A centenary is naturally a time to look back, but it also prompts questions about the future. For the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, its newly celebrated centenary has been a moment of soul-searching as well as a time of celebration and thanksgiving.
A significant focus of the soul-searching is on the role and function of the General Assembly, which on paper is the supreme court and unifying body of the whole Church. The problem is that, in practice, the story has been very different. Resources and power have been concentrated at the level of the regionally-based Synods. The General Assembly has been disempowered to the extent that it has often been practically invisible.
The missions from which the CCAP arose bear significant responsibility. When they finally handed over their assets to the CCAP in the 1950s, they handed them all to the Synods to which they were each closely related. This left the General Assembly lacking in any institutional resource base and dependent for its functioning on the Synods, which were often preoccupied with their own affairs.
A central focus of the centenary celebration was the laying of a foundation stone for a General Assembly office complex in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital city. This is a corrective measure, aiming to make good the lack of capacity that has too often crippled the General Assembly during its first hundred years.
Of course, a building by itself will not resolve the issue. There will need to be meaningful programmatic activity before the building can be worthwhile. It is, however, a clear statement of intent. It is possible that the laying of the foundation stone will be remembered as a key moment that signalled a rebalancing of the unity and diversity that makes the CCAP.
For the first generation of Malawians who were drawn to the CCAP a big part of its attraction was that it broke down the tribal barriers that had separated them and resulted in conflict and warfare. In the years ahead, it is predictable that the Malawi nation will again be threatened by divisive forces. Will the CCAP be again a force for unity? The answer might be found in the building for which the foundation stone has now been laid.
Thinking Mission Blog 