FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

emergence of chilangizo in the Baptist churches in Malawi? How did the Baptist Con­
vention develop chilangizo? How is chilangizo performed at the grassroots level?
The hypothesis ofthis study is that chilangizo is an inadequate response to chinamwali
because it does not answer the needs of the Chewa people in the way chinamwali does.
Ifthe rite is inadequate, then the Baptist Convention needs to consider developing a rite
reflecting the Gospel's interpretation of traditional chinamwali and which reinforces
traditional values that Scripture affirms and purifies or changes those that contradict or
undermine the essence ofthe Gospel so that it makes a lasting impact upon the lives of
the initiates. All teaching, Christian and traditional, needs to be revisited especially in
light ofthe HN/AIDS epidemic.
1.3 RELATED STUDIES
A number ofpublications that reflect similar insights or are relevant to this study have
been researched.
Since rites of passage form the main focus of this study, Arnold van Gennep's (1960)
work has been useful because of his system of analysis of rites. Bourdillon (1990) also
defines the structure and function ofritual.
The literature that is available on girls' initiation rites in Malawi includes responses by
earlier mission churches to this cultural phenomenon, such as the Roman Catholic, the
Presbyterian, and the Anglican churches.
Chakanza, J (in Cox 1998) traces a historical account of the Church's response to the
same issue from the Roman Catholic perspective in Unfinished Agenda: Puberty Rites
and the Response o/the Roman Catholic Church in Southern Malawi, 1901-1994. In his
analysis, he has shown the negative position of the Church towards initiation rites, and
how puberty initiations are a pastoral problem for the Church because of the different
reactions towards them - those with sympathetic and positive attitudes and those with
unsympathetic and negative attitudes.
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