AFRICAN WISDOM

We were blessed to have students from Africa University with us a week ago. Many of you hosted them in your homes.

Our Bishop, Mike Coyner, recently wrote about some of the exchanges he had with the students as he traveled with the choir. They were surprised, for example, that in North America we are closing churches while in Africa all they do is keep opening new congregations.

The Bishop remembers sitting down with a Bishop from Africa. Over coffee Bishop Coyner asked what advice the African bishop had for the American church so it could be growing, joyful and alive. This was the wisdom offered by the African Bishop:

1. Prayer -- he said "The American church is not a praying church. You say lots of prayers, but you don't pray deeply and listen to God. If you really want your church to be more alive, you need to pray for your church, your pastors, and your leaders."
2. Love -- he said, "You Americans love one another in your churches, but you don't extend love beyond your close group of friends in the church. In Africa, we love people into the church; we don't just love other church people."
3. Indigenous Worship -- he said, "In Africa the church only began to grow dramatically after we were freed from the colonial style of worship from France, Portugal, and Britain. We brought our drums into worship, and we learned to sing the Gospel in the languages of the people." He went on to advise, "Your pastors need to learn the culture of those outside your old churches and bring worship to them in words, music, and style that they understand."

Our Bishop adds, “Now, I know we can quickly say to our African friends that Elkhart, Muncie, Terre Haute, Bloomington, and Madison are not Africa. We can keep on doing church the way we know how to do church and hope to get different results. Or ... we can listen to the wisdom of Africa.”

In Christ and for Christ,

Mark