Alliance church disputes all allegations in petition
MBABANE – The Alli ance Church i n Eswatini has di s put e d a l l a l l e gat i ons levelled against the leadership in a petition that was delivered in June by disgruntled church members.
In a response document dated July 12, 2021, which was del i ver e d t o the members on Monday, the church leadership revealed that they did not condone the acts or behaviours that are in violation of the church constitution.
The Board highlighted that the constitution provided a clear architecture for addressing matters of concerns from its members.
The Board f urther stated t hat t he manner of delivering petition as means t o address concerns was not i n accord with biblical principles and the recognised structures set out in the constitution of the church.
“Both the tone and language of the petition demonstrates a high disregard of fundamental Christian principles and undermines organisational const r uction. The l anguage employed in the petition is both vexatious and defamatory. No amount of anger or frustration can ever j ustify t he use o f i n f l a mmator y a n d d e f a mat o r y language to fellow Christians,” reads the response.
The response was signed by Reverend Johannes Mazibuko in his capacity as the National Church Board ( NCB) Chairperson and the Secretary of t he Board. I t was r e c e i ved a nd signed by Simanga Khumalo and Senzo Msibi on behalf of the disgruntled members.
The Board reflected that most of the issues raised in the petition were issues that were discussed in numerous Church General Assemblies dating back to 2013.
The Church General Assembly is the highest respectable and final decision making body of the church according to Article 9.1.1 of the church bylaws.
“The Board has considered the defamatory allegations that have been made towards certain individuals and wish to place it on record that it will not i ntervene i n t he event t hat t he affected individuals elect to pursue legal recourse as means to vindicate their rights,” they said.
WHO WROTE PETITION?
The Board f urt her i ndicated t hat even though there are concerns over the identity and membership of the people di s posed i n t he peti t i on, i t will, however, provide response t o the matters tabled in the spirit of fair leadership practice.
“Your petition is purported to have been written by concerned members of The Alliance Church in Eswatini, however, it is noted with utmost concern that your list of people does not indicate their local churches nor their signatures appended t hereto. Upon closer scrutiny of the petition it was discovered t hat some members are nolonger part of t he church,” said the Board.
The NCB further raised concerns over t he f act t hat s ome matters of the church were discussed with nonmembers of the church and also sent to the media.
The NCB said it was unexpected that nonmembers and former members could discuss i ssues of t he church in public and further declare that the church was degenerating into becoming a gathering.
The Board said the spirituality of the church was not part of its mandate but that of pastors and subsequently questioned whether the members really wanted to see God in the church or the attention was directed towards the overall church health.
“You also i nsinuate t hat God has long left the church and we wonder what measure or instrument you are usi ng t o det e r mine t hat a nd when e xact l y t hi s a l l e gedly became t he case because national services of our denomination are held once in three years during the Easter Convention,” said the NCB.
‘ NO DICTATORIAL TENDENCIES’
The NCB also disputed allegations that the church has been manipulated through dictatorial tendencies often displayed by the leadership.
The NCB further defended the idea of having the secretary general taking three responsibilities as rationale and one that was adopted in 2011 general Assembly.
It was further revealed that the NCB relieved the secretary general of the responsibility of clinic administrator in March 2018 and appointed Musa Hlatshwayo in the position.
The NCB further revealed that the i ssue of Mbabane Alliance Church 10 per cent was also discussed in the
2013 General Assembly, where the matter was explained in detail. The same matter was raised in subsequent Assemblies and i t was r ejected by delegates.
The i ssue of manipulation of t he church constitution to safeguard int erests of i ndividuals was also disputed by the NCB as scandalous and ill- informed.
“Th e r e h a s n e v e r b e e n ‘ f o r c i n g down’ or imposing of issues without due diligence as the exercise has been carried by the National Constitution Committee with the full support and approval of t he General Assembly delegates,” they said.
One other issue that was raised in the petition was the issue of ordination of pastors who have served the church f or many years. The NCB said t he matter was guided by the church ByLaws and cannot be dealt with outside the framework.
The NCB also highlighted that for a pastor to be ordained he needs to declare and demonstrate that he or she is called, get Bible school training and also get a favourable recommendation from the supervising pastor.
“All those ordained in the Alliance Church have met t he above s t at ed guidelines and to say that they sang praises to the president and secretary general i s synonymous with assassinating t he character of t he office holders and all the ordained pastors of the church,” said the NCB.
I t was f urther r evealed i n t he r esponses that the NCB had never received any i nformation of pastors