"I don’t take the triumphant view that the church is doing better in
Africa." Those blunt words came from Canon Clement Janda, general secretary of the
All Africa Conference of Churches, when asked what he thinks God is telling the world
through Africa today.
"Missiologists sing about the church growing in Africa," says Canon Janda, an
Anglican from the Sudan who has lived in Zambia, and now Kenya, these past six years.
"I am raising critical questions regarding growth.
"I spoke at three theological college graduations in recent months, and asked the
question, ‘If the church is growing in Africa, is it the numbers we are talking
about? Is growth to be celebrated when there’s no depth to it?’"
Canon Janda said he asked the graduates, "Why is it in a country like Rwanda where 70
per cent or more of the people claim to be Christian, they can’t see in each other
the face of the Christ but only an ethnicity?
"Where is the depth of the church? Why is it in Kenya that land becomes a bigger
thing to value than the essence of human life itself and someone can take a machete and
chop off someone’s head to take land?"
The AACC head didn’t stop there, but went on to offer his vision. "The church
should be prepared to be the new tribe," he said.
"A lot of us find our identity in – or even hide behind – the tribe. A
church can be the new tribe. All these ethnic feuds, conflicts we have which easily turn
bloody could be eliminated.
"Christian life is about relationships, about the quality of life," he
concluded. "Christian life and faith need to be deepened. It’s not just song and
dance."
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