By Bellah Zulu, ACNS

ACNS Africa Correspondent, Bellah Zulu, recently met with the Bishop of Southern Malawi, James Tengatenga and talked about his life as priest and bishop. 

James Tengatenga has been in ordained ministry for 28 years, 16 years of which he has been bishop. Earlier on in his ministry, he worked as a parish priest and training chaplain before moving on to teach at a seminary and the University of Malawi.

He is now in his final days as Bishop of Southern Malawi - he resigned earlier in the year after being offered a job in the United States - and will soon hand over the mantle to recently elected Bishop Alinafe Kalemba.

Q: How do you intend to spend your time as a ‘retired’ bishop? You must be used to the busy life of full-time ordained ministry?

A: I still have about 10 years before I reach the official retirement age. But the position I am in right now makes me a retired person in some way. I would like to do a lot of reading and writing on lessons I have learned over time as well as things I have observed and think the Church needs to engage with and know.

My hope is that I am not going to be retired. I also hope to find a teaching job because I think it’s important to be able teach and share your wisdom when you still have a lot of energy in you. I also need to reflect on a lot of things in my 28 years of ministry.

We don’t have a lot of theological writing in Central Africa and it’s my passion to see how I can engage with that and see what contributions I can make to the theological landscape and discourse of this region.

Q: What lessons have you learned being bishop of Southern Malawi for about 16 years?

A: Learning to trust people is hard but that’s one of the beauties of what I have experienced. People have taught me that it is possible to trust them to respond to the challenges we present them. I realised in humility that people will trust you and follow you when you lead them. With all your weaknesses and faults, people still trust you and are willing to support their bishop.

I also learned the joy of hosting diocesan guests and seeing the benefit of people experiencing the guests that come to the diocese as their guests. Additionally being a bishop, we get to accommodate guests in our houses, and it can take away from family time but over time, even my children learned the value of interacting with people from various backgrounds.

Q: How important is it to prepare the next generation of leaders? 

A: One of the greatest teachings of Paul in Scripture is that you are gifted not for your own sake but for the edification and growth of the body of Christ. Others ought to be groomed and helped so that their gifts can come to fruition.

You need to make sure that there is continuity in the Church. The Church should not be identified with a person. The value of teaching others comes from the knowledge that the Church is not mine but [it is] for God and his people.

Q: How can continuing education help clergy and the Church in Africa to grow?

A: It would be a hard task to be a minister of the faith if you don’t know what you are doing and why you are doing it. It’s imperative for all would-be priests, pastors and bishops to be people who know and understand their faith. If you don’t keep yourself abreast with current trends in theological thinking, you will be left behind and will always be responding to other people’s thinking and cannot be proactive.

In Central Africa, most of our reading is from western books. But we need to be able to explain faith in African languages and be able to help people deal with current issues that they may have.

Q: What is the value of effective communications in the African Church?

A: First and foremost, you want to make the faith known and heard in places where it would not normally be heard. Being a bishop removes you from the ordinary person and hence engaging through social media makes you known, heard and present to the young people who may be afraid to ask you a question in person.

You also get to know what people think and are talking about. It’s also a good chance to present the Gospel and the acts of the Holy Spirit in your life and Church. We believe in the Catholicity of the Church and presence in social media helps us reach out to everyone.

Q: How did you take the revocation of your appointment to an Ivy League institution in the United States earlier this year?

A: It was a painful experience and in many ways tested my faith and also my generosity of spirit. But I have learned in my life that God leads me in ways that I don’t expect. I have been in places that I never expected and in some cases never even wanted to go to.

When this came out, it was a blow and was indeed a test to my generosity. But if God didn’t want me there, he didn’t want me there. I will not reduce myself to hate because hate is not where I am. I am a minister of the gospel and not matter how you try to hide it, the truth will always come out.

Q: You chose to go ahead with your resignation as bishop even when you had the chance to rescind your decision. Why was it so?

The Church should not be personalised and I should not see myself as indispensible. When I was made bishop, I was called and felt obliged to accept the call to become bishop for as long as I believed God wanted me there. In the early days, and even now, I have said that I believe the optimum time for someone to serve as bishop should be 10 years, and beyond that I am not sure if it’s good for the Church. I think the absolute end should be 15 years. I also felt at peace to [honour the resignation] because anything else would have unsettled the Diocese.

Q: Finally what’s your word of advice to young Anglicans on the continent as regards asserting themselves and aspiring for higher positions within the Church?

A: All things are possible through the God who has called us. Patience! It takes time. I was young once. But it’s taken me 28 years of ministry and being willing to learn from all kinds of people: lay people, young people, old people and all those around us, and putting the things we learn to good use. Remember, there is nothing like wasted experience. A time will come when we will put our experiences to good use.

Young people should engage in conversations and not be afraid to make mistakes. All of us make mistakes and therefore mistakes should not embarrass people. Mistakes make us grow.

Remember that whatever God has put in front of you, do it well and to the best of your abilities. It doesn’t happen in one day but as long as you do it to the glory of God, it will come to pass.

As a young person, I was in a hurry to go help the people of God. But it took me about six years before I could be ordained despite having finished my first theological training within three years instead of the stipulated four.

I did a number other courses and jobs and this would later give me the platform and authority to speak. It’s about experience and learning to take the long road. Success comes through persistence and reading. Learn, learn and learn again.

ENDS