The United Methodist Church In Mozambique

History: The work of the Methodism in Mozambique started in 1890. Rev. Dr. Erwin Richards began a Methodist mission at Chicuque in the Inhambane Province. The Igreja Metodista Unida em Moçambique (United Methodist Church in Mozambique) observed the 100th anniversary of Methodist presence in Mozambique in 1990. Mozambique President Chissano praised the work and role of the United Methodist Church to the over 10,000 people who attended the ceremony.  

Growth: The United Methodist Church has tripled in size in Mozambique in the last thirteen years. There are now over 125,000 members in the over 170 congregations of the twenty-three districts. Ten pastors were ordained during the December 1999 Annual Conference session at Cambine, Mozambique and 17 more in the November / December 2000 Annual Conference sessions at Chimoio and Chicuque. The church now works in all 10 provinces of Mozambique and is growing so rapidly that it has divided into two annual conferences.  

Bishop João Somane Machado leads both the Mozambique North and Mozambique South Annual Conferences.  They are comprised of 23 districts, 50 circuits, over 170 local churches, 132 ordained pastors, 32 deacons, 278 evangelists, and 150,584 church members. The bishop also oversees 29 schools, one theological school, some agricultural programs, one hospital (Chicuque Hospital), two clinics, one seminary, and four Bible schools.  

Local church life: United Methodist churches in Mozambique are community centers that impact every aspect of people’s lives.  People gather at the churches for worship, fellowship and mutual support. Worship services (held in buildings or mud huts, or under trees) are filled with standing-room-only crowds on most Sundays. The people of Mozambique, traveling by foot to attend church, take their faith very seriously. They return to the church on Thursday to participate in small groups for discipleship learning, study, mutual support and accountability, similar to the Methodist "societies" of John Wesley's day. Church leaders are excellent Bible scholars and those wishing to join the church spend a great deal of time in preparation. People have the opportunity to learn reading, writing and language skills through the church. They also learn basic health care, nutrition, gardening, food preparation, and marketable skills essential for self-determination and sustenance.   For visitors to Mozambique, worship is a wonderful experience with much music (expect a longer service than is traditional in the USA).  The offering is usually sung forward in groups, with the visitors as the last group.  Your group can prepare by learning a simple English-language song or an Africa Praise song that everyone can learn. 

Annual conferences: During their annual conference session (June in the north; December in the south) the membership votes on and establishes two budgets for the next calendar year.  The first budget is the conference financial budget supporting its program goals. The pastors, provided with assistance by Mozambique council director, the Rev. Xavier Guambe, and General Board of Global Ministries field treasurer, Arlindo Simbine, are encouraged to continue to build good stewardship within the congregations.  The second budget is for souls, thereby establishing evangelism goals.  Both budgets are "apportioned " to each district and congregation.  Some congregations assign to individual members a) financial and b) souls apportions. Because the churches are growing and expanding, they are reaching their “apportionments.” The Initiative recruits covenant partner churches for each new church as it develops. The covenants allow the church in Mozambique to focus on ministry as the congregations and stewardship grow.  

Social action: Since the end of the 17-year war (1975-1992), the church has dedicated itself to rebuilding the social fabric and restoring property that supports the lives of Mozambicans. While the national government is overwhelmed with paying international debt and repairing the infrastructure following decades of war and natural disasters, the church presents dependability and security in the lives of people. The church is linked to hospitals, schools, trade schools, homeless shelters, and international aid throughout the country. Church-related humanitarian institutions in Mozambique include Chicuque Rural Hospital, Cambine Mission station (schools and medical clinic), and Teles Orphanage. Volunteer In Mission teams have participated in the growth of these ministries by contributing construction labor and building materials. The UMC in Mozambique is also active in ecumenical efforts and provides leadership in the Christian Council of Mozambique.