Page 67 - SoMJ Vol 74 - No 1, 2021

Book Review: A Malawi Church History 57

of the churches, tensions inherent in their control by expatriate missionaries and
the aspirations of an emergent Malawian church leadership, and the eventual
handover of control to the latter. The third period, from 1960-1990, covering the
era of Kamuzu Banda, centres around the attempts of the churches to establish
their place and identity in an independent nation, all the more problematic given
the despotic nature of its government. Their account of the final period, from
1990-2020, is concerned with the recent history and present situation of the
churches in Malawi, the part they have played and continue to play in meeting the
many challenges that society faces, and major spiritual influences on the churches
like the Charismatic movement and Pentecostalism.
Running through their account of each of the eras there are several
strands which help to bind the whole narrative together. Perhaps the most
pervasive is the huge influence that churches have had, and continue to have, on
the nation in terms of its education, health, development, culture and politics.
Another is a focus on African initiatives within the churches’ stories, not always
very easy to discern in the earlier periods when the vast bulk of the accounts were
written by European missionaries and from their own perspective. A third theme
is that of women’s roles, so long under-recognised, in the life and leadership of
the churches. A fourth strand in the book gives a place for each of the churches to
be explained not just in terms of social, political and economic factors but also in
terms of how they understand their role in, what they see as, God’s plan for
themselves and for the world. Throughout the book, the writers have employed
the Roman Catholic concept of charism, to explain the distinctive and essential
qualities that that have, through their history, characterised the different churches
in Malawi. These last two strands help not only to give the book a unity but also
make clear that it is written by authors with a theological orientation.
Though long, almost 500 pages, the book is still eminently readable. Part
of this is due to the way each chapter has been carefully crafted, often with a link
to ones that precede and follow, and part is due to the maps, illustrations and
panels with biographical information which do much to bring places and
personalities to life.
One notable feature of the book is the seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge the
authors display of available published material. Very welcome is the attention
their book gives to the smaller churches, as well as movements and ministries,
whose stories, though an important part of the whole picture, have often not been
fully told. While many of the sources that they use from the earlier periods are
reasonably well known, their own research, and that of others, about more modern
times bring fresh knowledge and insight to an understanding of the contemporary
religious landscape in Malawi.
While an overview of church history in Malawi cannot be fully
comprehensive, the issue of the relationship of the churches to Malawi’s other
religious traditions has perhaps been rather underplayed. There is a fascinating