Unpacking the history of the Blantyre Synod of Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) in Malawi

Abstract

The study explores the historical origin and developments that led to the establishment of the CCAP Blantyre Synod in Malawi from early 1876 to the present. History can be a certain type of memory that evokes liberative power, not mere knowledge of the past, but one that is of commitment. Mission history, with reference to the study of Christianity in Africa requires a new approach to mission historiography, “a more honest and more critical review of the theoretical and socio-theological assumptions out of which the African church as it is today, in its fragmented state, has been formed” (Maluleke, 1989:103). The aim of the study to investigate, scrutinize and chronologically analyse the history of the Blantyre Synod of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) in Malawi from the early years of its original establishment to the present state in the reformed church perspective.