CHURCHES OF NAMIBIA Even though giving complete details on the major churches of Namibia in a brief fashion is difficult, to make the attempt is important. The churches in Namibia are really the only social institutions with an infrastructure that can begin to respond to current needs of service and conununication. Four are listed here in order of size. The black Lutheran churches claim more than half of all Namibians as members. EVANGELICAL UITHERAN OVAMBOKAVANGO CHURCH (ELOC) Headquarters: Oniipa. Telephone: Ondangwa 41. Telex: 9643257 WK. Address: Private Bag 2018, Ondangwa 9000, Namibia. Membership (as of December 31, 1983): 325,319 in 60 parishes with more than 110 pastors and 220 evangelists and deacons. Bishop: The Right Rev. Kleopas DlUIleni, who in January 1979 succeeded the first bishop, the late Leonard Auala. Institutions: • BLOC Press, which publishes Bibles, hymnals, educational materials and a newspaper called Omukwetu (Friend or Relative). • PaulinlUll United Theological Seminary, which is an institution of ELOC and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South-West Africa/Namibia. • Engela Parish Institute, which trains deacons and evangelists,_ the blind, deaf and handicapped. • Kavango Bible School, which emphasizes biblical studies and languages. • Oshigambo High School, a secondary school in northern Namibia--and the first there. • Sixty elementary schools. • Lutheran Medical Mission, which is made up of 12 hospitals and 21 clinics, employs four doctors and has a 600-member nursing staff. One of the hospitals, Onanjokwe, trains nurses and midwives. • Ongwediva Youth and Conference Center, which specializes in musical education. Mission work: Carried on in Angola since 1963 and in Senegal since 1976. The Evangelical Lutheran Ovambokavango Church resulted from the work of the Finnish Mission Society, whose missionaries arrived in 1870. The first baptism took place in 1883. ELOC emerged from its "mission status" to an independent church in 1954. d EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHUR01 IN SOUlH-WEST AFRICA/NAMIBIA (ELC) Headquarters: Windhoek. Telephone: 264-61-24533. Telex: 9643107. Address: Box 5069, Windhoek 9000, Namibia. Membership (as of December 31, 1983): 193,000 in 45 parishes with about 300 persons on the staffs of all parishes and institutions. President: The Rev. Hendrick Frederik. Institutions: • Printing press at Karibib, which publishes church literature of various kinds and a monthly paper, Immanuel, in three languages. • Twenty kindergartens. • Twenty elementary-level boarding schools. • Martin Luther High School at Okombahe, which has approximately 180 secondary school students of all language groups and is the most prestigious high school in Namibia. • Paulinum United Theological Seminary at Otjimbingwe, a joint ELC-ELOC institution. • Heinz-Stover Seminary at Karibib, which is for women teachers. • George-Kronlein Centre at Berseba, which gives training in evangelism and for Sunday school workers. • Offices at Okahandja to administer women's and youth work. The ELC was constituted in 1957, came under the indigenous leadership of a council in 1968 and elected its first president, Lukas de Vries, in 1972. The church came about through the work of the Rheinish Mission Society, succeeded by the United Evangelical Mission based in Wuppertal, Federal Republic of Germany. j', The Evangelical Lutheran Ovambokavango Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South-West Africa/Namibia are both members of the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN), the All Africa Conference of Churches (MCC) , the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in South-West Africa (UELCSWA) and the Federation of Lutheran Churches in Southern Africa (FELCSA). The German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia, which has 15,000 members, belongs to all of the above. THE ANGLICAN CHURCH--DIOCESE OF NAMIBIA Headquarters: Windhoek. Telephone: 264-3-8920. Address: Box 57, Windhoek 9100, Namibia. Membership: 60,000, an integrated membership including about 1,000 whites in 20 parishes, 14 of them in the North, served by 30 priests and many catechists and evangelists. Bishop: The Right Rev. James Kauluma. Institutions: Two high schools. A diocese of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, which includes Swaziland, Mozambique and Lesotho, this church started as a chaplaincy to the white English-speaking population of Namibia. In the 1920s "mission work" began in the North, mostly in Ovamboland. The center of the work is in Odibo, where a church school, seminary and hospital are located. These are now closed because of a bomb explosion in 1981 explained by the government as "the work of unknown arsonists," although everyone in the North believes that the bombings of the Anglican facilities and the ELOC church press in 1973 and again in 1980 are not unrelated. Only the church in the compound continues to function and only on Sunday. The Anglican Church, which is a member of the Council of Churches in Namibia, has suffered under the administration of the South African government which deported a number of its leaders: Bishop Robert H. Mize in 1968, Bishop Colin Winter in 1972, Suffragan Bishop Richard Wood in 1975, Administrator David de Beer in 1976 and Vicar General Edward Morrow in 1978. THE ROMAN CATIIOLIC QIURCH IN NAMIBIA The Roman Catholic Church in Namibia is composed of a larger vicariate, Windhoek, whose territory is largely north of the capital city, and a smaller vicariate, Keetmanshoop, whose territory is roughly south of the capital. They are listed here in that order followed by a grouping of their personnel and institutions. VICARIATE OF WINDHOEK Headquarters: Windhoek. The Windhoek vicariate was Telephone: 264-61-27595 or -42835. formed from a prefecture of Address: Box 272, Windhoek 9000, Namibia. Portuguese Angola. Missionaries Membershi : 155,130. began their work in 1896. Bishop: rhe Right Rev. Bonifatius Haushiku is the first Haushiku. indigeneous bishop, consecrated Pro-Vicar and Secretary: on January 27, 1979. The Very Rev. H. Henning. VICARIATE OF KEETMANSHOOP Headquarters: Rehoboth. The territory which comprises Telephone: Rehoboth 41. the Keetmanshoop vicariate Address: Box 3011, Rehoboth 9000, Namibia. received its first missionary in Membershi : 25,234. 1898. Bishop: rhe Right Rev. Edward J. Schlotterback. Vicar-Delegate and Pro-Vicar: The Very Rev. Casper M. Janssen. COMB INED WORK The Roman Catholic Church in Namibia, which is a member of the Council of Churches in Namibia, serves 49 stations with 65 priests, 15 deacons, 29 brothers and more than 200 full- and part-time catechists. Twenty-one teaching brothers and 277 sisters serve the people. Altogether in the schools, hospitals and clinics are 541 teachers, five doctors and 584 nurses and helpers. The church has prison and hospital chaplains and about 50 convents. Institutions: •A press at Doebra, publisher of advanced schools and a pastoral center. church literature and papers in • Forty-six primary- and secondary­ several languages• school hostels. • Fourteen kindergartens, 35 primary • Thirteen hospitals and five clinics. schools, 15 secondary schools, four • An agricultural project in the Kavango. TIIE OOUNCIL OF CHURCHFS IN NAMIBIA The Council of Churches in Namibia was organized in 1977 as a successor to the Christian Centre, which had a more limited program. The council's membership, which represents about 90 percent of Namibia's population of 1 million, consists of: • African ~1ethodist Episcopal Church. • Anglican Church--Diocese of Namibia. • Congregational Church. • Evangelical Lutheran Church of South-West Africa/Namibia. • Evangelical Lutheran Ovambokavango Church. • Evangelical Reformed Church of South-West Africa. • German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. • Methodist Church. • Roman Catholic Church in Namibia. Office: Box 57, Windhoek 9100, Namibia. Telephone: 264-61-37510. President: The Right Rev. James Kauluma. General Secretary: The Rev. Abisai Shejavali. Detartments: .ommunication. • Education. • Rural development. • Theology and youth. • Social and diaconic program. • Administration and finance. The Council of Churches in Namibia issues many sociopolitical statements based on a theological consensus. It has consistently called for a cease-fire and the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435 as the will of the people of Namibia. The South African Council of Churches is located at Khotso House, 42 de Villiers Street, Johannesburg 2001, or Box 4921, Johannesburg 2000, Republic of South Africa. The telephone is 11-28-2251..