News
The United Church of Zambia (UCZ) is keen to deepen its ties with the ecumenical family, says the church general secretary, Rev. Chrispin Mbalazi.
"There are many areas in which the UCZ can contribute to the worldwide ecumenical family, beyond the financial aspect," says Mbalazi, who has been appointed general secretary of the church five months ago. The UCZ has some three million members in one of the world's poorest countries.
The UCZ has belonged to the World Council of Churches (WCC) since its inception and is also a member of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC). Representatives of the church are members of the WCC central committee and the Commission on Faith and Order. Mbalazi visited Geneva for two days this week where he met with the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, WCC staff and the leadership of WARC.
Among the areas where the church is making a significant contribution from which the ecumenical family may benefit, Mbalazi mentions the fight against poverty, HIV and AIDS and corruption.
"The church is at the forefront of the fight against HIV and AIDS," says Mbalazi. From promoting home-based care programmes to providing free treatment facilities at hospitals, "the church is very much engaged," he says. HIV and AIDS is an issue around which religious communities gathered in a national inter-religious association get and work together, he said.
Poverty and corruption are high on the church agenda. Zambia's relatively small economy, which is centred on mining, is feeling the impact of shut downs and lay-offs. "We are asking the government to take protective measures for those affected by job losses but have not seen much of that so far," says Mbalazi. Similarly, he adds, "we are yet to see a direction in the fight against corruption".
After last year's devastating floods, the church became massively involved in training programmes for farmers on rural areas in the western part of the country.
"The problems are overwhelming, and the capacity of the church is so small, but still we try to do what we can," he says. Connecting more deeply to the ecumenical community will strengthen the witness of the church in Zambia, Mbalazi believes.