Baptists in Malawi

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Malawi
John Chilembwe on a Malawian banknote
Blantyre, the starting point of Malawian Baptism, today
Pastor Fletcher Kaiyla, representative of the EBM

Baptists in Malawi have been around since the late 19th century. Today they belong to different national unions. The oldest of these unions is the African Baptist Assembly of Malawi, Inc (formerly: National Baptist Assembly of Africa, Nyasaland ). Further mergers of autonomous Baptist congregations in Malawi are the Baptist Convention of Malawi ( BACOMA ), the Evangelical Baptist Church of Malawi and the Central Africa Conference of Seventh Day Baptists, Inc. . In addition to these four congregations, which belong to the World Baptist Federation , there are other independent Baptist church communities, including the African United Baptist Church of Malawi , the Independent Baptist Church of Malawi , the Association of Original Seventh Day Baptist Churches and the Bible Baptist Church of Malawi .

history

The beginnings of the Baptist movement in Malawi are connected with the name of the English missionary Joseph Booth (1851–1932). With his family he came to British Central Africa , today's Malawi , in 1892 and founded several missionary work around Blantyre , from which the first Baptist churches emerged. Booth's missionary preaching was accompanied by a strong commitment to the human rights of the local population, which often brought him into conflict with the English colonial power. On a trip to England and the United States , Booth accompanied his African assistant John Chilembwe (1871-1915). He arranged for him to study theology in Lynchburg (Virginia) , which Chilembwe successfully completed. As an ordained Baptist pastor and missionary for the American National Baptist Convention , he returned to Malawi and - deeply impressed by the abolitionists John Brown and Booker Taliaferro Washington - continued the work of his former employer. He founded the Providence Industrial Mission , which among other things was responsible for seven schools. In 1912, these educational institutions had around 1,000 pupils and 800 students. In January 1915, Chilembwe organized a bloody uprising against white coffee plantation owners and their oppression of black workers. After the uprising was put down by the colonial government, Chilembwe was killed while fleeing. Today the Baptist John Chilembwe is revered as the Malawian freedom hero. His feast day, John Chilembwe Day , is January 15th. A portrait of Chilembwe is also on the Malawian 20 kwacha banknote.

After the uprising, the Providence Industrial Mission was banned and was not re-approved as a religious organization until 1926. The mission leader was Daniel Malekbu (1890–1978), who had acquired both medical and theological knowledge in technical schools in the United States. Malekbu campaigned for the mission society for which America was responsible to be converted into a national church. His influence led to the 1945 National Baptist Assembly of Africa, Nyasaland was founded and its present name African Baptist Assembly of Malawi, Inc. is.

In 1946, some congregations of the National Baptist Assembly split off to form the African United Church . Another split took place in 1971 and led to the establishment of the Independent Baptist Church of Malawi . The other Baptist denominations mentioned above result from missionary activities of various American Baptist churches.

Organization, facilities, statistics

The largest grouping of Malawian Baptists form the Baptist unions that the World Alliance of Baptists and regionally for All Africa Baptist Fellowship , a subdivision of the Baptist World Alliance belong. It is this

  • the African Baptist Assembly, Malawi, Inc. with 787 congregations and 72,800 members,
  • the Baptist Convention of Malawi (BACOMA) with around 1,300 congregations and around 150,000 members and
  • the Evangelical Baptist Church of Malawi with around 300 congregations and 19,000 members.

These three unions work in partnership with the European Baptist Mission (EBM) . The EBM's representative for the Baptist unions in Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa is currently Pastor Fletcher Kaiyla.

The Seventh-day Baptists have only a few churches and do not form a separate league within Malawi. You belong to the Seventh Day Baptist Conference in North America and are also a member of the Baptist World Federation .

No statistical information is available about the other Malawian Baptist unions. A total of 6% of Malawi's residents belong to a Baptist church.

In Lilongwe is the Baptist Theological Seminary of Malawi , the training center of the Malawian Baptist pastors.

Ecumenism

The following Malawian Baptist churches are members of the World Council of Churches and its sub-organization Malawi Council of Churches :

  • Baptist Convention of Malawi
  • Central Africa Conference of Seventh Day Baptists
  • Independent Baptist Church of Malawi

literature

  • Hany Longwe: Christians by Grace - Baptists by Choice. A History of the Baptist Convention of Malawi , Zomba and Luwinga (Mzuzu 2) 2012, ISBN 978-99908-87-79-2
  • Albert W. Wardin: Baptists Around the World
  • Harry Langworthy: Africa for the African. The Life of Joseph Booth , Blantyre 1996, ISBN 99908-16-03-4 )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Seventh-Day Baptists of Malawi belong to the World Baptist Federation through the international Seventh-Day Baptist community.
  2. ^ Owen JM Kalinga / Cynthia A. Crosby: Historical Dictionary of Malawi , 2001 (3rd edition), ISBN 0-8108-3481-2 ) pp. 40f
  3. ↑ Hussein Mohamed Adam: Persepctive , in: Zeitschrift Black World / Negro Digest , Vol. XXI, 12/1971, p. 7 (available from Google Books) ; accessed on February 12, 2010
  4. ↑ Homepage of the Chilembwe Society: John Chilembwe ( Memento of the original of July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; accessed on February 12, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / chilembwe.com
  5. ↑ Nyassaland was the name of the British protectorate at the time, the borders of which correspond to today's Malawi. See: Homepage of the Southern Africa Information Center ( Memento of May 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ); accessed on February 12, 2010
  6. ↑ Statistics report (2008) ( Memento from February 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on the official homepage of the Baptist World Federation, accessed on February 12, 2010. The membership figures refer to the members baptized in faith . Family members and friends are not included.
  7. ↑ Homepage Adherents ; accessed on February 12, 2010
  8. ^ Homepage of the Baptist World Federation: Baptist-affiliated colleges and seminaries ; accessed on August 27, 2011
  9. ↑ Malawi Council of Churches ( Memento from September 9, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ); accessed on February 12, 2010