The Church of the Province of Central Africa is part of the
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...
, and includes 15
dioceses
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
in
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
,
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 northeas ...
,
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
and
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
. The
Primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...
Walter Khotso Makhulu
Walter Paul Khotso Makhulu (born Johannesburg 1935) is an emeritus South African-born Anglican archbishop of Central Africa.
Makhulu was educated at St Peter's Theological College, Rosettenville and Selly Oak College, Birmingham.‘MAKHULU ...
In 1861, the first Anglican missionary to the area was Charles Mackenzie, who arrived with
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 ...
. In 1855, he went to
Natal
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...
with Bishop Colenso. They worked among the English settlers until 1859. In 1860, Mackenzie became head of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa; and he was consecrated bishop in St George's Cathedral,
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, on 1 January 1861. Following
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 ...
's request to Cambridge, Mackenzie took on the position of being the first missionary Bishop in
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 northeas ...
(
Nyasaland
Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...
).
Moving from Cape Town, he arrived at Chibisa's village in June 1861 with the goal to establish a mission station at
Magomero Magomero is an estate and a village in Malawi. It is situated south of Zomba.
History
Although Alexander Low Bruce never visited Nyasaland, he obtained title to some 170,000 acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US ...
, near Zomba. Bishop Mackenzie worked among the people of the
Manganja
The Mang'anja are a Bantu people of central and southern Africa, particularly around Chikwawa in the Shire River valley of southern Malawi
Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked co ...
country until January 1862 when he went on a supplies trip together with a few members of his party. The boat they were travelling on, sank and as medical supplies were lost, Bishop Mackenzie's malaria could not be treated. He died of Blackwater fever on 31 January 1862.
There is an
International school
An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body an ...
named after Mackenzie, which teaches children from 4 to 17 and is found in Lilongwe the capital 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 northeas ...
. The independent Church of the Province of Central Africa was inaugurated in 1955 and has a movable primacy. The inauguration service was on 8 May 1955;
Geoffrey Fisher
Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Baron Fisher of Lambeth, (5 May 1887 – 15 September 1972) was an English Anglican priest, and 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, serving from 1945 to 1961.
From a long line of parish priests, Fisher was educated at Marlb ...
,
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
relinquished his jurisdiction over Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland and Geoffrey Clayton, Archbishop of Cape Town relinquished his over Mashonaland and Matabeleland.
Membership
Today, there are at least 600,000 Anglicans out of an estimated population of 31,780,000.
Structure
The polity of the Church of the Province of Central Africa is
Episcopalian church governance
An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term ''*ebiscopus''/''*bisc ...
, which is the same as other
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 ...
churches. The church maintains a system of geographical
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
es organized into
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
s. There are 15 of these, each headed by a bishop. The
Primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter including ...
Zambia
Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
Diocese of Lusaka
The Diocese of Lusaka is one of fifteen Anglican bishoprics within the Church of the Province of Central Africa, covering part of Zambia. It came into being as the Diocese of Northern Rhodesia (the colonial precursor of Zambia) in 1910 and change ...
Diocese of Northern Zambia The Diocese of Northern Zambia is one of five dioceses in Zambia within the Church of the Province of Central Africa: it was created in 1971. The first bishop was Joseph Mabula and the current bishop is Albert Chama.
References
...
* in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
:
** The
Diocese of Central Zimbabwe The Diocese of Central Zimbabwe is one of 15 dioceses within the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa
The Church of the Province of Central Africa is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 15 dioceses in Botswana, Malawi, Zamb ...
Diocese of Matabeleland
The Diocese of Matabeleland is in Zimbabwe and is one of 15 dioceses of the Province of Central Africa, a province of the Anglican Communion.Diocese of Manicaland
* in
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 northeas ...
(former
Nyasaland
Nyasaland () was a British protectorate located in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasala ...
Diocese of Northern Malawi The Diocese of Northern Malawi is one of the four diocese in Malawi within the Church of the Province of Central Africa
The Church of the Province of Central Africa is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 15 dioceses in Botswana, Malawi, ...
Diocese of Southern Malawi-Upper Shire The Diocese of Southern Malawi-Upper Shire is one of the four diocese in Malawi within the Church of the Province of Central Africa
The Church of the Province of Central Africa is part of the Anglican Communion, and includes 15 dioceses in Botswan ...
There are 250 congregations and about 400 priests in the Church of the Province of Central Africa.
Doctrine and practice
The centre of the Church of the Province of Central Africa teaching is the life and resurrection of
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, include:
*Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.
*Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe.
*The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit". The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.
*The two great and necessary sacraments are
Holy Baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
and
Holy Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
ordination
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...
,
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
,
reconciliation of a penitent
Confession, in many religions, is the acknowledgment of one's sins (sinfulness) or wrongs.
Christianity Catholicism
In Catholic teaching, the Sacrament of Penance is the method of the Church by which individual men and women confess sin ...
, and
unction
Anointing is the ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body.
By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or ot ...
.
*Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus's return in glory.
The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason (borrowing from Thomas Aquinas). These three sources uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work of
Richard Hooker
Richard Hooker (25 March 1554 – 2 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford University ...
, a sixteenth-century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason. Minor differences of doctrine should not damn or save the soul but are frameworks surrounding the moral and religious life of the believer. Church governance by bishops was biblical and traditional, but this was not license for absolutism.
Ministry, liturgy and ecumenical relations
The Church of the Province of Central Africa embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. The Church of the Province of Central Africa does not
ordain women
Ordain Women is a Mormon feminist organization that supports the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded on March 17, 2013, by Kate Kelly, a human rights attorney fr ...
. Local variants of the
Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...
are used in worship. Like many other Anglican churches, it is also a member of the ecumenical
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...
.
Anglican realignment
The Church of the Province of Central Africa is a member of the Global South. Former archbishop
Bernard Malango
Bernard Amos Malango (1941 – 30 October 2021) was a Zambian Anglican prelate. He was the Anglican Archbishop of Central Africa from 2000 to September 2006, when he retired.
Early life and education
Malango started his career as a draughtsman ...
was involved in the
Anglican realignment
The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States ...
, while current archbishop Albert Chama, despite having attended the Global South Fourth Encounter held in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, on 19–23 April 2010, has been a supporter of "reconciliation" between the conservative and the liberal Anglican provinces. The Dioceses of Northern Malawi and Southern Malawi-Upper Shire were listed as "mission partners" of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, but are no longer listed as such. The province was represented at GAFCON III, on 17–22 June 2018, by a 4 members delegation, 3 from
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 northeas ...
and one from
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
.
See also
*
List of Archbishops of Central Africa This is a list of the Archbishops of the Anglican Church of the Province of Central Africa, which encompasses the present-day Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. List of Archbishops of Central Africa
References
{{reflist
External linksLambe ...
References
Further reading
*Neill, Stephen, ''Anglicanism''. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1965.
{{Authority control
Central Africa
Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...