‘WE WILL NEVER ALLOW CONDOMS IN CHURCH’

MBABANE – “Condoms will never be allowed inside church premises.” These were assertions made by the President of the Conference of Churches in the country, Bishop Stephen Masilela.

This comes after some pastors from the Church of the Nazarene said they were ready to allow condoms inside their church premises.
Masilela said they were not of the view that condoms should be brought inside church premises, which was a place of worship. He said the church did not promote sexual intercourse (among unmarried people) as the Word of God was preached there, and for only three hours at most.

According to Masilela, allowing condoms would be against the morals and values which the church promoted and stood for.
He said they were not against condom usage, but people should access them in the right places and not inside the church.
“Condoms should not be brought to the church as they are known to be another form of contraceptive. Why bring them to church because there are other areas where they could be easily accessible,” he questioned.

He said if condoms were allowed in church, why not bring all the other contraceptives to the house of worship as well.
Masilela said Christians could use condoms but should fetch them from the rightful places.

Further, he said it was certain pastors of the Nazarene Church, who had taken the decision and not the church as a whole.
Masilela said by virtue of the Church of the Nazarene being their member, they were yet to engage them on the matter to find out whether they were of the same view as their pastors in terms of support for condoms within the church premises.

“The church is an organised unit and the organisation which was engaging these pastors should have consulted us, not to pick anyone from the street,” he explained.

He said if there were issues which touched on the nation at large, organisations should contact the rightful people, in this case which was the Conference of Churches, Council of Churches and the League of Churches.

It was reported yesterday that the Pigg’s Peak Church of the Nazarene and the  Vusweni branch were embracing condoms and had agreed that they would be made available in the church for those who may want to utilise them.

This transpired during the Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) HIV Knows No Borders agenda for enhancing the collaborative role for religious and traditional leaders at Pigg’s Peak Hotel.

The programme was supported by Save the Children and International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Philemon Dlamini, a pastor at Vusweni Nazarene Church, said it was their responsibility to bring condoms and provide for those who were interested in using them. Dlamini said this would assist in ensuring healthy people.

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