Duncan B. Mfune

Duncan Burton Mfune (born January 27, 1937 ) was New Apostolic Church Leader of the District Church of Zambia in the District Apostle ministry between 1989 and 2005 ; He was not only the first District Apostle to be solely responsible for the area of Zambia , but also the first dark-skinned District Apostle of the New Apostolic Church .

Life

At the age of 18, Duncan B. Mfune was sealed in Kitwe on Christmas Day in 1955 by the founder of the New Apostolic Church in Zambia, Apostle George Henwood . After his first official mandate within the New Apostolic Church, about 4 years later, he received several commissions until Chief Apostle Walter Schmidt ordained him bishop on February 10, 1974 . In the following year he was ordained an apostle by Walter Schmidt together with Bishop Barrington Sianga (also Zambia) on May 14th during a youth day in Stuttgart. On the New Year of 1987, Apostles Sianga and Mwape, together with Apostle Duncan B. Mfune, were commissioned to support District Apostle Andrew Fernandes as District Apostle Helper. Chief Apostle Hans Urwyler carried out the official act in Düsseldorf.

On June 9, 1989, District Apostle Andrew Fernandes, responsible for Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, died at the age of 72. In the consolation service on June 18 in Harare , Zimbabwe , Chief Apostle Richard Fehr ordained two District Apostles for Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Thus, he divided the district into two parts after it had been realized that too many members would be entrusted to a single District Apostle in the area of ​​the deceased District Apostle Fernandes. From then on, the areas of Malawi and Zimbabwe were cared for by the newly ordained Anthony Fernandes, son of the former District Apostle Hubert Fernandes, while Duncan B. Mfune was ordained District Apostle for Zambia.

In his early days, Chief Apostle Richard Fehr set an example for progress within the New Apostolic Church: On the one hand, it indicated that the church leadership was planning a larger number of self-organized African District Churches in the future, most of which at that time would still be made up of the District Churches Canada and France were supervised (so far only the Transvaal (or Southeast Africa) and Cape Town district churches have been independent). On the other hand, with Duncan B. Mfune, a dark-skinned District Apostle was ordained for the first time after the African District Churches had previously only been led by District Apostles originally from Europe.

The long-term development of the New Apostolic Church in Zambia intensified during Mfune's term of office: In 1989, 53,000 citizens were sealed in Zambia, in 1991 even more than 60,000. At the end of 1991, 624,000 members were also recorded. After the death of District Apostle Fernandes in December 1994, no new District Apostle was ordained for the Malawi and Zimbabwe area. The areas were entrusted to District Apostles Kitching (Southeast Africa) and Mfune. Thus, the Mfunes area had expanded, Malawi belonged to the Zambia District Church from now on and until today.

Membership growth in the Zambian District Church continued after this change. In 2000 Zambia had more than 1 million New Apostolic Christians, in 2001 there were 143,000 in Malawi.

After he had exceeded the statutory age limit of 65 years, Duncan B. Mfune was retired on March 13, 2005 during Richard Fehr's last visit to Zambia. His successor was Charles Sakavumbi Ndandula, who had supported him as a District Apostle Helper since 1995.

Web links

• History of the New Apostolic Church Zambia ( Memento from April 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
• Report on Chief Apostle Fehr's last trip to Africa and the retirement of District Apostle Mfune