boundary issue is to establish why the
church’s forefathers created synods and assess whether by eliminating
these administrative boundaries, the church would become stronger or
weaker. Obviously, those who came up with the idea of synod, with each
operating in a specific designated area, had good reasons for it and
that is probably why some churches like the Catholics, Anglicans,
Seventh Day Adventists and others have their equivalents. All these
other churches can obviously not be in the wrong.

In doing the research on this the past few days I have found one other voice, a CCAP blogger who occasionally ventures into the topic of his church’s politics.  Mr. Victor Kaonga works for the Christian broadcaster Trans World Radio in central Africa and writes the blog Ndagha.  Back in February 2007 he had a post on this border situation where he presents his view as a member in that church.  In particular he writes:

Someone has said that the boundary dispute between the CCAP synods of
Nkhoma and Livingstonia is a very healthy situation for the Church in
Malawi. I somehow agree for several reasons:

It is helping us
ask questions we have never asked before. The questions about when this
issue started coming up. We hear it is an old story for about 50 years.
Was there a time when they disputed like it is now? How did they solve
it then? Why is it a big issue now? Is this a product of missionary
failure in handing over to Malawians? Is it another after-effect of the
postcolonial period in Africa?

He goes on to echo many of the themes from the other two articles: Christian unity, power politics, historical context, economics.  And while he is part of the broadcast media himself, he writes with the tone of an informed member of the CCAP.  His outlook is ultimately optimistic for the situation, at least at that time 18 months ago, as opposed to the more cautious tone of the other two current print articles.  His final conclusion is that while the situation is complex and there are many issues in play here, in the end the two arguing synods are concerned for, and committed to, spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This is still a developing situation — The talks organized by the General Synod are to continue at least until December so we will see if any resolution and reconciliation is demonstrated in the near future.  Stay tuned.

Notes on African Presbyterian Churches

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Over the last couple of weeks there have been some interesting reports about Presbyterian activities and politics in parts of Africa, but the reports of governing body actions have been too short to warrant a full post.  So here is a post bundling news from Sudan, Ghana, and Malawi.

Sudan
There were two brief reports by Anyuak Media from the General Assembly of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SPEC) a couple of weeks ago.  The first article is about the Rev. Philip Akway Obang being elected as the General Secretary of the SPEC.  Rev. Philip (as the article refers to him) has a degree in business administration as well as theological training.  The article says that he has been a church worker for 18 years doing evangelism and parish ministry, probably in a capacity like a Commissioned Lay Pastor.  He completed his theological training four years ago and was ordained a pastor two years ago.  One of the reasons for the article from Anyuak Media is because Pastor Philip is the only Anyuak pastor in the SPEC so there is cultural pride here.

The second article about the GA talks about establishing the first Synod in the SPEC.  The article reports that the new Synod will have two presbyteries, the North and West, and have about 70 pastors.  This is pretty much the extent of details on the new Synod and from a polity and connectionalism perspective it is not clear the role of the new governing body.  The article almost makes it sound like it is the highest governing body and that it might be operating in parallel with the GA.  Part of the confusion might be related to the church structure necessitated by the civil war in that country.  According to Reformed Online the SPEC maintains separate administrative units in government held areas and rebel-controlled areas so this might be related to that division.

The Anyuak Media article also provides a brief overview of the Presbyterian church in Sudan and the Reformed Online site expands on that.  The SPEC is the northern church while the Presbyterian Church of Sudan (PCOS) works mainly in the south.  Unlike northern and southern US Presbyterians, this is not a result of the civil war but due to the history of their development.  The SPEC began as a presbytery of the Egyptian reformed church while the PCOS was established by American missionaries.  Both have parallel administrations due to the civil war and both have churches in the other’s regions, apparently without problems.  The World Council of Churches web site says that they cooperatively run a seminary.  The half-century history of civil war has kept the two churches from uniting.

Ghana
The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is one of the more active African branches and it enjoys a good working relationship with the civil government.  A couple of news articles have appeared recently.  One covers the installation of the new national executive committee of the Bible Study and Prayer Group of the Presbyterian Church in Kumasi.  The featured speaker was the Right-Reverend Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, the current Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ghana.  He reminded the new officers to live exemplary lives and to be agents of change.  Another article covers the first graduation from a new campus at Okwahu of the Presbyterian University College.  The ceremonies included a message from Ghana’s President John Agyekum Kufuor read by Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education.  The message said “the Presbyterian Church had been a faithful ally of government in
providing the manpower needs of the country since it established a
primary school in 1843 and a training college in 1948.”  The article does note that the GA Moderator was present at this ceremony as well.  And finally, regional Presbyterian leaders have condemned violence in Bawku that destroyed property belonging to workers at the local Presbyterian hospital and is causing some of the workers to leave.  The church is actively providing supplies to workers who lost property in the violence.

Malawi
This not so much news, but blog posts about visiting Malawian churches on the blog Swords into Plowshares, the Peacemaking Blog of the PC(USA).  These blog entries record the visits, meetings, adventures, and worship services of a PC(USA) affiliated group as they traveled through this part of Africa.  The visit included the Presbyteries of Blantyre and Dwangwa, and the Livingstonia Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP).  One major focus of the trip was the programs to combat HIV/AIDS in the country and caring for those with and affected by the disease.  The PC(USA) has a significant presence in partnership work in the country.  While the blog entries make no mention of the internal controversy in the CCAP, and I have heard no updates for a while, several of these governing bodies are involved in territorial disputes over church planting I have mentioned before.

Territorial Disputes in Malawi between Synods – Update

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I first caught this news story fifteen months ago and posted about it then.  I am surprised that I had not seen any further news on it until this week.  But while there is an update this week, the responses and “back story” seem to be representative of Presbyterian controversies elsewhere (or is that everywhere?).

The earlier post has a bit more background, but just briefly, the geographic Livingstonia Synod in Malawi, part of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), was talking about establishing a non-geographic presbytery based on a language group that would include churches within the bounds of the neighboring Nkhoma Synod.  This was without the coordination of the Nkhoma Synod and they were not agreeable to it.

Well this week the Nyasa Times on their web site published an article in which the General Secretary of the Livingstonia Synod, Reverend Matiya Nkhoma, confirmed that a 19th presbytery had been formed and that its offices would be in Lilongwe within Nkhoma Synod.  Based on the quotes in the article Rev. Nkhoma presents this issue as resolved saying “As Livingstonia Synod, we recognize churches Nkhoma has in our mission area. This matter is over.”  (And no that is not a typo, the second name of the General Secretary is the same as the name of the adjoining synod according to the article.)

Well, Nkhoma Synod does not think it is resolved.  According to the article:

General Secretary for Nkhoma Synod, Reverend Davidson Chifungo said a commission of inquiry instituted by the General Assembly recommended that all churches in the border areas belonging to either of the synods ought to be handed over to owners of the mission area.

It goes on to say that Livingstonia Synod has not been very Christian in resolving this dispute.

The first thing that jumps out at me is the differing views of this controversy from the different sides.  One says it is resolved, or can be quickly and quietly, the other is implying the General Assembly will need to look at it.  This is the same at the dispute over women ministers that just broke out in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland that I blogged about a couple of days ago.

The thing that was more interesting to me was that the article from the Nyasa Times web site has comments at the bottom where the (currently) four contributers provide local insight and history to the dispute.  One comments that this was supposed to have been settled almost 40 years ago when there was a similar dispute at that time and geographic boundaries were set down.  The next talks about how the problem began with movement of people groups due to economic opportunities and how Nkhoma Synod had jumped over Livingstonia first a while back.  It strikes me that the basic nature of these issues is not unique to those governing bodies in those places but we see variations on it throughout the various branches of the Presbyterian church (and other churches as well).

It sounds like this issue is escalating so there may be more news on it in the next few months.  In surfing around I have not yet been able to determine when the next General Assembly of the CCAP will be but I’ll keep looking.

Territorial disputes in Malawi between synods

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In an example of geographic synods who also want to be non-geographic synods, a news article today in African News Dimension  reports on the continuing disagreement between two synods in the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian.  The report says that the Livingstonia Synod has decided to disregard synod boundaries and establish a Tumbuka language congregation in dominantly Chewa speaking Nkhoma synod.  The article says the dispute goes back to 1960 when Chewa speaking workers migrated to Livingstonia to work on farms there and the Nkhoma synod went with them.