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AIFRICA TASK FORCE REPORT World Division, Board of Global Ministries The United Methodist Church 1978 ll..FRICA TAS.t\ FORCE W:Jrld Division, Beard of Global Ministries llie United t-1ethcdist OlUrc."'l REPORl' ll..ND ~TICNS SEPTEMBER 1978 CONFIDENTIAL - NOT FOR QUorATICN OR CITATICN EGYPT CAP£ VERDE IS. .... Khartoum• TME... GAMBIA SUDAN Banjul ;) SlYCHEI.LES IS. •! ~. :: ;.. ~ ... COMOROIS.- PREFACE 'Ihe Africa Task Force was initiated by the World Division of the Board of Global Ministries at its October, 1976 rreeting and mandated to rep::>rt to the World Division in Octcber, 1978. What follcws is the re­ Sp::>nse of the Task Force to that mandate. In one sense this Report represents ·the end of -a process! ':the Task Force brought together representatives fran the World Division, fran other Divisions of the Board, fran African churches, all named by those bodies, plus missionaries, ecum::mi.cal representatives and at large members fran the United Methodist Church. It rret twice as a full body, once in the United States and once in Africa. Menbers studied a whole series of docu­ ments, analyzing the emerging African reality and wrote prel.iminacy papers on major issues. At Linruru, Kenya in March 1978, it adopted its recorrm:m­ dations on policies and prcgrams. The full Report has been adopted by mail and is new submitted to the lvorld Division. With that action the Task · Force o:::mes to an end. But in a nore in"portant sense, this Rep::>rt is only one srr.all elerrent in the ongoing process of finding a creative and faithful respon~ to the mandate of Jesus Olrist to carry out His mission in the world. It contains background infonnation and analysis al:out the African context that will be tested, adopted, and perhaps, if it holds up, used by those who ca..~ out the mission in Africa. 'Ihe Rep::>rt contains recc:mnendations. These go to the World Division for its cor.sideration, amendm:nt, and where the Division deans appropriate, action. As adopted by t[l..e Division, some recamendations will then go on to the Board as a whole, to ether Divisions, to other Boards, to African Conferences and churches or to the General Conference. Each of these diverse and creative bodies will place their starrp upon the reo:mnen­ dations before they beccme actua.l p::>licies or programs. Thus, this Rep::>rt is only one rrament in a continuing process. Within all this study and writing, this debate and decision we . believe that the Spirit of the loving and liberating God is at work, enlightening, correcting, ernpcwering, transfonning, so that what we do ca11 be caught up in God's enduring struggle for human rederrption. It is in this confidence, both in God and in God •s people, that the Task Force submits this report to the World Division for its action. CONTENTS PREFACE Page I. INTRODUCTION The Africa Task Force· - Its History and I-!a.ndate • 1 The :African Context -- I·1ajor Issues . 4 II. CHURCH GRQ\·,'TR . 9 (Recommendations) . 16 III. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPHENT • . 21 (Recommendations) . 27 IV. CHURCH TO CHURCH RELATIONSHIPS . 30 (Recommendations) . 34 v. SUPPORT PATTERNS 38 (Recommendations) • . 41 VI. CHURCR~STATE RELATIONS AND DEVELOP!>!ENT 43 (Recommendations) . 47 VII. CONCLUSION . 49 VIII. APPENDICES . ~ . 52 A. The Confession of Alexandria, A.A.C.C,, 1976 B. Africa U}IC Consultation (Salisbury, 1974): Resolutions C. Africa Task Force: I>!embership and \fork D. U.M.C.O.R. Projects in J1rica E. Africa Task Force: Country ReiJorts 1. Algeria 2~ · · Angola 3. Botswana 4. Ghana 5. Kenya 6. Liberia 7. Mozambique 8. Niger 9. Nigeria 10. Sierra Leone 11. South Africa 12. Tunisia 13. Zaire 14. Zambia 15. Zimbabwe (IL~odesia) I. INTRODUCTION THE AFRICA TASK FORCE - ITS HISTORY .AlrD MANDATE New ventures seldom spring out of old institutions without precedents that prepare the way. vfuen the Africa Task Force was established by the \Vorld Division of the Board of Global !Unis tries in October 1 976, three important forerunners had already been at work. First, in 1971 an African Affairs Office was created in the World Division. It came out of the initiative of the Black Staff Task Force to create w~thin the World Division an office that would deal with the mis­ sion of the Church in the broadest possible dimension. It was to take into consideration, for example, the significant religious, social, political, and economic forces that are having an important impact on Christian Mis­ sion. Another function of .the office was to integrate the interests and sensitivities of the Black Community in the United States into the total effort of the Church's mission in Africa, including relationships to the African churches. This was to be an office which clearly was to direct its energies to policy direction of the Division more than routine administra­ tion. The first major effort of the office was the Salisbury Consultation. Second, within the Division, a Latin America Task Force had presented a creative report that alerted the Division to the implications for mis­ sion strategy of the liberation struggles in Latin America. Third, in Africa a major consultation had been held bet1-reen representa­ tives of the African churches related to The Ulti ted !1ethodist Church. This 1974 Salisbury Con$ultation was the first opportunity for the African chur­ ches to speak out of their experience as one voice to the Board. Its in­ sights and findings, supplemented by-.reports of some consultations held in individual countries, provided fertile ground for the Africa Task Force as it began its work and as it shaped its recommendations. As established by the World Division, the Africa Task Force was broadly representative. Its 33 members include directors and staff of the 1vorld, National, Women's, Health and Welfare, Education and Cultivation, and ill1COR Divisions, representatives of the United Methodist conferences in Africa - 2- I (chosen by those conferences), missionaries, and at-large members from The United Methodist Church and ecumenical agencies. But such organizational I representation only begins to tell the story of the rich variety of gifts represented by black and white Americans, women and men, Africans from east I and west, north and south of that massive continent, ministers, bishops and laypersons, many with extensive experience in Africa. I The task assigned to this diverse group by the World Division was: I "to study the relationship of events in changing Africa today to missio~ and to the life and work of the church; I to impact the policies of the World Division c£ the BOGM relating to Africa; I -to examine seriously the broad context (social, political, cultural, and religious) in which the mission of the Church in Africa is to unfold." I The Task Force was mandated to report to the World Division in October 1978. I ~Atlantic Ci~r Meeting. The first meeting of the whole Africa Task Force >'las convened in Atlantic City, New Jersey, May t-5, 1 977, ilnmedia tely J following the Spring meeting of the Board. As it shaped its work, two things became clear. First, to be realistic and credible, the Task Force needed J direct contact ~~th the African context. Therefore, it determined to hold its second meeting in Africa with as much shared experience in Africa by Task Force members as possible before that meeting. Second, the Task Force would 1 not just present findings about the changing social, political, economic, and ] religious context for mission in Africa. It would translate those emerging realities into clear recommendations for policy and program in The United Methodist Church, directed first to the World Division, but designed to chal­ lenge the consciousness and commitment of the whole United Methodist Church. The bulk of this first meeting 'i'Tas given to identifying the major issues confronting the Church in Africa, based on reports of African members of the Task Force, a rich variety of background papers gathered by the staff, and presentations by Africa specialists. Thirteen major issue areas emerged. Simply to list them indicates the scope and complexity of the task: Africanization Church-to-church Relationships Economic Development - 3- ~/ Evangelism Leadership Development Liberation and Human Rights I~inistry Other Religious Groups Personnel Refugees-Political Exiles-Io!igrant Labor Social Services Support Patterns rlomen / In the months following the Atlantic City meeting, members of the Task Force prepared papers exploring each of these areas, indicating some of their implications for United :r.rethodist policy. ~ Limuru Heeting. The .Africa meeting of the Task Force came in two stages. In the first stage, five teams visited a total of 14 countries in which The United Methodist Church supports work through several divisions of the Board. (Reports of these groups are found in Appendix D.) In each of these countries, local church leaders set up encounters with key leaders and local groups in Christian communities, including Methodists and a wide variety of others, with government officials, with creative leaders in edu­ cation, health care, and economic development, with students, lrith local pastors and lay people, with liberation movements, and with persons from other faiths. The second stage came at Limuru, Kenya, from February 26 - March 3, 1978. There the Task Force processed its insights from specific countries, integrated those with its study of the issues, and developed and adopted a series of specific policy and program recommendations for the Church's future work in .Africa. These are found at the end of each of the five major sections. The draft report which placed these recommendations in interpretive context was prepared by several members of the Task Force, both .Africans and Americans, directors and staff, under the supervision of the Executive Committee.

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