2014 graduates of Zomba Theological College as candidates for ordination in the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, happy recipients of books provided through the PCC’s “New Ministers’ Library” fund.
“A pastor needs to read,” said one of my students recently. “But we don’t have anything to read.”
Students from CCAP Synod of Livingstonia in northern Malawi
True enough. When students in the past left Zomba Theological College after their studies to take up congregations in the various synods of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian [CCAP], they left campus with little in hand except the what they had learned in the classroom. No Bible dictionary or theology books to deepen their teaching and preaching, no resources to sharpen sermons or improve pastoral counselling. And with most taking congregations in rural Malawi, where electricity lines don’t run, computer programs and internet weren’t even in question. Once I asked a few students out of curiousity how much money they’ll earn in their first years in ministry. Their answers shocked me: around 50,000 kwacha per month on average, which is about $110 Canadian dollars. We can’t really blame them for using their kwacha to fill their families’ bellies rather than their bookshelves!
One of the most pressing needs in the rapidly-growing churches on the African continent is church leaders who combine thoughtful, faithful, and relevant preaching, with leadership integrity and compassionate shepherding. All this can be hard to do when pastors lack ministry resources to inspire, challenge, and guide them–if they can’t read, as my student put it bluntly.
Students from CCAP Synods of Blantyre and Livingstonia Synod in Malawi, as well CCAP Synod of Harare in Zimbabwe
That’s why it has been so wonderful for the past few years to take part of the PCC’s “New Minister’s Library” project. This project, which is administered by International Ministries, provides students graduating to ministry in the PCC’s partner churches in the majority world with a small, ‘start up’ library of high quality resource books. This year’s crop of CCAP graduates (21 in all) received a Bible dictionary, preaching and pastoral counselling handbooks, and textbooks on interpreting the Bible, theology and ethics from African perspective. Clement Macherero, one of the students from Nkhoma Synod in the central reigion of Malawi, expressed his gratitude to Canadian Presbyterians for funding the New Minister’s Library Fund: “I wouldn’t be able to ever afford these books,” he explained. Another graduating student, Mara Betenengo, is the first woman to study for ministry from her CCAP synod in Zimbabwe. She related to me how difficult it is for a woman in a male-dominated church and culture to be taken seriously as a pastor. “But I feel like these resources books will add weight to my preaching and teaching,” she said.
The New Minister’s Library provides ‘food for thought’ for pastors and churches hungry for resources to understand God’s word and his world. It can be supported through the PCC’s gifts of change catalogue.
For more information on the project contact Glynis Williams or respond to me through the blog post.
