The Malawi Union Conference called for the establishment of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty (PARL) leadership structures in every local church nationwide following an advisory meeting for PARL leaders held in Blantyre, Malawi.
The meeting ran from August 16–18, bringing together PARL leaders from the South East Malawi, Eastern Malawi, Central Malawi, South West Malawi, and North Malawi conferences. They discussed ways the Adventist church can engage communities and government stakeholders while safeguarding its beliefs and liberty of conscience.
The meeting was facilitated by Pako Mokgwane, PARL director for the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID), and Luke Limbithu, PARL director for the Malawi Union Conference.
Mokgwane challenged participants to move beyond administrative work and build intentional relationships in their communities.
"Making friendships is not compromising faith. It makes God's work easier," he said. "As PARL leaders, we should not be distracted by any other voice. We must listen only to the voice of the Holy Spirit as we represent the church in our communities."
Mokgwane said the Adventist church can collaborate with civic and security institutions on shared concerns, peace, justice, youth development, and human dignity without diluting the Adventist identity.
Participants were urged to establish dedicated PARL leadership at the local church level. Sanned Lubani, president of and PARL director for the Eastern Malawi Conference, described the advisory as an "eye opener."
"Every local church needs someone who understands how to engage government, community leaders, and other faith groups on behalf of the church," Lubani said.
Closing the meeting, Limbithu thanked Mokgwane for facilitating the sessions and described the advisory as a benchmark for conference leaders seeking to strengthen the Church's public engagement and religious liberty work in Malawi.
Mokgwane's visit to Malawi also included courtesy calls to the Malawi Police Service and the Blantyre City Council and forms part of SID's ongoing effort to strengthen public relations, religious liberty advocacy, and communications capacity across SID's territory.
The original article was published on the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division news site.
