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.