New Province Called to Witness
Episcopal News Service. May 15, 1980 [80181]
Bukavu, Zaire -- In a football stadium packed with thousands of worshippers a new Anglican Province came into being with a call to "proclaim our faith" in Jesus Christ.
Archbishops Robert Runcie of Canterbury and Sylvanus Wani of Uganda joined the throng of largely French-speaking Christians in celebrating the rise to full provincial status of the Church in Burundi, Rwanda and Zaire May 11 in this city near the borders of all three countries.
The new province, which was formerly one with Uganda, was sanctioned by the 1978 Lambeth meeting of Anglican bishops and the 1979 Anglican Consultative Council. The vast area -- the old province nearly spanned Africa -- two languages and the growth in numbers mandated the change. The Episcopal Church's 1978-79 Church School Missionary Offering was designated by the Executive Council to help meet needs that arose in creation of the new province.
Bishop Bezaleri Ndahura of Bukavu was installed as archbishop and head of the new province, which will have its headquarters in Bukavu. The city in eastern Zaire is close to the borders of Burundi and Rwanda.
Speaking in French to the thousands of people assembled for the occasion, Archbishop Runcie said: "It is not part of our mission as Christians to tempt members of other Christian communions to join our own Anglican communion. It is always part of our mission to proclaim by word and deed our faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ. "
Insisting that "mission" would flow from a "healthy faith and belief of Jesus" and from trusting the power of the Holy Spirit, the Primate of the Church of England repeated: "We do not engage mission simply to build up the church and to increase its numbers."
The Anglican Church began in Uganda in 1877 with the work of the British Missionary Society. The spread into eastern Zaire (the former Belgian Congo) began in 1894. Extension into Rwanda and Burundi was begun after World War I.