Commentary: An opportunity for missional partnership

Commentary: An opportunity
for missional partnership

By Carmen Fowler, The Layman, September 28, 2009

Imagine you have oversight of 137 churches of which 20 are without installed pastoral leadership. Now imagine that those 20 churches each has a minimum of 3,000 active congregants, an active network of prayer houses, committed lay leadership, debt free facilities and a manse for a pastor and his family. Although it may sound like a fairy tale, it is the reality being lived out by Rev. Davidson Chifungo, the General Secretary of the Nkhoma Synod of the Church Central Africa Presbyterian in central Malawi. The Synods to the north and south, Livingstonia and Blantyre, face similar pastoral shortages.

Davidson Chifungo, the General Secretary of the
Nkhoma Synod of the Church Central Africa
Presbytery in central Malawi.

Click here to read other stories from The Layman’s Report Out of Africa.

The good news is that God is giving such growth that the church structure cannot keep up. The good news is that God is raising up a generation of believers who are answering the call to serve as pastors. The challenge is there is no money to educate and equip them. It takes $2,500 per year (each year for four years) to cover all the costs associated with moving a candidate and his family to seminary, paying all associated fees and covering all their living expenses. “I can guarantee them a church. Today. What I need are partners who can help us keep up with the growth God is giving.” Rev. Chifungo almost pleads.

Pastor to pastors

This quiet, gracious, patient, Godly man served as a CCAP missionary in Mozambique before being elected to the esteemed position of General Secretary, a position of significant ecclesiastical and spiritual authority in this very Presbyterian nation. Rev. Chifungo functions as the pastor to pastors and as the counselor and equipper to all the congregations without pastors.

My first meeting with Rev. Chifungo took place in May 2008 during a visit at the Ministry of Hope in Malawi. Rev. Chifungo had recently returned to Africa from the United States where he met with the Presbytery of the Central South of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC). At that meeting, discussions were under way about the formation of a New Wineskins presbytery in the EPC to accommodate the realignment of PCUSA congregations. In that context, Rev. Chifungo asked me, “Tell me about the struggle among Presbyterians in America.”

I did my best to describe a body out of joint; a reality where what we say about ourselves in our constitution is disconnected from the actual theology in practice among some and within some judicatories. His brow furrowed often. He asked about regular discipline and I had to admit that we have little. He asked about the planting of new churches and I had to admit that we close more churches than we plant.

‘She has forgotten her first love’

We prayed together for the witness of the Presbyterian family of believers and then Rev. Chifungo shook his head and said with profound sadness, “She has forgotten her first love.”

Upon returning to Malawi this summer, I looked forward to visiting with Rev. Chifungo again. He welcomed me as if we were old friends and invited me to share chombe (tea) in his office. After hearing about what God is doing in the warm heart of Africa and learning about the CCAP church where I would preach the coming Sunday, Rev. Chifungo and I talked about mutual friends and our shared commitment to equipping lay people for the work of ministry. He told me about the Veritas course he has initiated for lay equipping and then he invited me to share.

I reported on the outcome of voting on Amendment 08-B, the missional church movement, the continuing realignment of Presbyterian congregations, and the need for Presbyterians in the United States to hear from our African partners about issues confronting our family of believers. He was deeply concerned. “Ours is a better struggle,” he observed. “We are not struggling to grow. Our lay people have taken the Word under a tree and opened the Bible and a church was planted and God has given growth. We are not struggling to grow, we are struggling to keep up with the growth God is giving,” and then he paused, concluding with confidence, “Yes, ours is a better struggle.”

Knit together in Jesus Christ

The words of Ephesians 6 then filled the air as this former missionary to Mozambique encouraged me with the Word of God, “Be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, never forget that. We have a common enemy and he has set himself against our Lord. Whatever the nature of our struggle, even if it appears to be a physical struggle on the surface, it is always spiritual.” Then we prayed and parted company, Presbyterians from very different continents and very different contexts, but deeply knit together in Jesus Christ.

Whether African or American, as Christians living as resident aliens in the world, we all struggle. But we do not lose heart and we shall not grow weary of doing good. In that spirit, let us take our stand with those Presbyterians around the globe who have a better struggle. If you or your congregation has a missional mindset, let me invite you to consider sponsoring the seminary education of a Presbyterian candidate in the CCAP. Even if you started today, a congregation that is currently waiting for a pastor, will wait four more years. Just in the Nkhoma Synod, 20 partners are needed immediately and five additional partners will be needed in subsequent years as our CCAP brothers and sisters expect God to continue to give the growth. 

Carmen Fowler is president of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and executive editor of its publications.