Day's Diary

April 15, 2007 ~ Zomba Presbytery

+ Click here to return to Journal Directory

I am now officially a member of Zomba Presbytery, Blantyre Synod, CCAP. I attended my first (and only) Presbytery meeting today. It is my first and my only because here a presbytery meets only once a year. That seemed like a good idea to me, until about half way through the meeting and I was done in. (So was the vice moderator and he fell asleep briefly, right in the front of the convocation.) Presbytery meetings are much the same here as in Pittsburgh in some ways and very different in others.

Like ours, it is hosted by a different congregation each meeting. This year it was Silas’ church’s turn to host. The larger church was the venue, but both congregations worked together to provide, and it took a lot of work. Chiphoola church is located about six miles off the Zomba road, north of the city. The road is being prepared for tarmac, so it is wide and relatively smooth, an easy drive. The meeting was a two day event. It began on Thursday morning at 11 with the executive committee meeting. They met until about 2:30, and then broke for lunch – prepared and served by the ladies of the congregations, headed by Margaret. Then communion was celebrated at 3 p.m. I went for communion, taking four students with me, one who is working with Silas, two of his friends from Nkhoma Synod who wanted to compare Presbytery meetings, and one from Blantyre Synod. Communion was traditional and consistent with all the other services in which I have participated. I was invited to help serve and that is always a privilege. The service ended about 5:30 and I headed back to Zomba with the guys, wanting to get home before dark. About 28 people stayed overnight at the church, sleeping on mats Silas had provided, using the new, but yet unfinished manse and the school classrooms. The ladies provided supper and breakfast for them.

The actual meeting began on Friday at 9 a.m. There are some noticeable differences. First, there were only four cars in the church yard, but close to 200 people present. Most had walked, many taking minibuses as far as they could and then walking the rest of the way. There are only 12 pastors in the presbytery and 38 churches. Each church is allowed to send four elders and most did. The meeting was more about formality than about business, although there was some business conducted, but with very little discussion. That was actually one of the elder’s complaints at the end of the meeting. There was a shortened worship service to begin (only about an hour). The moderator, Rev. Mlinde, preached for both communion and the opening worship. Then there was a welcome from the host pastor (Silas). Now that sounds like what we do in Pittsburgh, but there were some noticeable differences. I have yet to see a live goat presented to the moderator in Pittsburgh. The goat was then taken out and prepared for lunch. (He was part of the main course. I chose to eat chicken. I’m not accustomed to meeting my meal before I eat it!) Then all visitors and new members of the presbytery were welcomed. I was given the opportunity to bring greetings from Pittsburgh, which I was pleased to do. Then they had the reading of the minutes. The deputy presbytery clerk read the minutes aloud, including the names of all present at the meeting. This took 45 minutes. There was a debate following the reading about whether the minutes could be printed and distributed to the churches in advance, to save time. The concern was the cost of duplication. (That sounded like a Pittsburgh discussion.) Then they entertained corrections to the minutes. This took another half an hour.

      

In the meantime, Dr. Chingota had arrived. He is a member of the Presbytery since he pastors a congregation, but he also has just finished his term as moderator of the General Assembly. He comes from Nkhoma Synod and teaches at Chancellor College. They asked him for a report of progress on the border dispute between Nkhoma and Livingstonia synods. With questions, this took 45 minutes.

Then came the nominations of names to place before the Synod for the synod positions for moderator, vice moderator, and general secretary. These elections will be held in August at the Synod meeting. Each of the 18 presbyteries can nominate one name for each position. The synod presents two from the synod executive staff and the presbyteries can nominate three from their presbytery and then the presbytery votes for one for each position. That is then their list of nominees. A written ballot followed each nomination category. The process took about an hour to nominate Rev. Bona for Synod Moderator (he is presently serving as synod vice moderator), Rev. Chilapula for vice moderator (she is presently presbytery vice clerk), and Rev. Mlinde for general secretary (he is presently presbytery moderator). These names will be sent to the synod and added to the lists from the other presbyteries. This took us to 12:30, but the synod officials, Deputy General Secretary Maere and Vice Moderator Bona, had just arrived, so we needed to greet them, hear their reports and receive their presentations. All of this took until 2 p.m.

Lunch was ready. But first there was a tree planting ceremony in front of the new manse.  Pastors were served in the new manse and the elders in the school classrooms. The ladies who prepared all of this ate outside, seated on the ground, after everyone was served. We were to reconvene at 2:45, but it was after 3 before we assembled. Then there were presentations to the synod and presbytery leadership of gifts from the church – one live chicken each, to take home. I can’t see chickens being brought into Westminster’s sanctuary or Jim Mead receiving a live chicken, but those are thoughts for future meetings  — it would add variety to Pittsburgh’s proceedings! This is the pattern in Malawi.

We bid farewell to the synod officials and it was time to hear committee reports. The first one was the youth committee. Again, it was read in detail, taking about 20 minutes and questions followed. This put us at 4:10 and the meeting was to end at 5, to allow everyone time to get home while minibus transport was available. Heated discussion followed about how to proceed. After much debate, it was decided that all reports would be submitted but not read and they would be part of next year’s minutes. Several elders were unhappy with the proceedings because there was no time to discuss the concerns and issues they had brought from their congregations. I certainly understood their position, but the light was fading and the weather was threatening and everyone was tired. Several people left early, when thunder rumbled in the distance (like Pittsburgh – fewer at the end than at the beginning).  Before adjourning, the moderator was reminded that he had not made the postings of new positions for the new pastors in the presbytery, so he hastily announced those, including that Rev. Day would be assigned to Namitungwi Prayer House with Rev. Takuzi Chitsulo. So I am now officially part of the presbytery. I will only be able to be at the prayer house three times during this year, but at least I have a “home” for my time here. Then there was prayer for the moderator and the presbytery clerk, who are leaving May 3rd for Scotland to work on a partnership agreement with a presbytery there. After the appropriate formalities for farewell, the meeting was adjourned. People hurried off before rain and the dark.

I found that I had 10 people standing at my truck, hopeful for a ride, to save time and money. We packed in and headed out and had a lively discussion in the cab of the truck about the day’s proceedings. This is just what happens on the way home from Presbytery in Pittsburgh, too. The difference is that I don’t have another six people in the back of the truck having their own discussion. But this is Malawi.

Silas and his congregations are to be congratulated for a great job of feeding and caring for the presbytery. This was a first for them and they did a wonderful job. Now they won’t have the opportunity for another 10 or 12 years, since the group only meets annually. That is a difference. But in the end, whether once a year or eight times a year, Presbytery is Presbytery with its strengths and weakness, but an important part of the representative government structure that is Presbyterian – different but the same.