FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

Scriptures in order to understand where we have come from, who we are, and where we
are gomg.
The rationale behind this study therefore is a critical re-examination of the initiation
rites as performed in the Baptist churches in Malawi particularly among the Chewa
people in Lilongwe district. As an insider, my general observation is that many Chris­
tians do not use the church's prescribed liturgy in performing chilangizo.
1.7 RESEARCH STRUCTURE
This work consists of seven chapters including introduction and conclusion. The intro­
duction gives the background and the motivation of the study, theoretical framework,
the present state of research, the problem formulation and analysis, research methodol­
ogy, and the research structure. Since this study focuses on the Chewa people, and
because the Chewa were in Malawi before the church arrived, chapter two gives the
context of Chewa life and thought. This is done by tracing the Chewa pre-Christian
socio-religious journey.
Chapter three traces historical elements from both the American Southern Baptists and
the Malawians in the formation ofBaptist Convention ofMalawi (BACOMA) churches.
It is argued that although the Christian message was well received by the Malawian
women it also created questions on cultural issues that were central to their identity as
Malawian Christians.
Chapter four gives the phenomenological description and analysis of the Chewa initia­
tion rite for girls. Analysis of the instruction shows that sex education is the hub of the
ritual; and interpretation of the rite fits Van Gennep's (1960) general classification of
separation, transition and incorporation. It is argued that it is the transition or the sacred
stage that gives the Chewa initiation rite its religious significance.
Chapter five traces the historical development of the prescribed liturgy as the mission­
ary response to the Baptist women's desire for a Christian chinamwali. This desire, it is
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