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| National |
| CCAP synods cut ties |
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by
Edwin Nyirongo, 22 April 2005
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13:10:41
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Livingstonia CCAP Synod has cut ties with Nkhoma, saying it will no longer recognise boundaries between the two synods.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, synod moderator Rev Mezuwa Banda said they are fed up with Nkhoma Synod which has continued to encroach into their territory in spite of several protests and protracted negotiations.
“We have decided to reconsider our relationship with Nkhoma Synod because they continue to build churches into our land in spite of several discussions. This decision has been taken by the Livingstonia CCAP executive after finding that the meeting on April 18 did not yield any results,” he said.
Banda said at first their border stretched up to Dowa but managed to voluntarily surrender Chilanga church in Chief Kaomba’s area which had a school and a hospital because of brotherhood. He said Nkhoma might have misinterpreted that gesture to mean weakness.
He said the real border between the two synods is at Dwangwa River but Nkhoma Synod has crossed the boundary and has built churches up to Nkhamenya. He said in total Nkhoma has built 88 churches in Livingstonia Synod.
“When we asked them why they are doing that, they said they were following their children who are living in the areas but cannot speak Tumbuka. But that argument is just an excuse, they have another motive which they are failing to disclose. But they will do that at a later time,” he said.
The Moderator said the worry is that since many people are moving up north, Nkhoma Synod will build their churches up to Mzuzu and then Chitipa because there are people from the Central Region who belong to the synod.
“What we are saying is that if our members at Kawale in Lilongwe tell us that they want a church, we will build one there and write Livingstonia Synod and they can do the same in our synod. We will only recognise the boundaries of Blantyre Synod,” he said.
He cautioned that losers in this decision will be Nkhoma because, Lilongwe being the capital of the country, there are more members from Livingstonia Synod than those of Nkhoma in the North.
He admitted that the decision would see defection of members to Pentecostal churches but said the synod had no choice but to do what is right.
When contacted for comment, Nkhoma Synod General Secretary Rev Winston Kawale said the issue of boundaries needs thorough investigation and discussion. He said when they were discussing the issue on April 18, Livingstonia Synod members walked out.
“In addition to that, they have also encroached in our territory at Thupa, Kakwanje and Dwangwa,” he said.
Rev Banda admitted walking out of the meeting saying they did so because they were failing to agree on the issue.
Rev Dr Felix Chingota of General Synod of the CCAP General Synod that includes Blantyre, Livingstonia and Nkhoma said discussions on the issue will continue in spite of this development.
He, however, said much as the General Synod has no powers to order the synods, they still retain some powers which they sometimes use.
“What you should also know is that the three synods originated from three different churches; Free Church of Scotland (Livingstonia), Dutch Reformed Church (Nkhoma) and Established Church of Scotland (Blantyre),” said Chingota.
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