According to 2012 statistics about 85% of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

's 11 million people are Christian, with over half of the population

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and another 20%

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. Of the Protestant churches the

Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) is a Presbyterian denomination. It consists of five synods: one in Zambia ( Zambia Synod), one in Zimbabwe ( Harare Synod) and three in Malawi – Livingstonia Synod in the north of the country, N ...

is one of the largest Christian groups, but here are also smaller numbers of

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

, evangelicals,

Seventh-day Adventists The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

and

African independent church An African-initiated church (AIC) is a Christian church independently started in Africa by Africans rather than chiefly by missionaries from another continent. Nomenclature A variety of overlapping terms exist for these forms of Christianity: ...

es.

History

Nyasaland

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

reached the lake he named Lake Nyasa, now

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fre ...

in 1859. Livingstone's famous appeal, made at a great meeting in the Senate House at Cambridge on December 4, 1857 led to the founding of the

Universities' Mission to Central Africa The Universities' Mission to Central Africa (c.1857 - 1965) was a missionary society established by members of the Anglican Church within the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, and Dublin. It was firmly in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of t ...

(

UMCA The Universities' Mission to Central Africa (c.1857 - 1965) was a missionary society established by members of the Anglican Church within the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, and Dublin. It was firmly in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of t ...

), and the first missionary expedition of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa arrived in Malawi in 1861. Missionaries included Bishop

Edward Steere Edward Steere (1828 – 26 August 1882) was an English Anglican colonial bishop in the 19th century. Life Steere was educated at London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a ...

William Tozer William George Tozer (1829–1899) was a colonial bishop in the 19th century. He was born in Teignmouth and educated at St John's College, Oxford and ordained in 1854. His first post was a curacy at St Mary Magdalene Munster Square. Later he wa ...

Charles Alan Smythies Charles Alan Smythies (6 August 18447 May 1894) was a British colonial bishop in the 19th century. Life Smythies was born in Colchester, the son of the Rev. Charles Norfolk Smythies, vicar of St-Mary-at-the-Walls there, and his wife Isabella T ...

Chauncy Maples Chauncy Maples (1852 – 2 September 1895) was a British clergyman and Anglican missionary who became Bishop of Likoma, with a diocese in East Africa. Early life Born at Bound's Green in 1852, he was the son of Frederick Maples, a solicitor, ...

who drowned on Lake Nyasa, and W. Percival Johnson, a graduate of University College, Oxford, who was to remain in Malawi for 40 years and to translate the Bible into

Chichewa language Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for ...

. The

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

(DRC) established a base at Nkhoma then expanded to other parts of central Malawi, including Mlanda and

Mchinji Mchinji is a town and the capital of the Mchinji District in the Central Region of Malawi. Mchinji Boma, located from the Zambian border and from the national capital, Lilongwe, is the major hub of government and general business. It has a m ...

, and into Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The history of

Roman Catholicism in Malawi The Catholic Church in Malawi is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome and the Malawi bishops. History The first Catholic missionaries were White Fathers (Pères Blancs in French) who arrived i ...

begins with the entry of French

White Fathers The White Fathers (french: Pères Blancs), officially the Missionaries of Africa ( la, Missionarii Africae) abbreviated MAfr), are a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right (for Men) Founded in 1868 by then Ar ...

in 1899.

Independence

Malawi's first president, the Presbyterian

Hastings Kamuzu Banda Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1898 – 25 November 1997) was the prime minister and later president of Malawi from 1964 to 1994 (from 1964 to 1966, Malawi was an independent Dominion / Commonwealth realm). In 1966, the country became a republic and ...

, favored Christianity during his long rule. Under Banda many breakaway independent churches flourished, including

Elliot Kenan Kamwana Elliot Kenan Kamwana Achirwa, also known as Masokwa Elliot Kenan Kamwana Chirwa or Elliot Kenan Kamwana Msokwa Chirwa, generally known as Elliot Kenan Kamwana (c. 1872–1956), was an African Prophet in Nyasaland (now Malawi) who sought rapid socia ...

's breakaway

movement.

Christianity in Malawi today

References

{{reflist 1861 establishments in Africa