is a CCAP church in
Blantyre. Following the arrival of
David Livingstone,
Scottish Presbyterian churches established missions in Malawi. In 1875, the
Free Church of Scotland established itself in northern Malawi with headquarters in
Livingstonia, while in 1876 the
Church of Scotland set up a mission in
Blantyre. In 1889 the
Cape Synod of the
Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa began work in central Malawi. Initially its base was
Mvera, but it later relocated to
Nkhoma. These three missions were the start of the three CCAP synods in Malawi. In 1911 the Livingstonia and Blantyre Synods agreed to join together to form the CCAP although, because of
World War I, this union did not take place until 17 September 1924. The Harare Synod joined in 1965, while the Lundazi Synod (now called the Zambia Synod) joined in 1984. In 1993, the Blantyre Synod issued a statement which acknowledged historically close ties with the
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) so that "the church gradually lost its ability to admonish or speak pastorally to the government" and indicated that they did "not want to make the same mistake at this time in order to ensure that the church retains its prophetic voice throughout the coming years of our country's history." The CCAP entered into a high-profile public feud with Malawian Second Vice President
Chakufwa Chihana in 2004 after Chihana told the church not to "meddle" in politics. In April 2020 Lilongwe MP
Esther Kathumba and
Monica Chang'anamuno went to court over the legality of the measures brought in by the President to deal with the
COVID-19 pandemic. They brought the "Kathumba v. President of Malawi" case with the Church and Society Program of the
Church of Central Africa Presbyterian – Synod of Livingstonia. Kathumba argued that the President's declaration of a State of National Disaster in March and the announcement by the Minister of Health of a three week lockdown (a few days before) was unconstitutional. Three judges agreed with Kathumba that the measures were outside the constitution because they were a significant change to the freedoms given by the constitution and because the President has not declared "a State of Emergency". Moreover they volunteered that the freedom of conscience, belief, thought and religion can never be derogated. In 2024 the church celebrated its centenary and the Rev.
Shaw Paterson, who was that year's Church of Scotland's moderator, visited. He opened a replaced bridge in
Thondwe lost to floods. Thondwe is a community twinned with a similar church in Scotland. == Statistics ==