From UMCA to the Anglican Church in Malawi : attempts to transform the mission into the church in Malawi 1860-2001

Abstract

The article traces the transformation of the Universities
 Mission to Central Africa (UMCA) from 1885 into the
 modern Anglican Church in Malawi. The article shows that
 sociopolitical factors as they developed in Malawi, rather
 than the individual efforts of the missionaries, were the
 principal forces that influenced the changes. In the
 aftermath of the First World War, an attitude of mistrust
 between the Africans and the Europeans was manifested
 in the church in Cathrew Fisher's reluctance to ordain
 African priests for the next fifteen years. In the context of
 change ushered in by the Second World War, from 1936
 Thorne began to initiate some changes, encouraging
 African responsibility and African leadership. Overtaken by
 political developments of the Federation of Rhodesias and
 Nyasaland, Thorne resigned in 1961. In post-independent
 Malawi (1964-1980), Donald Arden sought to transform
 the UMCA structure, image and ethos. In the spirit of
 nationalism and Africanism, Arden accelerated the
 process of Africanisation in the church. During this period
 the diocese of Malawi split into four others, Lake Malawi
 and Southern Malawi in 1971, Northern Malawi in 1995
 and Upper Shire in 2005.

Research Institute for Theology and Religion