Book Launch: The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian 1924-2024: A Centenary Assessment

This book was officially launched during the CCAP’s Centenary Celebrations in August in Lilongwe. During this SMP event, we will hear from the editors Dr Mwawi N. Chilongozi and Prof Kenneth Ross about the celebration and the significance of this book. The book is a scholarly work which is both critical and celebratory. The book does not shy from highlighting colonialist and racist attitudes that crept into Scottish thinking early last century, whilst also celebrating much that has been good and enduring about the interaction, with partnerships at local and national levels remaining active today.

Writing in the book’s Foreword, President Chakwera says: “My development as a theologian has its roots in the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), which was the first church to make an investment in my theological education…Even now, as I serve Malawians as their 6th President, I see how closely integrated the history of the CCAP is with the story of Malawi.”

The Malawi print edition is now available at Kachere Bookshop in Zomba and other outlets.

An open source edition of the text is now available to download free of charge: here.

The book is also available on a print-on-demand basis from the African Books Collective in Oxford. More info here.

Dr Mwawi Chilongozi is the Secretary General at CCAP General Assembly and holds a PhD in Practical Theology from Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Her research focuses on how the Church can promote socioeconomic empowerment through microfinance, especially among rural women, in order to alleviate poverty and strengthen social networks. 

Prof Kenneth Ross was much involved in the inception of the Scotland Malawi Partnership and serviced as its chair for several years. He is a Professor of Theology and Dean of Postgraduate Studies at Zomba Theological College in Malawi. A Theological Educator (Africa) with the Church of Scotland, he also serves as Visiting Professor at the University of Livingstonia, University of Nkhoma, and University of Blantyre Synod in Malawi, Nile Theological College in South Sudan and the Theology Department, Evangelical Church of Christ in Mozambique.