CCAP General Assembly Moderator the Reverend Bizwick Nkhoma has asked people of goodwill to join hands in preserving the heritage of St. Michael and All Angels cathedral in Blantyre.
Speaking during the 135th anniversary celebration of the structure, he said the cathedral carries “immense historical, spiritual and national significance and must not be allowed to deteriorate beyond recovery”.
Missie Kananji Spiki (L) and Reverend Nkhoma cut
the anniversary cake. | Andrew Mtupanyama
Said Nkhoma: “I understand the church has not been in regular use for the past three or four years because of structural damage caused by successive cyclones particularly Cyclone Freddy. The effects upon the building have been severe enough to render normal worship gathering unsafe.
“This should concern not only the general assembly but every person of goodwill who values our ecclesiastical and national heritage.”
He said he was grateful to God that congregants have demonstrated commitment and determination to restore the sanctuary to full functionality.
“On behalf of the CCAP General Assembly, I appeal to all stakeholders, those within Malawi and those abroad to join hands in this enormous restoration effort whether through financial support, technical assistance or earnest prayer,” said Nkhoma.
He described St. Michael and All Angels as the mother church that needs to be preserved and celebrated.
“This is the place where the missionaries landed. This is the place where everything that you see including church growth started. You cannot talk about mission work, you cannot talk about education theological formation without connecting that to St. Michael and All Angels in Blantyre,” said Reverend Nkhoma.
CCAP Blantyre Synod general secretary the Reverend Anderson Juma described the celebration as an appetiser as the synod will this year be celebrating 150 years of existence.
Senior Chief Kapeni VII, whose great great-grandfather gave land to the Scottish missionaries in the 1850s, thanked the church leadership for recognising the traditional leaders in the celebration.
He asked the church to consider erecting a statue of Chief Kapeni I at the mission grounds in honour of the gesture that gave birth to Blantyre as an urban centre.
“We are the people that gave the land that has developed into what we call Blantyre City today. It’s sad to hear sentiments that traditional leaders, the same people that gave land for development of towns, should not be recognised in cities,” said the chief.
St. Michael and All Angels Cathedral was constructed between 1888 and 1891. The project was led by Scottish missionary Reverend David Clement Scott.
