A fellowship of preachers, sharpening each other around the same text.
The English Chapel of Antananarivo is part of the Langham Preaching training programme. Between seminars we meet monthly as an Ushirika — Swahili for fellowship — to keep practising: studying a passage, preaching it, and telling each other honestly how it was handled.
Gather, then scatter.
Gather
A seminar with a facilitator and a set curriculum. Level 1 covers the foundations of biblical preaching; the levels after it cover preaching from the Old Testament, then the New.
Scatter
Participants go home and keep meeting in a small local group to practise — studying passages, preaching them, and critiquing each other. In English, Langham calls these preaching clubs. Across Africa the Swahili word ushirika — fellowship — is used for the same thing.
Most preachers otherwise work alone. The group is a circle of support and accountability as much as it is a training one.
Straight after the Sunday service, first Sunday of the month.
Every member prepares the passage. One or two actually preach it. The rest give feedback.
Everyone doing the study work is the whole point. It means the feedback comes from people who have wrestled with the same text, so the critique can be about the handling of the passage — did the sermon say what the passage says — and not only about delivery.
Each session also reviews one lesson from the Langham course material, so the teaching is revisited alongside the practice rather than left behind at the seminar.
- When
- The first Sunday of the month, straight after the service — so from around 11:30 AM to 12:00.
- How long
- About two hours.
- Bring
- A snack to share. We move straight into the session and eat as we go — there is no separate break.
- 01Opening prayer
- 02Praying the Word
- 03The sermon — one or two of them, around 20 minutes each
- 04The feedback session
- 05Review of a Langham lesson
Level 2 — preaching the Old Testament.
| Session | Date | Passage | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sunday 6 September 2026 | Genesis 26:12–31 | Narrative |
| 02 | Sunday 4 October 2026 | 1 Samuel 16:1–13 | Narrative |
| 03 | Sunday 1 November 2026 | 2 Samuel 12:1–23 | Narrative |
| 04 | Sunday 6 December 2026 | Leviticus 18:9–14 | Law |
| 05 | Sunday 7 February 2027 | Deuteronomy 15:1–15 | Law |
| 06 | Sunday 7 March 2027 | Deuteronomy 19:14–21 | Law |
| 07 | Sunday 4 April 2027 | Jeremiah 18:1–12 | Prophecy |
| 08 | Sunday 2 May 2027 | Hosea 11:1–11 | Prophecy |
January is not scheduled — the cycle runs September to December, then resumes in February. Two further meetings complete Level 2 and are not yet dated.
Both Langham manuals, in full — free, and open to everyone.
Langham’s material is given to be spread as widely as possible, and we have the green light to do so. The two training manuals are published in full, in French, as they were taught — alongside our own written review of each lesson as the Ushirika works through it. No account, no sign-up, nothing to pay.
Come and see — whichever of these you are.
There is a seat for you at the next session.
Trained by Langham already, or hoping to be? You are welcome at an Ushirika session — first Sunday of the month, straight after the Sunday service, about two hours. Write to us and we will tell you which passage to prepare. Bring a snack to share.
Email the churchCome and be part of the ECA family.
We gather every Sunday at 10:00 in the heart of Antananarivo — English and French speakers equally at home. No registration, no dress code, no expectation beyond a willingness to gather.
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