The Synod Bi-annual Meeting

The Bi-annual Synod meeting is like a mini General Assembly. It has all the drama of elections, the discussions of overtures and the diversions with friends.

 The first item of business was the election of the new leadership. Because of earlier actions taken by the assembly to remove two of the top officials for their unauthorized involvement in political issues, all four top offices were up for election. The international partners were asked to serve as the electoral commission for the proceedings, so two from Canada, one from Zambia, one from Scotland and one from USA (me) counted the ballots. This was not as easy as it might seem (but not as difficult as if we were in Florida). The GAC did not narrow the number of candidates, so there were seven or eight standing for each position. There were 398 delegates eligible to vote. We began with the top office, that of General Secretary. All ballots were hand written on individual slips of paper. Our task was to sort the ballots according to candidate, count them and then double check the count. To keep things moving, while four of us were counting, the chair of the commission, my friend Glenn Inglis from Canada, moved the group on to the election for the Deputy General Secretary. The assembly voted as we counted. We finished our counting for the GS and began counting for the DGS as Glenn announced the results for GS and then moved the assembly onto the vote for Moderator and then Vice Moderator, with this same system. It was orderly, but it took time. There were no favorites, with so many candidates, so there were no real surprises. Whoever was elected was a surprise in such a large field of candidates. Each candidate in each category got a fair number of votes so no one was embarrassed, but the winners for each post had a clear lead so there were no questions of close votes. That was a blessing. The new General Secretary is Rev. Alex Maulana. He has served as the director of Chilema Lay Training Center for the past 5 years, so he has administrative experience. His deputy is Rev. Cliff Nyekanyeka, a young pastor who has served for the past two years as the schools’ chaplain. The Moderator is Rev. Mercy Chilapula. She has served as Vice Moderator for four years and as acting Moderator for the last six months, since the shake-up with the former officials. This was an historic vote. She is the first women to be elected as moderator in all of the CCAP. Her vice is Rev. Andrew Kamponda, the pastor of St. Michaels and All Angels Church in Blantyre.

The biggest item of business was voting on revisions to the constitution. A constitutional review had been ordered at the last Bi-annual meeting because of confusion over some proceedings. The committee took a comprehensive look at the constitution and brought their recommendations to the assembly on Wednesday of the gathering. This was enough to have all the delegates stay. In the past, some have left after the elections, feeling there was nothing more than committee reports to debate. The revisions proved to be plenty of fodder for debate. The most substantive changes came in the qualifications for those standing for Synod offices and in the ruling that to vie for a higher post in the Synod, one must step down from the present post held, if one holds an office. In the original constitution, no qualifications were stipulated, so anyone could stand for the top positions. This included this year’s elections. The revision committee recommended that the candidates have at least a bachelors’ degree, be at least 35 years old, have served as a pastor or elder for at least 10 years, have served as a presbytery clerk or moderator or comparable position of leadership, and be a person of proven integrity. The debate was on the educational qualifications especially. Many of our pastors have only a license to preach or only a diploma, but not a degree. The debate focused on the reasons for education in the present church climate. The recommendations passed. Ironically, two of our newly elected officials would not have been eligible for election, not because of education but because of years of service and past experience. The issue of stepping down to run for a higher office was not discussed. The fire came with a recommendation for the composition of the Women’s Work Committee. In an attempt to be inclusive, the Review Committee recommended that all women clergy serve on that committee. At present there are 13 female pastors. The question was what about the future when there could be 25 or even 50. That is not a workable committee size. Then the question was why they all should serve. There was no agreement on a compromise, so that recommendation was rejected. The rest of their recommendations were accepted without major discussion. The revisions will now go to the presbyteries for their approval, much like amendments to the Book of Order in PC(USA)

In between sessions and in the evenings, the delegates had time for fellowship. My two sons chose to stay at home instead of at Grace Bandawe Conference Center, just across the road from the Synod, but I saw little of them. This was their opportunity to catch up with colleagues they had gone to school with and friends from other presbyteries. That was the pattern for all the delegates, just like any conference. The organizing committee planned entertainment each evening and Thomas and Charles stayed to enjoy that as well. They can visit with Mom anytime, but this comes only every two years, so they needed to take advantage of the time, they and all their colleagues.

Now that everyone has gone home, the new Synod officials can get to the business to which they have been elected and the rest of us can get back to our work, until the next gathering.

The delegation before the elections, a full house.

Food Gathering

Blantyre Synod’s Bi-Annual meeting will convene on Sunday, August 21. The Synod offices are in full preparation mode, with reports being printed, committees meeting to arrange for housing and protocol, for transportation and entertainment. But the most creative and resourceful of the committees, from my perspective, is the food committee. Theirs is the task of feeding the 500 delegates and dignitaries. They must do this on a limited budget. They have enlisted the support of the various presbyteries to accomplish this task.

The 18 presbyteries represent the entire southern region of Malawi, an agriculturally diverse area. The committee has asked each presbytery to contribute food that is grown in their particular area to help feed the crowd. So Thycholo Presbytery is contributing cabbages and tomatoes, since that is what is grown in that area. Liviilidzi Presbytery is contributing rice and Irish potatoes. Mangochi is by the lake, so they are giving chambo, the local white fish, and the list goes on, according to the agricultural strength of the area. Onions, carrots, green beans, bananas, papaya, chickens, goats, beef, maize flour, cassava, sweet potatoes will all be gathered, everything that is needed for a complete Malawian meal. This is a most practical approach to feeding folks in an agricultural country that has limited financial resources, but that has had a relatively good harvest this year.

These items were requested a number of months ago, to give each presbytery time to gather the needed produce. This week they are arriving at the Synod offices, to be stored and/or prepared for the meals next week. The gathering has begun in earnest. On Wednesday morning when I arrived at the Synod office for morning prayers, in the parking area outside the offices stood one of the Synod’s transport trucks, with a special pen structure erected on the bed of the truck. There quietly standing in the make-shift stalls were two cows, contributed from Shire Valley Presbytery, the cattle growing area of the district. They seemed to understand their plight. They stood silently, with big, sad eyes. Later in the day they were driven off to be butchered. This is a reality of life in an agricultural society, but it is still a bit unsettling for someone who grew up only purchasing packaged meat in the grocery store. I still have some difficulty looking the meal’s main course in the eye and then later sitting down to consume it. That is true for beef or goat or chicken or even whole fish, a favorite way of serving it here. In the States we have, for the most part, distanced ourselves from the actual preparation of the raw product, but here in Malawi it is just a fact of life, from butchering cows to dressing (or more appropriately undressing) chickens. We live close to the earth. No one at the meeting will give a second thought to the raw contributions each presbytery has made, no one except me. The others will just give thanks and enjoy the meal. I’ll pause to consider the sad eyes of the cows and possibly just take a larger helping of rice, thank you very much.

Just a Normal Sunday

This past Sunday I was invited to the Ndirande congregation to present 120 Chichewa Bibles that were purchased by a Sunday school class of Westminster Church in Pittsburgh Presbytery.  The class had raised the money and sent it to Malawi for the Bibles. But Malawian culture means that the gift needs to be presented officially and formally. As PC(USA)’s representative here, I was asked to do that on behalf of the congregation in Pittsburgh and I willingly agreed. After I had made the arrangements with the session clerk, the pastor called to invite me to preach, since I would be there. This is Malawian hospitality. I agreed. Then he told me that there would be communion and asked if I would assist. Of course. Then he mentioned baptisms. I was getting the idea that this would be a long service, but that is to be expected here.

The congregation usually has 3 services, but because of the communion, they had combined the services and so there would be one, to begin at 6 a.m. I arrived at 5:45 and was greeted by the elders, who escorted me to the manse to meet with the pastor. We organized the service and then proceeded to the vestry to meet with the rest of the elders. At 6:05 the service began. The service was fuller than I had imagined. We followed the standard format, but managed to fold into the program 8 choirs, the presentation and dedication of the Bibles and of new mvano choir uniforms, baptism of 36 infants and baptism and confirmation of 72 adults, preaching and special prayers for the upcoming Synod elections and finally communion. I pronounced the benediction at 11:45. The service had been 5 hours and 40 minutes long. The sanctuary was full to overflowing the entire time. In fact, groups moved in and out as their time to participate in the service came and went. This was to allow space for everyone and everything that needed to be done. Those who moved out found seating outside the church, where the PA system allowed them to participate in worship even though not in the sanctuary. When it came time for communion, those outside crowded in to participate fully. Extra benches were moved in and people sat on the floor in the front and back of the sanctuary.

 I couldn’t imagine what would have happened in a church in the States in the same situation. But then it would not have been the same. We would not have had that number of events in one service or that numbers of participants for baptism and confirmation. There would not have been 8 choirs to sing. Certainly the congregation would not have moved about to make room for those who were participating and certainly not have sat on the floor. But this is the joy of worship in Malawi. It is full participation with no reservation. The bigger the event, the greater the delight.  Welcome to normal Sunday worship in Malawi.

Joy and Sorrow and Joy

The reality of life is that sorrow and joy flow together in the events of life. That was born out clearly this weekend at Limbe CCAP in the lives of two families of the congregation.

Saturday saw a great celebration when the Kandawire twins were married. The first wedding was at 7 a.m. at the Living Waters Church for the first of the twins, Amana, and her new husband Pachalo Matandara. Then the congregation and the bridal parties proceeded directly to Limbe, where Modie, the second of the twins, was married to Fredrick Maliro. It was the second wedding that I assisted in officiating, with the senior pastor, Rev. Bona. Preceding Modie’s bridal party dressed in purple was Amana’s dressed in green. They stood as witnesses to their friend’s wedding. The twins had their own weddings, but shared the event fully with their sister and family. There were cheers and great joy at such a large event. The parents, in neutral colors, but boasting flowers from each daughter, stood proudly watching their twin’s union. Outside the church, cars decorated in both colors waited to carry the parties to the joint reception after a gala of photos in all combinations of parents and attendants and clergy.

Immediately after the service and the photos, I prepared for a totally different kind of service – a tomb unveiling. Limbe has a cemetery adjacent to the church where many of our members’ families are buried. Two of our older members, Mr. and Mrs. Chisani, had planned to commemorate their son’s death of a year ago by dedicating the tombstone they had erected in his memory. This involved prayers and a meditation from the pastor and then proceeding to the gravesite, where the tombstone was wrapped in plastic. After opening words, the plastic was removed, wreaths were laid on the new tombstone and then the pastor offered a prayer of dedication, followed by closing remarks by the church family. This was a sad time of remembering the death of a loved one. It is especially hard when it is the parents who have buried a son, not the other way around. After tears and words of comfort, the family left to have a time of remembering at home. The afternoon included time with the Chisani family in remembering and a gala wedding reception for two couples – a contrast of emotions and events, the joys and sorrows of life.

But the flowing of such events did not stop there. Sunday we had only one service at Limbe instead of the usual two since the church was hosting a 50^th wedding celebration of a renewal of wedding vows and then a reception to follow. This had been planned by one of the zones (geographic areas of the congregation) as a fundraiser for the church. The couple celebrating 50 years of marriage was none other than Mr. and Mrs. Chisani. They had agreed to this to help the church and to celebrate God’s faithfulness to them in all the events of life. So Saturday they remembered their late son with his tomb unveiling and Sunday they celebrated 50 years of marriage – the sorrows and joys of life. Saturday’s event had been small and private, family only. Sunday’s was overflowing. The wedding came immediately after the benediction of the church service, so the congregation was already gathered. Most everyone stayed. The bridal party processed in, just as the previous day, only this time instead of two parties, there was one mature one. The groom entered regally on a cane, walking with great dignity. The bride, in full dress, was preceded by ladies from the zone serving as her attendants. The congregation cheered as the bride joined the groom at the front of the church. Chairs were provided for them to sit for all but the renewal of the vows. After the renewal of their vows and the exchanging of rings, I had the responsibility of giving them counsel, a mini sermon. It would have been more appropriate for them to have given all of us advice, since they are the ones who know how to stay faithful for 50 years in the midst of all the events of life. They have done it. But we followed protocol and I offered words of encouragement to continue in what they have been doing. They are a witness to all in the congregation of faithfulness to God and God’s faithfulness to his people in all the events of life. That was the message of the entire weekend. In all the events of life, the joys and the sorrows, God is present and God is faithful to his people.