Last week, I traced the early milestones that paved the way for the formation of the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian(CCAP). The seed of this idea was planted in the early 1910s, as missionaries from Blantyre, Mvera and Livingstonia embarked on discussions about uniting their distinct Presbyterian branches. Their vision? To bring together the Established Church of Scotland, the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) and the Free Church of Scotland under a single, unified body.
The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 interrupted these discussions, as many missionaries were called back to their home countries to serve as chaplains in the armed forces. When the war ended in 1918, the discussions resumed, albeit not immediately. In 1924, the Livingstonia and Blantyre Missions united to for the CCAP, with Mvera – whose mission headquarters had relocated to Nkhoma in 1915 – joining the fold in 1926. At that time, the three were still presbyteries, and their union established the General Assembly of the CCAP. It was not until 1956 that these original presbyteries each transformed into their own synods, governed by the General Assembly.
While most CCAP members are familiar with their respective synods, many remain largely unaware of the General Assembly. The General Assemblies of other countries are more visible there than ours is in Malawi. A fascinating example of the General Assembly’s reach beyond church walls occurred on 20th July, 1969 when history was made as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon. As Armstrong took his iconic first step, Aldrin, then a church elder at Webster Presbyterian Church, quietly made history of his own. Having received permission from the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, he administered Holy Communion to himself – becoming the first person to partake in Communion beyond the bounds of Earth.
In 2007, I had the privilege of being part of a delegation from Blantyre Synod that visited the Aberdeen Presbytery in Scotland. When we got there we discovered something: The Church of Scotland operates without synods. Instead they have 41 Presbyteries, all falling under the General Assembly. During our visit, the annual meeting of the General Assembly got underway in Edinburgh, and we were invited to witness the grand opening ceremony. To our surprise, the guest of honour at that event was none other than Prince Andrew.
In the Presbyterian Church, the official who presides over meetings at each of the four levels of its structure is known as the Moderator. A serving Moderator of the General Assembly holds the title “Right Reverend” and one who has served as Moderator and is retired, “Very Reverend”.
Between 1881 and 1912, the Livingstonia Mission engaged in extensive evangelical work in Northern Rhodesia, sending teachers and later ordained ministers there to establish mission schools and churches. One of the earliest of these Livingstonia missionaries was Julizga Kaunda, the father of the founding President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda. By 1984, there were two presbyteries and 16 congregations in Zambia. In that year the Synod of Zambia of the CCAP was formed under the CCAP General Assembly.
From 1903, masses of job seekers from Nyasaland started going to Southern Rhodesia in search of job opportunities on the farms and the industries of that country. As their numbers swelled, they felt the need to establish a church like the one they left had at home. In 1905 they sent a delegation to Mvera to ask the Dutch Reformed Mission to establish a church in Southern Rhodesia. The nearly 1,000 kilometre trip to Mvera was undertaken on foot.
The Church at Mvera did not have a missionary they could send to Southern Rhodesia to undertake this work. Therefore, the Presbyterian Church of South Africa initially took up the work of ministering to the Nyasa workers in Southern Rhodesia. In 1912, Rev. T. C. B. Vlok, who, along with Rev. Andrew Murray, had established the Dutch Reformed Church at Mvera in 1889, volunteered to go and work in Southern Rhodesia. He struck an agreement with Presbyterian Church of South Africa that he would work among the Chinyanja speaking people in Mashonaland and they in Matabeleland.
Initially, Rev. Vlok was the only ordained minister among the Nyasa immigrants, who by 1914 numbered 33,000. He was assisted by Evangelists drawn from Nyasaland. The first Rhodesian congregation was established in Salisbury in 1945, followed by one in Gwelo in 1950 and another in Bulawayo in 1955. These congregations were under the Nkhoma Presbytery. When the Nkhoma Presbytery became a Synod in 1956, the original Rhodesian congregations became Presbyteries. In 1965, the Salisbury Presbytery became a Synod of the CCAP.