Friends of Zanzibar Cathedral
Friends of Zanzibar Cathedral supports the work of Christ Church Cathedral in Zanzibar.
Our work has taken on an urgency since a minor crack in the West wall of the cathedral grew in size. Engineers were called and have advised that there is a risk that the building may collapse if measures are not taken to stabilise it. The Cathedral needs £250,000 to carry out this work.
Fund raising toward this has already started. The Diocese held an event where young people climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to help raise money for the restoration. VIPs visiting the site and local and other individuals have also made contributions. To date over £30,000 have been raised in Zanzibar.
In UK we are asking people to send funds to Christian Engineers in Development which is a registered charity and is developing the project with the Cathedral. When sending a gift please write that it is for Zanzibar Cathedral.
The Christian Community in Zanzibar
Christianity came to Zanzibar with the Portuguese as they swept up the East coast of Africa late in the 15th Century. They established a Catholic Mission but their main interest was trade until they were driven back by Omani forces 200 years later.
In 1841 the Omani Sultan, Sayyid Said, moved his Capital to Zanzibar. He developed trade by inviting merchants from India and with British involvement in the region was soon hosting British officials and making trade agreements with several Western governments. Though a devout Muslim, out of consideration for his visitors the Sultan allowed people of all faiths to conduct religious services as they chose.
Joseph Krapf visited in 1844 with two CMS companions but it was David Livingstone who made the island famous with his anti-slavery speech in 1857 appealing to England to send missionaries to Africa. Livingstone's speeches led to the creation of the Universities Mission to Central Africa, UMCA. In 1860 this group sent Charles Mackenzie to be "Bishop of Central Africa". The group's mainland base was abandoned three years later and they moved to Zanzibar for its communication networks, food and labour pool. They set up a "hostel for released slave boys" in Kiungani then in 1873 purchased the old market square where slaves were once sold. This was the start for Christ Church Cathedral whose cornerstone was laid on Christmas day 1873. Other projects were developed, many focused on supporting freed slaves. "The most monumental of all this work was surely Christ Church Cathedral. Essentially an amateur project personally supervised by the third UMCA Bishop, Edward Steere, it remains one of the most impressive examples of the early Christian architecture in Africa." (Barghash).
The Anglican community on Zanzibar has survived the tensions of revolution in the 1960s but remains a small group. The Diocese of Zanzibar was established in 2001 and covers the Zanzibar archipelago. It has 7 churches with 6 evangelists and about 2,000 Anglican Christians. All of the develpment projects of the Diocese and its Parishes work closely with the Islamic community. One of the hopes of the project is that it will continue to build bridges to the majority population.
Main reference: Barghash. http://www.zanzibarhistory.org/zanzibar_christians.htm