UCZ Synod United Church of Zambia
KAPIRI CENTRAL CONGREGATION – KAPIRI: 19/12/2021 – Rev Morgan Baxton Silwenga’s farewell service was held in Central Presbytery at Kapiri Central Congregation on the 19th of December 2021. The service was meant to appreciate him for the services he rendered to the United Church of Zambia during his tenure of office as Synod Mission and Evangelism Secretary(MES). Rev Silwenga served as Mission and Evangelism Secretary from 2018 to 2021 after taking over from Rev Dr. Chimfwembe. The office of Mission and Evangelism will now be headed by Rev Andrew Chulu.
The service was attended by Synod officials, Ministers, spouses and Bishops from different Presbyteries. The Synod delegation was led by the General Secretary The Right Rev Chipasha Musaba, Communications Secretary Rev Dr. Dennis Sikazwe, Finance Secretary Mr. Innocent Kangwa and Senior Book Keeper Mr. Winfred Silumbwe. The Presbytery Bishops in attendance included; Bishop Darius Chitalu (Luapula Presbytery, Bishop Laston Chisanga (Central Presbytery), Bishop Festus Chulu Muchinga Presbytery and Bishop Dr. Charles Lungu(Copperbelt Presbytery). The United Church of Zambia University was represented by the Vice Chancellor Rev Dr. Kapembwa Kondolo.
The Guest of Honor for this special service was Mr. Cephas Katongo. In his speech, the Guest of Honour started with clarifying to people who had mistaken the farewell for retirement that the farewell service did not mean Rev Silwenga was retiring. Mr Cephas Katongo recalled with excitement how he was requested to stand in as Guest of Honour in 2018 at Rev Silwenga’s induction as Mission and Evangelism Secretary when the original Guest of Honour could not make it at the last minute.
Mr. Cephas Katongo quoted Isaiah 6 v 8, and emphasized that Rev Silwenga has never looked back in his quest to serve the Lord ever since he heard the clarion.
Talking about Rev Silwenga’s commitment, the Guest of Honour narrated how The Reverend conducted prayer sessions from as early as 5am at a Dola Hill Congregation.
The Guest of Honour described Rev Silwenga as one with good communication skills and a good listener. He further went on to highlight his humility, perseverance and willingness to learn as things that impressed him the most, and these are the attributes that made him a good leader. He concluded by thanking Deaconess Maureen Silwenga for being more than a companion in Rev Silwenga’s ministry not forgetting that she too had her own ministry.
The Homily was given by acting Synod Bishop Rev Bishop Festus Chulu. In a theme titled “GOD’S FAITHFULNESS IN THE MIDST OF CHANGE”, Rev Bishop Festus Chulu described faithfulness as on of God’s attributes. The sermon was summarized in Three (3) points; 1. God’s people go through many changes in life. this change is important as it is part of God’s plan for us to reach our destinations. We should therefore not resist change as we will be tempering with God’s plan. 2. God uses difficult situations to prepare us. The bishop emphasized that people should not shun away from facing difficult situations because these difficult situations will always prepare us for the future situations. 3. God will always raise people to stand with us in our lives. We should always make sure that we are surrounded by God fearing people for it is these people that God will use to encourage and stand with us in times of trials and tribulations.
The farewell service was concluded by a prayer from Rev Silwenga as he blessed the incoming Mission and Evangelism Secretary and encouraged the church to support him even more.
