As she completes her four-year term as CWM Moderator, Rt Rev. Lydia Neshangwe took time to reflect on joy of gathering for the Assembly, especially in Africa, as well as the highlights of her tenure and hopes for CWM’s future.
After eight years of not being able to convene as one body due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Neshangwe sees the CWM Assembly as a family reunion during which we greet loved ones with joy. “But also, as you have at family reunions, there are also new faces and new members of the family,” she said.
“It’s exciting to be here in Africa,” added Neshangwe, who also serves as the Moderator of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA).
While some people talk about AI as artificial intelligence, Neshangwe reflects it could stand for African intelligence. “What is the advantage of having the assembly in Africa?” she asks. “Africa is highly spiritual. Africa is highly relational. Africa is colorful. But also Africa is about resilience. Some of the difficulties we are dealing with in Africa are happening within the Council for World Mission right now.”
Among the highlights of her tenure has been the launch of The Onesimus Project, which seeks to address the roots of racialised inequalities and injustices within the CWM family of church and the wider world.
“The Onesimus Project is really a blessing from God,” said Neshangwe, who added that the project is cutting-edge because it’s so inclusive. “It is dealing with the legacies of slavery and its impact but also with modern day slavery,” she said. “It also has a third aspect which is transformative ecumenism, and then, finally, education for empowerment, so we are not just talking—we are educating and empowering people to handle the slavery they find themselves in.”
Anticipating assembly stories
Why is the storytelling aspect of the CWM Assembly so powerful? “The moment we begin to share our stories, fellowship happens—and that is one of the chief reasons why we come to Assembly,” said Neshangwe. “The second thing is, enrichment happens. Thirdly and importantly, when we share our stories, discernment happens.”
She has many stories to share from her four years as moderator, a time she regards as an adventure. “It’s been an adventure with God, an adventure with the organisation, and an adventure with the people,” she said. “My parting message is, whenever we work together, whenever we cooperate, we make progress. Whenever we follow the will towards divisiveness, in actual fact, we decline. We also decline not just in numbers but qualitatively as well. We are stronger when we are together.”
She treasures the opportunities she has had to interact with such a diverse group of people and churches.
“The challenge, always, is to try to unify people,” she said. “Now, we are talking, here, 32 member churches, each of them with a different history.”
For the new Moderator who will be elected during the Assembly, Neshangwe has some advice to share: “It’s a joyful job. It’s a spiritual job. We are a spiritually-driven organization,” she said. “Rely on the Holy Spirt. The one thing we can’t do without, is the leading of the Holy Spirit.”
