Under this year’s theme “Seeking the Church
Transformed through Prudent Stewardship” the United Church of Zambia met with
international partners involved with UCZ Projects for a two-day Conference on
17 & 18 July at the Diakonia Centre in Kabwe. This was a follow-up to a previous
meeting held in July 2011 and was a mid-term review of the Strategic Plan as
part of the mutual commitment of walking together. It was an opportunity for
presentation dialogue feedback and reflection.
Participants included representatives from
the Geneva Church, Church of Scotland, United Reformed Church, US Board of
Trustees, World Renew, Gossner Mission and Council for World Mission.
Representing the UCZ were the Synod Executive and Heads of Departments and
Institutions with the Presbytery Bishops, also attending were representatives
from the Trustees, Strategic Plan Technical, Golden Jubilee, Synod Construction,
World Partnership and Fundraising Committees
After worship and a devotion led by Rev S
Silishebo, reminding us of our blessings and the meaning of Jubilee, the
meeting opened with a welcome by the Synod Bishop Rev M Mulumbwa followed by an
address by the General Secretary, Rev Dr Peggy Mulambya Kabonde, to the
delegates who were mixed and seated around 6 different tables.
The meeting was ably moderated by Ms Omega
Bula and the first plenary session opened with a panel presentation on the
Context for Mission. Rev Mary Mpingu spoke on the impact of poverty on rural
ministry and the Church’s response to poverty alleviation through Skill Centres
and Microfinance. Despite the challenges there were successes.
She was followed by Mrs Yeta who, from a
woman’s perspective, shared their vision for the Church. She noted that there
were no female Bishops at the moment in the UCZ and there was still an obvious
lack of female representation in other Church leadership positions. Foreign
ownership of land and the inability of women to be given land in their own
right was a matter of concern. Malnourishment, unsafe drinking water, HIV/AIDS,
gender-based violence, poor employment opportunities were all factors affecting
women that the Church could help with.
Friday Ngoma talked about the challenges
and opportunities for Youth and Young Adult Ministries. It is a confusing time
of generational culture clashes: ITC v writing or preaching v Facebook. In
the Church many youth are attracted to charismatic pentecostalism, - other
areas of concern for young people were HIV/AIDS, GBV, lack of educational
opportunities, early marriages, teen-pregnancies and chronic poverty. He
suggested a refocusing of resources to Youth Ministry to reconcile, mentor and
disciple the young so they too may be equipped and sent out.
At the end of each session there was a time to
question and reflect on what we heard and to consider what God was saying to
us.
After lunch we heard from Dr Alex Simwanza
and Mr Ngande Mwanajiti who highlighted the progress being made with the
implementation of the Strategic Plan.
The meeting was highly gratified to see
signs of greater financial stability through debt reduction and increased
income. The restructuring had also led to greater managerial and organizational
effectiveness. This would be further reinforced with the advent of missional
congregations. This should also lead to more meaningful participation and
greater accountability with better communication so that it was not just
top-down but also bottom-up so that the grassroots had the opportunity to
feedback. Better utilization of church land was another priority and advocating
for and speaking out on social justice issues.
After supper to end the first day we joined
with Music Ministry Kabwe for a time of praise and worship, from the Busokololo
Church Choir at All Saints Congregation. They have recently produced an
excellent DVD called Samaria.
On Friday morning we again started with
praise and prayer. The first session was a financial analysis of the Church
over the same period, highlighting salient features and was presented by Mr I Kangwa
Financial Secretary and Mr C Katongo the Internal Auditor. It explained the accounting
and budgetary control systems now in operation and undertook a financial performance
analysis looking at income and expenditure, assets and liabilities, ending with
investments and cash flow projections. This led to a discussion concerning
ethical investment and a recommendation that the UCZ only invest in
tax-compliant and socially-responsible companies.
The next stage discussed the Key Action
Points arising from the reports and presentations. The areas the meeting wished
to affirm and strengthen leading to an Action Improvement Plan for future
direction were:
*Development of
the missional congregation
*Advocacy –Local
and National
*Address social
injustices and their causes
*Ethical
investments
*Communication
Flow
*Improved Church
Statistics
*Training of
Clergy & Ministry Formation
*Youth Ministry
*Migrant and
Transhumance Ministry
*Improved Social
Services (Health & Education)
*Empowering
women, the poor and marginalized
* Church land
utilization – Title deeds
* Sustainability
of Misprol Projects
Wolfgang Pfeiffer then spoke on behalf of
the Gossner Mission explaining the history of their link with the UCZ and their
emphasis on Community Development and Social Justice and focusing on self-help
and agriculture to improve living standards and promote poverty alleviation
amongst the poor and vulnerable.
The final session linked this all to the
Golden Jubilee. It is proposed that there will be events starting on 15th January 2015 with Seminars and an exhibition
at the Mulunguishi Government Complex. On the 16th January there will be a Service at Mindolo
commemorating the 1965 Union Service and using the same Order of Service. The
climax to these events will be a national celebration at the Gabon Heroes
Stadium held on 18th January. International partners and their
representatives would be most welcome to part of this programme.
Our closing worship included Holy
Communion. It was a useful time together, learning in what practical ways the
UCZ is being transformed by prudent stewardship - a journey on which we are all
travelling and an on-going process.
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