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Church of the Province of Central Africa
 
 
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The Church of the Province of Central Africa is part of the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority as each national or regional church has full autonomy....
, and includes 15 dioceses in Botswana
Botswana

The Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland Protectorate, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 September 1966....
, Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
, Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
 and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Central Africa; this office was held by Dr Bernard Amos Malango
Bernard Amos Malango

Bernard Malango was the Anglican Archbishop of Central Africa from 2000 to September 2007, when he retired. He is one of the 38 primates of the Anglican Communion....
, the Bishop of Upper Shire in Malawi, until his retirement in 2007, and is currently vacant.

History
In 1861, the first Anglican missionary to the area was Bishop Charles Frederick Mackenzie
Charles MacKenzie

Charles MacKenzie was an Ontario merchant and political figure. He represented Lambton West in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal Party of Ontario member from 1889 to 1894....
, who arrived with David Livingstone
David Livingstone

Doctor David Livingstone was a Scotland Congregational church pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and List of explorers in Central Africa Africa....
.






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The Church of the Province of Central Africa is part of the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority as each national or regional church has full autonomy....
, and includes 15 dioceses in Botswana
Botswana

The Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Citizens of Botswana are called "Batswana" , regardless of ethnicity. Formerly a British protectorate of Bechuanaland Protectorate, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth of Nations on 30 September 1966....
, Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
, Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
 and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe , is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo River rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east....
. The Primate of the Church is the Archbishop of Central Africa; this office was held by Dr Bernard Amos Malango
Bernard Amos Malango

Bernard Malango was the Anglican Archbishop of Central Africa from 2000 to September 2007, when he retired. He is one of the 38 primates of the Anglican Communion....
, the Bishop of Upper Shire in Malawi, until his retirement in 2007, and is currently vacant.

History


In 1861, the first Anglican missionary to the area was Bishop Charles Frederick Mackenzie
Charles MacKenzie

Charles MacKenzie was an Ontario merchant and political figure. He represented Lambton West in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal Party of Ontario member from 1889 to 1894....
, who arrived with David Livingstone
David Livingstone

Doctor David Livingstone was a Scotland Congregational church pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and List of explorers in Central Africa Africa....
. In 1855, he went to Natal
Natal Province

Natal, meaning Christmas in Portuguese language, was a name given by the Portuguese people Vasco da Gama to the place after he had arrived on ship on the 25th of December and found the African Royal King Menzi Xaba and his people celebrating the birth of a king, Nkayishana, Menzi's son....
 with Bishop John Colenso
John William Colenso

John William Colenso , first Anglican bishop of Anglican Diocese of Natal, mathematician, theologian, Biblical scholar and social activist....
. They worked among the English settlers till 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

Cape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the City of Cape Town. It is the provincial Capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislature capital of South Africa, where the Parliament of South Africa and many government offices are located....
, on 1 January 1861. Following Dr David Livingstones'
David Livingstone

Doctor David Livingstone was a Scotland Congregational church pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and List of explorers in Central Africa Africa....
 request to Cambridge, Bishop Mackenzie took on the position of being the first missionary bishop in Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
 (Nyasaland
Nyasaland

Nyasaland or the Nyasaland Protectorate, was a United Kingdom protectorate which was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name....
).

Moving from Cape Town, he arrived at Chibisa’s village in June 1861 with the goal to establish a mission station at Magomero, near Zomba. Bishop Mackenzie worked among the people of the Manganja 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
Blackwater fever

Blackwater fever is a complication of malaria characterized by intravascular haemolysis, hemoglobinuria and kidney failure. Blackwater fever is caused by heavy parasitization of red blood cells with Plasmodium falciparum....
 on 31 January 1862.

There is an International school
International school

An International school is loosely defined as a school that does not require their students to learn the national or local language of the country the school is located in....
 named after Mackenzie, which teaches children from 4 to 17 and is found in Lilongwe
Lilongwe

Lilongwe, estimated population 866,272, is the Capital of Malawi. It lies in the country's central region, on the Lilongwe river, near the border of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, and on the main north-south highway of Malawi, the M1....
 the capital of Malawi
Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast and Mozambique, which surrounds it on the east, south and west....
. The independent Church of the Province of Central Africa was inaugurated in 1955 and has a movable primacy.

Membership

Today, there are at least 600,000 Anglicans out of an estimated population of 31,780,000.

Structure

David Livingstone Memorial At Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
The polity of the Church of the Province of Central Africa is Episcopalian church governance, which is the same as other Anglican churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parish
Parish

A parish is a local church; it is an administrative unit typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican, United Methodist, and Presbyterianism churches....
es organized into diocese
Diocese

In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglicanism, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bi...
s. There are 15 of these, each headed by a bishop:

  • The Diocese of Botswana
  • The Diocese of Central Zambia
  • The Diocese of Central Zimbabwe
  • The Diocese of Eastern Zambia
  • The Diocese of Harare
  • The Diocese of Lake Malawi
  • The Diocese of Luapula
  • The Diocese of Lusaka
  • The Diocese of Manicaland
  • The Diocese of Masvingo
  • The Diocese of Matabeleland
    Diocese of Matabeleland

    The Diocese of Matabeleland is one of 15 dioceses within the Church of the Province of Central Africa . The current Bishop is the Rt Rev Cleophas Lunga....
  • The Diocese of Northern Malawi
  • The Diocese of Northern Zambia
  • The Diocese of Southern Malawi
  • The Diocese of Southern Malawi-Upper Shire


There are 250 congregations and about 400 priests in the Church of the Province of Central Africa.

Worship and liturgy

The Church of the Province of Central Africa embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. Local variants of the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican Communion. The first book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI of England, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Roman Catholic Church....
 are used.

Doctrine and practice

The center of the Church of the Province of Central Africa teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism
Catechism

A catechism is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present....
, includes:
  • 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
    Anglican sacraments

    In keeping with its prevailing self-identity as a via media or "middle path" of Western Christianity, Anglican sacramental theology expresses elements in keeping with its status as a church in the Catholicism tradition and a church of the English Reformation....
     are Holy Baptism
    Baptism

    In Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted as a full member of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered....
     and Holy Eucharist
    Eucharist

    The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christianity sacrament commemorating, by consecrating bread and wine, the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest, and eventual crucifixion, when he gave them bread saying, "This is my body", and wine...
  • Other sacramental rites
    Anglican sacraments

    In keeping with its prevailing self-identity as a via media or "middle path" of Western Christianity, Anglican sacramental theology expresses elements in keeping with its status as a church in the Catholicism tradition and a church of the English Reformation....
     are confirmation, ordination
    Ordination

    In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies....
    , marriage
    Marriage

    Marriage is a social, spirituality, or law union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock....
    , reconciliation of a penitent
    Confession

    The confession of one's sins is a religious practice important to many faiths, e.g., Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
    , and unction.
  • Belief in heaven
    Heaven

    Heaven may refer to the physical heavens, the atmosphere or the seemingly endless expanse of the universe beyond. This is the traditional literal meaning of the term in English, however since at least AD 1000, it is typically also used to refer to an afterlife plane of existence in various religions and spirituality philosophy, often descri...
    , hell
    Hell

    In many religious traditions, Hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife, often in the underworld. Religions with a linear Divinity history often depict Hell as endless ....
    , and Jesus's return in glory
    Second Coming

    In Christian theology, the Second Coming is the anticipated return of Jesus from Heaven to earth, an event to fulfill aspects of Claimed Messianic prophecies of Jesus, such as the general resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment of the dead and the living and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth , including the Messianic...
    .


The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. 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

Richard Hooker was an Anglican priest and an influential theology. Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and inclusiveness considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism....
, 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.

Social issues

The Church of the Province of Central Africa does not ordain women.

Ecumenical relations

Like many other Anglican churches, the Church of the Province of Central Africa is a member of the ecumenical World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches

The World Council of Churches is an international Christian ecumenism organization. Based in Geneva, Switzerland , it is a fellowship of about 340 churches of which 157 are members....
.

See also

  • List of Archbishops of Central Africa
    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....


Further reading

  • Anglicanism, Neill, Stephen. Harmondsworth, 1965.


External links



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