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On the eve of the WCC Harare Assembly the five of us who had come to represent interchurch families all spoke at a Catholic church near the university, at a meeting arranged by a friend of ours, Fr Pat Kinna, the parish priest. Our other two presentations were held in the course of the Assembly. We also set up an exhibition and information stand, to which many visitors came.
Two of them were Zimbabweans: Mrs Chifamba, a secretary in the Sociology Department of the University of Zimbabwe, and Champion Chisaka, who works for Mambo Press, a Catholic organisation. They were both excited by what they learned about interchurch families; it was a new idea to them both that it might be possible to hold together two church traditions in one family, and they were keen to start something in Zimbabwe. Champion had done a good deal of education work through women’s groups. "Women are not the property of men!" he said. Champion begged us to give him an AIF shirt. Resplendent in Les’s red shirt and armed with some AIF literature and overwhelming enthusiasm, he went off to do his own thing. He was very keen to spread the news countrywide by means of women’s groups. Perhaps he knows the way to do it in Africa!
Mrs Chifamba was more conventional. She was brought up a Roman Catholic but, when she got married, in accordance with African custom, she had to take on the denomination of her husband. She obviously misses being able to worship in the way in which she was brought up and saw an opportunity for African wives in interchurch families. She was filled with enthusiasm and was determined to start a group in Zimbabwe, if at all possible. Mr Chifamba is an Anglican. He was overseas at the time of the Assembly, but gave his support on the phone. Her father-in-law has also supported her. Without their backing she would be able to do nothing.
Arranging a meeting
We were staying on for a short while after the Assembly ended, so following it we agreed to go and speak at two Anglican churches, one near Mrs Chifamba’s home and one at Chitungwisa, a town adjoining Harare. Naturally Mrs Chifamba had to obtain permission from the Anglican priests in both churches, but she knew them well and was convinced that they would both welcome us. However, it was not going to be that easy. The Anglican priests (both Shonas) were very hesitant. The request, they said, would have to work its way up through all the channels from the parish council to ‘higher authorities’ before they could consider letting us come to talk to anyone. What the ‘higher authorities’ said, if anything, we do not know, but we suspect the whole thing was more to do with their perception of the possible undermining of African culture and male dominance than anything else. We never received an invitation despite the many efforts made by Mrs Chifamba.
Undaunted, she arranged for us to meet, in town after work, a group of couples from her church. Just trying to make practical arrangements was a nightmare. The telephone system was chaotic. Mrs Chifamba said we would never get through to her at the university. She was right: we never were able to. She was not on the phone at home and the public phones were also not an option. To find out what was happening and what arrangements we could make, we always had to borrow a car and drive up to the university, seek out our friend wherever she was on the campus, and try to find out how plans were progressing. Once we even had to persuade our brother-in-law to drive us out to Mrs Chifamba’s home on the outskirts of town to deliver a message.
Who would conduct the funerals of the children?
The day came and ten of us, eight Zimbabweans and ourselves, met in a large hotel in town. What a delightful group of people they were! They themselves were mostly Anglicans, but were enlightened to the needs of wives who may not be happy at giving up their own familiar denomination. (How ashamed we felt that our culture had brought divided Christianity to Africa.) Despite their disadvantages, the women of Africa are a great force and generally very capable. One woman suggested that we should open with a prayer, which we did (and ended with the Grace), much to the astonishment of the waiters and the other hotel guests. To our astonishment, after the introductions, the members of the group all whipped out notebooks and pens and asked us what the ‘aims and objectives’ of interchurch families were and how many times a year they should have meetings. We tried to suggest that it was not quite like that, and perhaps they could start with finding out how many interchurch couples there were in their congregations and what they felt their needs were. The whole concept was obviously appealing but foreign to them. "We shall need a lot of help," they said.
From the experience of AIF in England, we felt it was essential that any potential group had some support from the clergy. We approached several of the people we knew, but while welcoming the idea most of them said they were fully stretched and could not take on anything else. AIDS is causing such havoc in Zimbabwe that the clergy are very hard-pressed, with numerous deaths and funerals every week, families to support, orphans, sick people with HIV, and so on. One of the questions concerning the children of interchurch couples was: "Who would conduct the funerals of the children if they were brought up in two churches?". Two of the clergy felt they could offer very limited support.
Encouragingly, the group we met was clear that inter-denominational families did have needs, but they were less clear about how a group should operate. They wanted time to study the packs and literature before deciding whether it would be possible for them to go any further. Mrs Chifamba agreed to be the co-ordinator in the short term, but she felt that, once the university opened again with a double intake of students, she would not be able to cope with anything extra. (The students were sent home last year because of student riots and protests.) There is the potential for an interchurch families group starting in Zimbabwe, but it will not be easy as they face difficulties more complex than our own.
Elaine and Les Leach
7.2.7
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Published by the Association of Interchurch Families, England
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