The need for TEE (Theological Education by Extension)
in Angola
The Historical Background:
Since the establishment of the Anglican Church in Angola in early 20’s, and despite many years of war, exile, persecution and a major split which left it with only 7,000 members, it has increased to 33,000 and continues to grow at a phenomenal rate.
Years of war have left most of the leaders virtually untrained. Since 1990 Bishop Dinis of Mozambique has had pastoral oversight of the Diocese of Angola and has ordained a number of deacons with, necessarily, a bare minimum of preparation. These deacons have remained ever since, taking care of their local churches.
In remoter parts of Angola, the war never really stopped and churches were burned and bibles used for cigarette paper. This made the lives of church leaders even more precarious. The two deacons pictured on next page had to take care of their congregations in bush hide-outs during UNITA occupation.
Training:
Some lay leaders carry very heavy responsibility, for which they have had little formal training. Clergy who are sent abroad to train can come under moral pressure as well as be separated from their means of livelihood and unable to support their wives and children. They may also lose touch with their cultural roots.
Anglican churches in Angola are often hundreds of miles apart. As travelling is a nightmare due to the poor infrastructure of the roads, the setting up of theological training through TEE courses is a way of showing pastoral care. It is also a sustainable and affordable way of training lay men and women without removing them from families, jobs and churches.
Several lay leaders who have expressed desire for further training, are prepared to make a weekly 10 km journey into town to attend a TEE course.
Pictured above - on left Rev Pedro Abiliiu - on right the two un-ordained deacons, all of whom need and would dearly love to study through TEE.
Launch of training materials:
Following an agreed proposal between the Bishop of the Diocese of Angola, Rt Rev Andre Soares and the committee members of CAET (Anglican Centre for Theological Education) SEAN materials will be used for the TEE courses, translated into Portuguese with African graphics. A team of Angolans from a church in Edgware are adapting the course for its use in Angola under the leadership of Rev Michael Clark, who is an officially appointed Diocesan Commissary, or representative in the UK for the Diocese of Angola.
When the adaptation is complete and fundraising achieved, the first of a 6-day residential training conference in Luanda, Angola will be arranged for provincial leaders from each of the following provinces - Uige, Cabinda, Benguela, Huambo, Ngiva and Luanda. Each province will nominate someone to travel to Luanda for training as the coordinator for that province. After their training, these leaders (coordinators) will return to their provinces each with a full master set of the SEAN material. It is envisaged that there will be two training conferences a year.
Budgeting and other costs:
The estimated annual cost of tuition, accommodation and food, plus annual visits to the provinces by the Director of CAET will be approximately £3,300. There are additional costs of £1000+ for adapting SEAN material which includes producing several master sets for leaders and CAET staff as well as an electronic copy for the diocesan office in Angola. Rev Michael Clark from Edgware, UK who has coordinated this project will be making an annual visit to Luanda at a cost of £2000 for travel and accommodation.
Costs for the students
The only cost for TEE students will be to pay in advance for photocopies of the pages relevant to the next session of the course – about 10 photocopied sheets per session. This would cause them to value the course and motivate them to attend sessions for which they have already paid. These costs would be well within the reach of lay workers and catechists.
Practical outcome:
The value of the material used on this TEE course lies not in the material itself, but in spending time drawing out practical applications to everyday life in the home, church and place of work. Thus developing within the training leaders the necessary skills to achieve this is fundamental to the success of the scheme. It calls for levels of intelligence, spiritual maturity and creativity that may not always be evident in church life. Care needs to be taken in selecting candidates with the necessary skills.
Future development:
Over a period of time, SEAN materials on preaching, church-planting, children’s work etc. as well as other adapted teaching materials could be incorporated into the course and also be supplemented with Anglican theological material from South Africa translated into Portuguese.