Several Christian denominations in Malawi, including Anglicans, Presbyterians and Pentecostals, have established an organization to help improve management, financial and administrative skills of churches in the southern African nation.

It is called the Institute of Church Management and was initiated by concerned church members, according to a statement from the group. Its members include active and retired clergy, church elders and laity.

“The Church in Malawi has provided unprecedented evangelistic and social development services over the years. However, the concerned church members noted various administrative and management challenges being faced by most churches and church related organizations. This has resulted in ineffective and inefficient delivery of their services,” reads the statement.

The group aims to improve management and administrative skills in churches and church related organizations through training, consultancy and research. The group is led by retired Anglican Archbishop for Central Africa Bernard Malango.

“The vision of the ICM is to achieve effective, efficient, transparent and accountable church management,” said the group which also has Malawi’s former president Justin Malewezi and the Deputy Governor of Malawi’s Central Bank Mary Nkosi as trustees.

It will provide training on church administration and management such as corporate governance, strategic planning, financial management, human rights, conflict management and HIV/AIDS management. It will also provide consultancy services in order to evaluate, assess and analyze church administration and management and it will research church related issues in order for the church to make informed decisions and actions.