Denver, Zimbabwe presbyteries celebrate 20 years of partnership
Delegates participate in a travel exchange
Much has changed in the church and the world over the past 20 years, but a partnership built on a shared relationship between Denver Presbytery and the Presbytery of Zimbabwe has helped mid council and church leaders adapt and grow stronger through the uncertainty of global politics, declining church support, the urgency of the Covid pandemic and changes to mission models.
This year, delegations from Denver and Zimbabwe are crossing the Atlantic to worship, fellowship and sign a new memorandum of understanding to honor their partnership and affirm its future. A delegation from Denver completed a visit in February 2025, while another group of delegates from Zimbabwe plans to visit Denver in August of this year.
A partnership based on a shared relationship
The partnership began in 2004 when the Rev. Tom Sheffield, lead pastor of Denver Presbytery (the executive presbyter position at the time), welcomed the first delegation from Zimbabwe through the recommendation of a seminary classmate of his, the late Rev. Max Chigwida. The partnership grew due to the advocacy of Chigwida and with the help of PC(USA) mission co-workers serving in the area over the years. During that time, homes and hearts were opened in Denver and Zimbabwe as delegations went back and forth every few years and communication increased. Mutual ministries and missions developed that affected lives in both places. “Zimbabwean ministers were given rest in Denver, and retired Denver ministers found new ways to use their gifts among leaders and members of congregations in Zimbabwe,” Sheffield said.
While visiting City Church in Harare, Sheffield learned of his mother’s death back in the United States.
“I was a long way away, and it was decided services would be held later when the whole family could gather. However, I would not have the last word,” said Sheffield. “Unbeknownst to me, the ministers and their spouses in the Presbytery of Zimbabwe organized a service for my mother. Every minister of the presbytery and all their spouses came and surrounded me and my Denver colleagues who had accompanied me with embraces, beautiful words, joyous and triumphant songs, and an unforgettable time of healing and hope in our risen Christ,” he said.
Sheffield added, “We are living in a difficult, turbulent, and divisive time. The partnership offers a possibility to find a unity in Christ and a connection as Presbyterians.” He noted that along with setting up a mission together, the partnership has developed “a depth of relationship that has gone far beyond any cultural superiority or worn-out colonial attitudes.”
“It truly has brought a sign that together and in Christ we are never alone.”
‘Mountains share mist’
The Rev. Paul Neshangwe has been a part of the Denver-Zimbabwe presbyteries partnership since its founding. He and his wife, Lydia, lived in Denver for five years during which Paul offered his gifts for ministry and mission as a staff member of Denver presbytery while Lydia attended seminary in Denver. Learning how to embrace women’s gifts for ministry has been an important outcome of the relationship between the Denver Presbytery and the Presbytery of Zimbabwe, which is now a part of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA). After the Neshangwes returned to Zimbabwe, Paul and Lydia both followed their calls. Lydia now serves as the moderator of the UPCSA, a denomination with ministries that stretch from the Cape of Good Hope north into Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her tenure spans 2023–25, and she is the second woman to hold this position. Paul and Lydia are currently colleague ministers (co-pastors) at St. Columba's Presbyterian Church in the Presbytery of Zimbabwe of the UPCSA.
“The two presbyteries have been intentionally working together, providing mutual spiritual support and prayer, engaging in theological discussions, sharing insights and perspectives on faith and practice, and collaborating on mission and evangelism efforts,” said Paul, who appreciates how, over the past 20 years, the partnership also became a platform for cultural exchange and understanding as well as offering practical support and assistance where needed.
“There is the mutual benefit of spiritual growth and development and appreciation of what God is doing elsewhere in a way that offers encouragement,” he said. “There is also the benefit of practically enriching friendship in a world where hostility is life-damaging.”
In February 2025, the Neshangwes welcomed a delegation of five members of Denver Presbytery to Zimbabwe. Paul remarked that a highlight of the exchange was witnessing the joy expressed in song and dance when the new Memorandum of Understanding between the two presbyteries was signed during an ordinary meeting of the Presbytery of Zimbabwe.
He noted that in Zimbabwe, there is a saying passed down by elders: “Two hands wash each other clean, and mountains share mist.” It is a metaphor that he finds applicable to the shared relationship between Denver and Zimbabwe, along with the wise words of Proverbs 27:17: “Iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens the countenance of a friend.”
“With that wisdom in mind, we do well to believe that such partnerships as the one between our presbyteries are essential,” Paul said. He is clear that first and foremost, this partnership must be God’s idea and its future is in God’s hands, but as he looks to areas of potential growth under the new understanding, he hopes to see continuity in its exchange and education of theology and culture as well as more collaboration on global advocacy efforts in addressing issues of poverty and inequality.
Intentional learning and support in times of crisis and creativity
“They were very intentional,” the Rev. Dr. Dee Cooper, executive presbyter of Denver Presbytery, said of the founders of the partnership, which included her predecessor, Sheffield, and the former moderator of Zimbabwe, the Rev. Paul Neshangwe. “Acknowledging the differences of our resources, the partnership wasn’t just going to become a donor-recipient model, but it truly was an engagement of shared leadership and shared relationships.”
Cooper lifted up examples of mutual support over the years of her tenure as each region faced the adaptations and innovations required by Covid, as well as grieved its losses. “The relationship is what matters essentially the most, and then we build from that,” said Cooper.
Along with the partnership between the presbyteries, there are also direct mission partnerships between groups of churches in the Denver area and nonprofit ministries based in Zimbabwe. As Denver Presbytery leans into new models of ministry and renewal, Cooper looks to the ways Zimbabwe was already embracing entrepreneurial ministry and the socially responsible use of property to meet the needs of the community.
Their witness of faith in the midst of socio-political upheaval is another way Cooper’s faith is buoyed by friends leading in Zimbabwe. “As a country, we're all kind of reeling and going in 2025 with the radical changes to how this administration governs and the budget cuts,” said Cooper, who noted how “our siblings from Zimbabwe have been through this many, many times.” Through the building of relationships in Zimbabwe, she recognized how much her context in the United States has to learn about “how to be the church when you no longer lean into the idea that government will take care of you.” On her February visit to Zimbabwe, Cooper balanced official duties of offering public greetings at the stated Presbytery meeting with more organic gatherings and listening sessions.
Visionary leadership and a family of partnerships
Denver churches had been called into relationship in Zimbabwe before the official partnership between presbyteries began. In the late 1990s, the Rev. Russ Kane served New Hope Presbyterian Church in Castle Rock, Colorado. When members of that congregation returned from a visit to Zimbabwe, they helped start a 10-church partnership to aid orphaned children. Heather Chimhoga Orphan Care emerged as a locally staffed operation in Murewa, Zimbabwe, providing food, education and medical services to nearly 800 vulnerable children.
Through his connection to this partnership known as the Zimbabwe Mission Partnership, Kane joined the first presbytery delegation in 2005 to visit the Presbytery of Zimbabwe and officially establish the Partnership of Zimbabwe and Denver Presbyteries (PZDP). Kane, a retired minister and member of the Presbytery of Denver, serves as moderator of its Visionary Leadership Commission. He was also a part of the recent delegation to renew the partnership and sign the Memorandum of Understanding in February 2025.
“The best thing the PZDP has done is to create a framework within which relationships could grow,” said Kane. “By itself, the Memorandum of Understanding is just words on a paper. Their importance is the possibilities for ministry those words create.”
Kane compared the presbyteries’ partnership to a “good marriage,” which occurs “when there are enough similarities to be compatible and enough differences to be interesting.” He described the ways in which this commitment to shared relationships has birthed other partnerships of shared missions between churches and nonprofits in Denver and Zimbabwe.
For 25 years, the Denver Presbytery has nurtured smaller mission partnerships. Inspired by the model embraced by New Hope Presbyterian Church, Kane called these “a grassroots, bottom-up approach to mission and ministry that involves three or more congregations who agree to join together around a common concern and mission.” There are currently four mission partnerships that are focused on work within the larger partnership between the two presbyteries. “These partnerships encourage new relationships between members of congregations in Denver and those in Zimbabwe,” said Kane. “The vitality that bubbles up from these mission partnerships is an indispensable part of the overall health of the PZDP.”
‘Sahwira’ means ‘trusted friend’
“What began as a commitment signed on paper is now a commitment signed on our hearts,” said Julia Henderson, a ruling elder in the Presbytery of Denver. Henderson was part of the team that wrote the original Memorandum of Understanding, served as an original delegate and returned with the most recent delegation to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Over the years, she has hosted delegates from Zimbabwe and served on the subcommittees that make up the mission partnerships. She currently chairs the Zimbabwe Mission Partnership, which is focused on providing food, tuition, uniforms and medical care for the children enrolled at the Heather Chimhoga Orphan Care Center and on supporting local farming and construction projects in Murewa, Zimbabwe.
Henderson attributed the success of the long partnership between the two presbyteries in part to Doug Tilton, who since 1992 has served in various capacities in Southern Africa and now serves as a Global Ecumenical Liaison based in Cape Town, South Africa, for the Interim Unified Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
“Doug has been the sahwira in our partnership,” said Henderson, explaining the term to be “a Shona word that describes a trusted friend who is highly respected by both parties and will speak the truth in love.” The presbyteries of Denver and Zimbabwe asked Tilton to guide the conversations as they drafted the new Memorandum of Understanding. As part of each delegation’s visit, they will witness the vote of each presbytery on this agreement and its signing of this document. “Over the years, Doug has been a part of our joint work, offering observations appreciated by all,” Henderson said. Tilton will be the featured preacher at the Presbytery of Denver’s stated meeting in August when the Zimbabwean delegation will come to witness Denver Presbytery’s approval of the Memorandum of Understanding.
“Throughout the partnership, relationships were established, and deep bonds of friendships were formed,” said Henderson, who explained how delegates traveled back and forth every year from 2004 until Covid disrupted the frequency of the exchange. Henderson hoped for a “renewal of the bonds of friendship and a rededication to our presbytery partnership" upon their return to Zimbabwe in February and rejoiced: “My highest expectations were met and exceeded!” she said.
“God has provided us this gift as siblings in the Body of Christ. If not for this powerful connection, I’m not sure we would have even made it to the introductory stage,” said Henderson. “It is my deepest hope that respect, humility, patience and compassion will guide our friendship.”
Networks attentive to mutuality in global relationships
According to Tilton, who transitioned from his role as mission co-worker to be the only international global ecumenical liaison currently based in Africa, mission partnership networks play an important role in encouraging presbytery partnerships like the one between Denver and Zimbabwe “to be attentive to mutuality and bi-directionality." He hopes these networks will play an increasingly important role in providing encouragement and support to partnerships between presbyteries. Sheffield and the Rev. Sevatt Kabaghe of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Synod of Zambia currently co-convene the Zambia-Zimbabwe-Mozambique-USA mission network (ZZMUSA).
“ZZMUSA is one of more than 30 mission networks that have stood at the center of world mission and global engagement,” said Sheffield, who pointed out how each network is different from the rest and “seeks to address the unique concerns, people and churches related to the countries and issues that form its central purposes.”
“ZZMUSA along with other networks continues to serve as a link and a bridge that bring churches and people together in mutuality, collaboration and hope in Christ. We are doing our best to serve the whole church,” said Sheffield, who added “we feel blessed that Doug Tilton continues to work with us and for the well-being of these global relationships.”
When the delegation from Denver visited Zimbabwe earlier this year, the Rev. Cheryl Barnes was serving as coordinator for Africa for the Interim United Agency. She is now the manager for U.S. Global Ecumenical Liaisons. Barnes believes that the story of the relationship between the presbyteries in Denver and Zimbabwe "brings to life for our constituents one of the ways that presbyteries and mid councils can remain in partnership and have the avenue to develop meaningful relations with partners under the new IUA model of Global Engagement."
“Relationships are foundational to mission and ministry. Through relationships we grow closer as a global community in the Body of Christ,” said Rev. Ellen Sherby, manager for International Global Ecumenical Liaisons. “The partnership between Zimbabwe and Denver presbyteries is a beautiful example of what can happen when two or more presbyteries or congregations join together in God’s mission as partners, giving mutual encouragement and support to one another.”
“Their story is deeply unique — and also reflective of many strong, mutual partnerships found around the world between PC(USA) congregations and presbyteries with global partners,” said Sherby, noting how these partnerships and the mission partnership networks that draw regional or country groups together in mission are important for the work of the church globally. Sherby, who resonates with Neshangwe’s insight that the direction of such partnerships “must be God’s idea and its future is in God’s hands,” looks forward to continued connections with and learning from partnerships and networks as the Interim Unified Agency, with God’s help and inspiration, continues to move forward in shaping the new model for global ministry.”
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