The devil is tearing US United Methodism to shreds!
THE people called the Methodists are the wisest and most gracious among the Christian denominations in the United States.
Whatever they do, or put aforethought behind every action, considering whether the results will reveal grace and mercy as is required by the Holy Spirit.
Now, this is a big deal. To achieve such a desirable result, when Methodists are faced with an acrimonious debate, they hold a sacred conclave in which all sides are heard.
After such a hearing, the Bishop, or the lay leader will ask for a period of discernment, say thirty days or more. This has worked very well for Methodists since 1963 when a group of churches came together and called themselves United Methodists.
Among them were the African Methodist Episcopal, United Brethren, Methodists without an adjective, Wesleyans and Southern Methodists who had been expelled from the greater communion for holding on to the sin of slavery in 1863.
But the devil has found a way to confound the Methodists and all that I have said above has been thrown away, and anger and acrimony has been allowed to tear the fellowship in Christ to shreds.
I shall share with you a few causes that are at the heart of the breakup of United Methodism today.
The devil first reared his head in 1965 or thereabouts. In that year, the US Psychological Association passed a resolution to say same sex attraction was not a sickness and
FORTY three years ago Zimbabwe emerged from British colonial rule amid optimism that the country will be a shining beacon for democracy in Africa.
Zanu PF, a political party that also led the fight for independence alongside Zapu, has ruled the country since independence.
Since then elections have been held religiously every five years.
Zanu PF has consistently won each election through various means, both foul and fair, and this has led to the narrative that Zimbabwe is far from being a democracy that was envisaged at independence.
Unlike other countries in the region, Zimbabwe’s ruling party has, since independence, regarded and treated opposition parties and activists as enemies of the state as they block them from exercising their democratic rights.
Some events that always occur whenever Zimbabwe is heading for the general elections place the country in the spotlight for human rights defenders and election watchdogs.
It’s never a fair level playing that it should be removed from a rooster of diseases. This was a reaction from the severe and heartless treatment with which homosexual people had been treated by society, some of them, brilliant minds driven away in shame from their jobs.
Alan Turing, OBE, FRS, considered a pioneer of computing science, died in 1954 of a self-administered dose of cyanide, fearing exposure of his homosexual lifestyle.
After many such examples, the churches were almost unanimous in extending a hand of fellowship to gays and hoping that mercy and grace would by itself show the way forward. But the devil saw an loophole with which to divide the body of Christ.
The United Methodist Church of the Servant on Oklahoma City, is a case study in the way the devil works.
Formerly, an urban church, downtown, it was famous for extending its hands to the widow, the orphan and the homeless, the marginalised of society.
The devil told the lay leaders that gays were marginalised too. Thus far, so good. But as the Church of the Servant moved to the suburbs of Oklahoma City, and the church pews were filled by snooty privately educated yuppies, and some pastors with academic titles, the Reverend Mr. Matt Judkins, D. Div., the devil found a fertile ground. Mastering all the words and all the nuances of speech, the devil said that gays must be “fully accommodated in the body of Christ” as befits all field when it comes to elections. As George Orwell said in Animal Farm, “All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.”
Zanu PF does not appear ashamed to be presiding over such inequality.
It shows the hypocrisy of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, which proclaims that Zimbabwean citizens are equal, but gives power and privileges to a small elite and one political party.
Early last month, 26 Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) activists were arrested in Budiriro for allegedly convening illegally.
Two weeks later four “notices” to hold rallies by the same party were rejected by the police who claimed that the notices did not meet provisions of the Maintenance of Peace and Order Act (Mopa).
CCC must, however, develop more channels to make sure that they come together and get ready for the upcoming 2023 elections.
It's been a bad and scary start to 2023 for the main opposition in Zimbabwe with suppression of its the children of God.
Now, dear reader, you need to sit down and be in a safe seat. That is doublespeak. Let us say that “fornicators must be fully accommodated in the body of Christ” you will appreciate the heresy of such a statement.
Take another step forward. I was once sent for a Methodist Conference in Los Angeles where we were welcomed by Bishop Karen Olivetti, a very pretty sister in Christ.
She welcomed us warmly, showered us with love and even offered us a sunset swim on the beach. At lunch, however, I asked my neighbor who the woman who shadowed the bishop was.
Her wife is Susannah Tilton and they have adopted one son and three girls. Olivetti has inspired the founding of an Intercultural Ministry which answers the “call and willingness to claim our prophetic (mission) to make the gospel vision of radically inclusive love and campaign activities, jailing of activists or unexplained arrests being reported in the first month of the year.
This is happening at a time when democracy and freedom of speech are on the rebound in many parts of the continent.
In 2017, Mnangagwa promised that his administration would deliver a new democratic Zimbabwe that respects human rights.
Although Mnangagwa promised improvements in the country’s governance, he is lagging behind in implementing reforms that promote democracy.
His administration has a worse track record than that of the late former president Robert Mugabe grace.”
No Christian will argue with these words, but what Bishop Olivetti is advocating is the tolerance and perpetuation of sinful habits specifically prohibited by St. Paul.
When adulterers join the church, they do not commit themselves to perpetuate their adulterous lifestyles.
That is the point, you sluggard. Bishop Olivetti says: “Who are you to judge?”
In the Church of the Servant, now used as a case study of Methodism, there were 3 000 members. The Book of Discipline forbids a gay life. Dissenters say that gays have been allowed to take leadership positions.
The majority at Servant Church asks the question. Why are the rules in the Book of Discipline not being followed?
I can answer that question. As one climbs the ladder in any organisation, in the church or any other, when it comes to suppressing civic space before elections.
Following the military takeover that removed Mugabe in November 2017, Mnangagwa ascended to power and has since maintained a tough posture to solidify control.
The opposition has faced a tough space since the time of late Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Richard Tsvangirai.
Among the most significant changes since 2017 are political appointments and initiatives that strengthen Zanu PF militarisation in order to support Mnangagwa's hold on power.
A European Union Election Follow-up Mission was sent to Zimbabwe last year to review the state of one finds leaders who do not believe what they preach.
A Californian Methodist clergyman married a gay couple. The matter was brought before the Judicial Council. The judicial council debated the matter to death and then tabled it. The pastor returned to his former activities unscathed.
The answer is that the bishops are probably sympathetic to the gay life. The more educated and wealthier one is, the more likely one is exposed to Jeffrey Epstein’s Island in the Caribbean. Jeffrey Epstein’s customers where Prince Andrew od Britain, former president Bill Clinton, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Amazon’s Jeff Bizos.
So, in the Oklahoma situation, the congregations were ahead of the bishop. They wanted a church and a leadership that believes what it preaches, that Jesus is Lord, and that adulterers, fornicators, murderers and wicked judges will not have a place in heaven.
After two of the largest churches in Oklahoma have voted to withdraw from the conference Bishop Jimmy Nunn has written a “kind” letter to the body of Christ in the Oklahoma Conference. Nunn is pleading with them to postpone all fractious thoughts for the time being and be “on the lookout for what God is doing in our midst,” give themselves time for discernment.
The devil is far from being impressed by Nunn’s kind words.
(Ken Mufuka served for eight years as a Commissioner in the South Carolina Equitable Compensation Commission, four years as chairperson. The Commission advises the bishop on clergy standards and salaries)
Ken Mufuka is a Zimbabwean patriot. He writes from the US. the recommendations made by the EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) of 2018 and to discuss how to advance the cause of democracy in advance of the elections in 2023.
Elmar Brok, a former member of the European Parliament and chief observer for the EU EOM of the 2018 Harmonised Elections in Zimbabwe, served as the mission's leader.
In order to minimise ambiguity and give enough time for implementation and voter education, they strongly encouraged all political parties to engage in good faith to reform the electoral statute long before the 2023 elections, in conjunction with civil society.
The forthcoming elections will certainly provide a stern test for the ‘second republic’ to prove that it is walking its talk to democratise Zimbabwe after the four decades of authoritarian rule by Mugabe.
The banning of rallies and the violence against opposition supporters casts Zimbabwe in a very bad light and those that claim to love the country must ensure that such practices do not become entrenched.
A free and fair election will ensure that Zimbabwe is embraced as an equal in the community of nations instead of being treated as a pariah.
*Evans Mathanda is a journalist and development practitioner who writes in his personal capacity. For feedback email: evanngoe@gmail.com or call 0719770038 and Twitter @EvansMathanda19