Key points:
- The Mid Africa Central Conference, formerly the Congo Central Conference, elected the Rev. Antoine Kalema Tambwe as a United Methodist bishop.
- General Conference renamed the central conference as part of the expansion of central conferences on the continent.
- He has served as a district superintendent and delegate to multiple General Conference sessions.
The Rev. Antoine Kalema Tambwe, a veteran district superintendent in South Kindu, Congo, has been elected as a United Methodist bishop by the Mid Africa Central Conference.
Kalema was elected July 12 by delegates meeting at Unique Park Lodge in Kitwe, Zambia. On the second ballot, he received 265 votes out of 311 valid votes cast. He needed 233 to be elected.
“I am overwhelmed with emotion. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the founder of this church,” Kalema said upon his election.
“This is not the time for long speeches, but a time to give thanks to the Eternal One and his servants. If we are who we are, it is thanks to The United Methodist Church, and we will remain in The United Methodist Church until the end of the world.”
Kalema was the first bishop elected in the central conference, formerly known as the Congo Central Conference.
The central conference consists of the United Methodists in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia. The central conference also encompasses the United Methodist mission presence in the Central African Republic, Gabon and Republic of Congo.
The assignments of bishops for the next four years will be announced July 13. In the Mid Africa Central Conference, bishops are elected for life.
Kalema, an episcopal nominee from the East Congo Area, served as the South Kindu District superintendent from 2016 to 2024. In that role, he served on East Congo Area Bishop Gabriel Yemba Unda’s cabinet, helping the bishop in appointing and overseeing clergy in the district.
He has been a delegate to multiple sessions of General Conference, the denomination’s top lawmaking assembly, including last year’s gathering in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Kalema also previously served as a pastor and has taken on multiple ecumenical roles including as president of the Council of Protestant Pastors of the city of Kindu from 2018 to 2023.
From 2000 to 2022, he was dean of the Faculty of Theology at the United Methodist University of Kindu. He has served as the university’s budget administrator since 2022. He also has served as a regional historian, helping the celebration of 100 years of Methodist mission in East Congo in 2022.
He ministers in a region that has long struggled with violence, often over mineral wealth. The capture of Goma and Bukavu by the rebels of the March 23 (M23) Movement earlier this year marked a significant escalation in the long-simmering conflict. The events have led to a humanitarian crisis, with thousands of displaced civilians and heavy loss of life. United Methodists in eastern Congo, with funding from the United Methodist Committee on Relief, have been providing vital aid in the war-torn region.
Kalema has been a project manager with UMCOR. He also has experience in international development work, previously working with the now-dismantled United States Agency for International Development and Germany’s international development organization. He sees that experience as demonstrating his ability to build bridges for the development of his community.
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He is married to Ngole Kitete Charlotte. Together, they have nine children: five boys and four girls.
General Conference renamed the central conference last year as part of broader changes to the denomination’s map on the African continent. The lawmaking assembly split the former Africa Central Conference into the East Africa and Southern Africa central conferences.
General Conference also added two more bishops to the continent with one of those new bishops being elected in the Mid Africa Central Conference. To form the new episcopal area, Mid Africa delegates voted to split the North Katanga Area in two. The new Tanganyika Episcopal Area, with headquarters in Kalemie, Congo, will consist of two annual conferences: Tanganyika and Kamalondo.
The central conference is electing a total of three bishops at this meeting. Bishop Owan Tshibang Kasap, who leads the South Congo and Zambia Episcopal Area, and Bishop Gabriel Yemba Unda, who leads the East Congo Episcopal Area, are retiring.
With the elections and retirements, the African continent will have a total of 15 active United Methodist bishops. That total includes five in the Mid Africa Central Conference.
The United Methodist Church has eight central conferences — church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines — with Southern Africa and East Africa as the newest additions. Central conferences, which each consist of multiple regional bodies called annual conferences, elect bishops and have the authority to adapt parts of the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s policy book, as their missional contexts require.
The Mid Africa Central Conference was originally scheduled March 30 to April 4 in Kindu, Congo. But because of the ongoing conflict in eastern Congo, the meeting needed to be relocated and rescheduled.
In The United Methodist Church, bishops are ordained elders who are called to “lead and oversee the spiritual and temporal affairs of The United Methodist Church.”
Bishops are responsible for appointing clergy. They also are the first stop when clergy face complaints under church law. They also serve as board members or chairs of general agencies and other denomination-wide ministries.
Kalema will be consecrated a bishop July 13 near the conclusion of the central conference session. He and the other two new bishops will take office Sept. 1.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digests.
