Western missionaries in Africa in former centuries often presented the gospel in western garb and were hostile towards indigenous cultures. Many African Christians broke away in reaction to institute their own churches, rooted in African traditions.

Reformed churches and these African instituted churches (AICs) often regarded each other with suspicion. The Reformed saw the AICs' indigenization of Christianity as "heathenization", and the AICs viewed Reformed churches in Africa as subject to western cultural captivity.

Times change, and churches change with them. Formal dialogue between the World Alliance and the Nairobi-based Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) began four years ago. Together the dialogue partners are seeking to identify the challenges facing Christian churches in Africa and to agree on concrete action.

For many in the African instituted churches, their indigenous church is "a place to feel at home". For many in the Alliance, the Reformed family is their "ancestral home". How can African Christians combine these two senses of belonging?

The third dialogue session was hosted by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa in Nairobi in February this year. Elijah Karimi reports.

The aim of the dialogue is to build up trust between African instituted and Reformed churches, improve theological education among their members, and utilize Africa's cultural richness in spreading the word of God. Throughout the session, there was advocacy for the use of culture as an integral tool in evangelism. Reformed participants were urged to respect the African cultural diversity that white missionaries during the colonial era condemned.

The dialogue also aims at learning about the place of the Bible and diverse worship practices in the two church communities. For the Reformed, the sacraments of baptism and eucharist are essential to the renewal and growth of our faith, but some AICs do not have these sacraments, believing that holy people are themselves set aside as God's sacrament, while others have seven sacraments instead of two. Participants agreed that, whether in Africa or the west, scripture is fundamental to Christian life; and that their different worship styles do not reflect essential disagreements in doctrine.

The session acknowledged that women and traditional culture both play a big role in the stability and survival of the church in Africa. Structural inequalities and hierarchical traditions within the church often limit the ministry of women. The church must however seek to change these structures and traditions.

Among the AICs, there was a felt need for programmes of theological education by extension. Lack of documentation of their practices and procedures made it impossible to administer their churches in a sustained way or to build up a body of materials for future reference.

The dialogue session was chaired by Setri Nyomi, general secretary of the Alliance. Other participants included Archbishop Njeru Wambugu, general secretary of the OAIC; Gregg Mast (Reformed Church in America); John Padwick, director of the Programme for Participatory Development in Africa; and Odair Pedroso Mateus, the Alliance's theology secretary.

The Presbyterian Church of East Africa was represented by Rt Rev Jesse Kamau, moderator of the general assembly, and Rev Patrick Rukenya, general secretary. Dr Kamau called on the churches to spearhead the effort to bring about unity in the world.

It was felt that there was a willingness to move forward towards integration of the churches in Africa, contributing both to African unity and to the unity of humankind.

Elijah Karimi,
Presbyterian Church of East Africa