ARCOSAC
A Report by Drs. Gift Mtukwa & Gabriel Benjiman
The Africa Region Course of Study Advisory Committee (ARCOSAC) met from 17-21 August 2022 in Durban, South Africa. On the opening night, a clergy development webinar was hosted by Dr Gabriel Benjiman. The presenters, Drs James Mbugua (Counselling Psychologist) and Gift Mtukwa (New Testament Scholar) offered practical advice on clergy mental and spiritual health.
The purpose of the ARCOSAC annual meetings is to focus on quality assurance standards for formal education. ARCOSAC also reviewed a proposed master’s degree programme for one of the Region’s schools. Dr Gift Mtukwa stated, “We discussed the work of ARCOSAC and how to maintain quality in how we train clergy for ministry.” The issues of character formation in online education, library resources and library systems were also on the agenda. Dr Dany Gomis joined the group via Zoom and spoke about the hub system currently employed in the Africa Region and the role of education in meeting the needs of the clergy gap. The following were in attendance – Africa Region’s Educational Coordinator – Dr Gabriel Benjiman, Mrs Mary Benjiman, Dr Ali Aweis (Ethiopia), Rev Antero Fontes (Senegal), Rev Chinyama Lilema (Malawi), Rev Stanley Mbhamali (Eswatini) and Dr Gift Mtukwa (Kenya). In addition, the following attended as resource people via Zoom – Dr Stan Rodes (USA), Sharon Bull (Canada), Dr Jerry Porter (USA), Rev Evans Katanga (Ghana), Rev Leniza Soares (Cabo Verde), Ms Chansari Kashung (India) and Dr Mark Louw who presented on Character Formation in Clergy.
On Sunday, the meetings closed with the group members attending two churches where they could speak about the work each participant undertakes within their higher education institutions.
