The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI), Right Rev Dr Trevor Gribben, has been given the honour of preaching at the Mzuzu football stadium in northern Malawi today on the opening of a weekend of celebrations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Livingstonia Mission in the Central African country. During the course of the weekend, Dr Gribben will meet the President of Malawi, Dr Lazarus Chakwera, who is the guest of honour at tomorrow’s main celebration.
The Moderator receiving a garland of flowers on his arrival at Lilongwe, the Malawian capital, on Thursday
The establishment of the original mission in Livingstonia, by Scottish Presbyterians north of Mzuzu in 1875, led to the founding of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), one of PCI’s global mission partners. Made up of five synods, three of which are in Malawi, the remaining two in Zambia and Zimbabwe, the celebrations are being held by the Synod of Livingstonia, whose General Secretary, Rev William Tembo, attended and spoke at PCI’s General Assembly in June.
Accompanied by Rev David McCullagh, minister of Annalong Presbyterian Church and Convener of PCI’s Global Mission Partnership Panel, the two Irish Presbyterians arrived in the capital Lilongwe on Thursday. Having received the warmest of welcomes from the Presbytery Moderator, Deputy Presbytery Clerk and the minister of the Lilongwe congregation members of the Women’s Guild - The Umanyano – sang joyful songs of welcome.
Malawi Celebrations 2025
Speaking from Mzuzu, 220 miles north of the capital Lilongwe, Dr Gribben said,
Having arrived in Malawi David and I received the most wonderful of welcomes. While the visit has been planned for a while, I only found out recently that the Synod of Livingstonia had decided to do our church, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the great honour of inviting me as Moderator to preach at the opening of the celebration.
That is a real privilege and on behalf of PCI, I am very thankful for the opportunity to share God’s word with so many brothers and sisters in Christ at this special time for the Synod and the CCAP.
“The theme of the celebration ‘Tell the people to move forward’ is taken from the Book of Exodus, and the Moderator of the Synod will preach on this tomorrow. I will be preaching on a wonderful passage in the Book of Joshua about moving forward with the Lord in the journey of faith as we travel together with our brothers and sisters in the Synod of Livingstonia.
Around three quarters of the country’s 22 million people claim membership of a Christian church. PCI’s relationship with Church of Central Africa Presbyterian, which is Malawi’s largest reformed denomination, began in the mid-1950s. In 1958 Rev Bill Jackson became PCI’s first missionary to go to Malawi and since then more than 90 men and women from PCI have followed in his footsteps.
Malawi celebrations 2025
Dr Gribben continued,
Announcing their celebrations earlier this month, the Synod of Livingstonia said, ‘Since 1875, the Synod has grown from a few mission outposts to a powerful spiritual and developmental force, impacting over a million members in Malawi, South Africa, and Zimbabwe…’ For nearly 70 years, PCI has played its part in partnering in that work, and continues to this day through our current day Global Mission Workers, Volker and Jin Hyeog Glissmann.
Based in Blantyre in the south of the country, Volker is working in theological education by extension covering Central and Southern Africa. I am looking forward to being with them later on in my visit, and meeting some of our former missionaries who have been invited to the celebrations.
Members of the Women’s Guild - The Umanyano sing a song of welcome on the arrival of the two Irish Presbyterians.
Speaking about their trip, Mr McCullagh, who served with Scripture Union in Malawi from 2013 to 2018, said that partnerships were an important part of local and corporate church life.
The welcome we received was unexpected but so typical of the Malawian people. The Moderator and I were also presented with carved wooden walking sticks in a symbolic act of recognition of the many missionaries who have served the church. The senior members of society are call ‘Agogo’, grandfather/mother, and the missionaries are viewed in this respectful way,” he said.
In recent years many individuals and teams from PCI congregations have made short mission trips to Malawi. These celebrations will also afford the opportunity for the Moderator to deepen our ties with the country and Church of Central Africa Presbyterian in particular.
While we are here for a relatively short while, the Moderator will be meeting with the leadership team of the Synod of Livingstonia and visit a number of Synod projects, including its health department. He will also meet with the leaders of CCAP’s other synods and General Assembly officials. Visits to partner agencies supported by PCI, including, Scripture Union Malawi, Bible Society of Malawi and the Student Christian Organisation of Malawi are also on the agenda.
Dr Gribben concluded by saying,
It is great to be back in Malawi, especially in the northern part of the country where I have not been before. When I was minister of Whiteabbey Presbyterian we established a three-way partnership with Mulanje Mission Station in Blantyre Synod in the south of the country, and our congregation in Dún Laoghaire, to support each other in our work to share the love of God.
Our Church and CCAP have a tremendous heart for mission and it is appropriate that we look back at what has been, celebrating and giving thanks to God for the missional contribution down the decades, as the Synod is doing. It is also a time to look forward, a time of strengthening our relationship with the church in Malawi, and the ministry and mission we share in the Lord, standing together in prayerful solidarity, as we bring hope and a future in Jesus.
Moderator, Overseas Visit, Global Mission, Partner Churches & Organisations, Commemorations
Thousands of people in Malawi’s northern city of Mzuzu attended the special celebrations over the weekend to mark the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the origin…
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