Times Of Swaziland: METHODIST CHURCH SPLIT: STOP USING OUR HYMN BOOKS, UNIFORM

METHODIST CHURCH SPLIT: STOP USING OUR HYMN BOOKS, UNIFORM
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Sibusiso Shange on 12/05/2022 09:09:00


MBABANE - The Methodist Church of Southern Africa Highveld in Eswatini says
anyone deciding to leave the church should not use its hymns books, uniform
among other things.
Responding to the talks in relation to the formation of Wesleyan Church of
Eswatini by some members of the church, Bishop Sondlile Nkwanyana of the
Highveld in Eswatini, said the newly-established church had no link to the old
church. The news of the establishment of the Wesleyan Church in Eswatini was
shared by Party Shongwe, who is an active member of the new church. This,
Nkwanyana  said, was because the Methodist Church of Southern Africa had not
approved or blessed any formation of a branch in Eswatini. He said anyone
establishing a church was doing so on his own accord. “They should not use our
hymn books, uniform or anything that has to do with our church because there is
no link between the two churches,” he said.
Concerned
Nkwanyana said as far as the church was concerned, there was no Methodists
Church of South Africa serving as a main branch for a local Methodist Church of
Eswatini. Nkwanyana said there were no branches in South Africa and Eswatini.
However, he said the church, which had existed for almost 200 years had 15
districts in six of the Sothern African countries, namely; Eswatini, South
Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Mozambique. He said no money was taken to
South Africa from Eswatini, as stated by members of the newly-established
church, as one of the reasons for parting ways with the church. Instead,
Nkwanyana said money was taken to one office and utilised accordingly. He said
it was the same money that was used to pay salaries for priests.
Asked if the members of the now Wesleyan Church of Eswatini informed the
Highveld of Eswatini about their decision to leave the Methodist Church of
Southern Africa, Nkwanyana responded that a certain group wrote an email, where
they listed some of their challenges. He said the church complained about the
language barrier, as they used Sotho, Tswana and Zulu among other African
languages.  Nkwanyana stated that as far as the church was concerned, language
was not an issue because there were interpreters in the church. He also
mentioned that the group raised the issue of involvement of lesbians gays
bisexual transgender Queen and intersex (LGBTQI) members in the church. “I
don’t know how that is an issue because we have never officiated a marriage of
people of the same sex in the church,” he said.
Nkwanyana stated that many people had been asking what measures were to be taken
against priests who breached their vows in the church. He said the presiding
Bishop, Purity Malinga, made it clear in the statement that the formation of the
Wesleyan Church of Eswatini had not been blessed or approved by the Methodist
Church of Southern Africa. He said the church had just been established by
people on their own accord. As a result, he stated that the Methodists Church of
Southern Africa had requested a formal letter from the Mahamba Circuit, so that
they could discipline the priests who breached the church vows.
He mentioned that the Methodists Church of Southern Africa had been reliably
informed that members of the Wesleyan Church were luring members of their church
into joining them.
Nkwanyana was speaking on national radio yesterday morning. He mentioned that he
had been requested by members of the church to set the record straight after
Shongwe made the startling allegations about the church. “Members of the
church sent me Shongwe’s recordings and asked that I respond,” he said.
Developments
When informed about the latest developments, Shongwe stated that he heard
Nkwanyana on national radio.  However, he said there was no way they could not
use the hymn books of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. Shongwe said
there were many churches that used the same hymn books as the Methodists Church
of Southern Africa. “Nkwanyana can say a lot in his defence, but it cannot
help. I heard him accusing members of the Wesleyan Church of Eswatini of
enticing members of the Methodists Church of Southern Africa to join their
church. Unfortunately, we have a meeting with the church Board tomorrow. May we
give a full response after the meeting,” Shongwe said briefly. Shongwe had
cited unfair distribution of offerings, stipends, tithes and neglect as the root
cause of leaving the Methodists Church of Southern Africa.