(Churches And Clergy Making Headlines This Past Week)
September 25th, 2021
Headlines:
ZANU PF Warns Anglican Church Against Privatising Schools
Mwazha succession dispute rages
Churches - The Vanguard In Peace Building
Lupane Clerics Vow To Tackle Interfaith Conflict, Tribalism, GBV
The News In Detail:
*ZANU PF Warns Anglican Church Against Privatising Schools*
The ruling ZANU PF party has warned the Anglican Diocese of Manicaland against its plans to privatise its best performing mission schools in the province.
St Faith’s, St David’s Bonda, St Augustine’s High and St Anne’s Goto are among high schools which the diocese intends to privatise next year.
The church’s leadership on Monday started consultative meetings with the local community leadership, community members, teachers and non-teaching staff over the move.
They started off with St Faith’s High in Rusape, with officials from the Primary and Secondary Education Ministry as the secretariat.
Manica Post reported at St Faith’s Mission, the atmosphere during the meeting was tense, full of heated debate and finger-pointing.
The community reportedly objected to voting over the issue, arguing that it did not know how the votes would be used to determine the way forward.
Anglican Diocese of Manicaland bishop, Eric Ruwona, told the meeting that they wanted to privatise the school because the Government was not adequately remunerating teachers and wanted to improve their welfare by paying them about US$500.
He said they also wanted to provide scholarships to the less-privileged as well as give locals a quota of available vacancies.
Meanwhile, a letter from the ZANU PF Makoni District Coordinating Committee (DCC), warning the church against the privatisation process was also read during the meeting.
The letter signed by Makoni DCC chairman, Albert Nyakuedzwa, reads in part:
ZANU PF is against your intention to convert St Faith’s High School into a private school. We also received similar objections from community members who said they contributed to the construction of the school.
If the school is to become a private school, then it means the majority of the community families will no longer afford to enrol their children there.
Diocese spokesperson and registrar, Ashel Mutungura said the privatisation process was continuing after successfully conducting another meeting at St David’s Bonda Girl’s High on Tuesday. Said Mutungura:
These are consultative meetings for people to raise their concerns. At St Faith’s High, we had a meeting with the local leadership that did not even understand why we were there.
They refused to vote, threatening to approach the highest office over the matter. These are people who do not understand how schools work and there were drunken elements, some of whom were bussed from Rusape.
They are not part and parcel of the local community. When we were about to conduct elections, they disappeared with the voters’ roll.
The local community is saying they must determine what happens to St Faith’s and parents with kids at the school should not be part of the process, which shows a lack of understanding of how schools operate.
They did not understand that this is a consultation for introducing a new model of operation and in terms of substance, there was nothing, absolutely nothing that was material for the decision-making that we want to do.
Under the privatisation plan parents will pay US$500 for Form Ones and US$900 for Form Fives to the Responsible Authority as Mission Fund, and then pay Government authorised fees to the school.
The mission schools are registered as Trust Schools, with the church as the Responsible Authority.
Source - Manica Post
*Mwazha succession dispute rages*
SENIOR members of the African Apostolic Church (VaApostora VeAfrica)’s Holy Shrines founded by archbishop Paul Mwazha have filed an urgent chamber application seeking to stop his son, Alfred, from hosting a three-day mass ceremony starting this Friday.
Mwazha’s other son, Chiseko, in an application filed at the High Court last Thursday, said he recently got wind of his brother’s intention to hold church ceremonies at two of the church’s holy shrines in Manicaland and the Midlands provinces.
In the application, Chiseko together with one of the church’s bishops, Patrick Mahachi, cited Alfred, Ngoni, Masimba and James Mwazha as respondents.
Also cited as respondents in the latest application are other members of the church’s leadership, including Richard Juru, Elson Tafa, Charles Tekeshe, Lovemore Mharadze and Norman Siyamuzhombwe.
Last year, the High Court nullified the appointment of Alfred as church leader and successor of his father.
Dissatisfied with the outcome at the lower court, Alfred and members of his breakaway faction filed an appeal which is pending at the Supreme Court.
Chiseko, who is also a bishop in the church, is arguing that Alfred and the rest of the defendants should be barred from hosting the ceremony as it violates the church’s constitution.
“The respondents want to go ahead with the mass gatherings starting from next week and we were advised late on the 15th of September that the respondent’s followers invaded the property and started making arrangements to erect a structure at Ndarikure Shashe Shrine and Mapambe Shrine. This is being done outside of the provisions of the church’s doctrine, because only Archbishop Paul Mwazha can call such a meeting at these holy shrines. The actions of the respondents are against the constitution of the church,” Chiseko submitted.
Chiseko is also arguing that the gathering could expose church members to COVID-19.
“The members of the church and their children and relatives will be exposed to COVID-19 infection by this super-spreader mass ceremony. The actions of the respondents pose a clear and present danger to the church as a whole because (its) name, which is very well known, will be (harmed). As a week Christian church, the last thing church leaders want to be associated with, is breaking the law and COVID-19 regulations as well as chaos and violence that might arise there,” he further submitted.
Source - News Report
*Churches - The Vanguard In Peace Building*
By Martin Stobart
Human kind is living in an era best with all kinds of problems, problems of its own
making problems which it is nurturing with diligent care as if its lives depend on these
problems which include hunger, starvation, wars, sin and sinfulness and gross
disobedience to the heavenly laws of God.
Human kinds is swimming in poverty and
wallowing access pit of blood emanating from the wars which it has ignited for goodness
-knows-the–reason
why.
However, going by what the human mind can comprehend
and perceive it is not far from the truth that human kind loves power of office, that is to
say that power to rule over others, let me say that man, instead, of “humankind” loves to
aggrandize power and satiate himself by it.
Even in our homes the re are power struggles
between members of a family; even in the poorest of poor families where there is
apparently nothing tangible to quarrel about let alone to fight for.
There are quarrels and
fights and alterations and endless upheavals.
I dare any one tell me where in the world is
there peace?
No matter where one goes in the world there is bloodletting.
Man has
forgotten that we were all created in the image of God Almighty the creator and Maker
of all that inhabits the world.
God knows neither poverty nor wealth neither the poor not
the wealthy.
God knows neither king nor beggar, emperor nor servant: and behold“we
fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots; your fat king and your
lean beggars but variable service, but to one table.
God sees all his creation through
the same lense or through a miracle.
Let us all
pray for peace in the world.
There are bush fires, floods, tsunamis, tempests.
First it was
HIV and AIDS transmitted sexually now it is Covid 19 transmitted by breath and body
fluids.
What is next?
Buildings which were designed by the best architects and
constructed by engineers of the time are coming down as if they are shifting sands,
even a wheezing breeze is enough to bring them down.
Unfortunately and sadly, too
human lives are lost in the process.
Can we therefore say that mankind is paying the
price for its excesses?
I take it that I am correct when l say that the church (a collective
term) must take the lead in praying for peace at a global level.
The churches are the
vanguard.
May this day be the day that God made! Let us rejoice in it in prayer!
Let us remember that king emperor, lean beggar, we are all food for maggots at the
end of the day.
(Martin Stobart lives in Lupane, Zimbabwe with his wife and grandson. He is a senior citizen and regular contributor to different newspapers. This article was originally written for the International Day of Peace on 21 September).
Source - churchnewszim
*Lupane Clerics Vow To Tackle Interfaith Conflict, Tribalism, GBV*
At least 21 Lupane clergymen and lay members under the banner of Churches Convergence on Conflict and Peace this week vowed to end interfaith conflict, tribalism and gender based violence in the district, _The Church News_ can confirm.
Speaking at a function to commemorate International Day of Peace, Pastor Rennick Sibanda said the Churches will from now onwards increase religious pluralism and respect of other churches.
"As church leaders, we must be the peace ambassadors ourselves. This begins by tolerating my brother from another faith and my brother from another province.
"We should increase participation of women in key decision making in the Church. Gone are the days that women are in church to just listen to men." Said Pastor Sibanda.
Participants also called upon their CCCOP leaders to immediately engage the local authority and residents on service delivery issues.
Pastors committed to take peace education to their parishes.
CCCOP has been Lupane
since 2018 running an active Peace Committee which is chaired by the church and includes the District Development Coordinator, Chief Mabhikwa, government departments, political parties and members of the civil society.
Source - churchnewszim
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