"THE feud within the Anglican Church should be solved once and for all!"
These were the sentiments of Mrs Chazuzu, a parishioner at St Philip’s Anglican Church in Tafara, Harare. She was witnessing the proceedings of a court hearing at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts, where some of the parishioners appeared for initial remand after allegedly breaking into the church premises.
The feud in the Anglican Church has been raging on for the past two years resulting in frequent clashes between those led by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga and Bishop Sebastian Bakare.
St Philip’s Church is not the only Anglican parish that has been dogged by bitter wrangles as most services in parishes around Harare and Chitungwiza have been affected.
Within the Anglican community the two factions’ followers have become strangers to one another. Some fight every other Sunday before or after worshipping. Others no longer greet each other or attend social gatherings together because of the feud.
Tempers flare within the place of worship and are set to rage on until the courts finalise the issue of ownership of property.
"Those who used to eat ‘Holy Sacrament’ from the same plate and sharing wine from the same cup are now turning the places of worship into battlefields," commented a Harare Magistrates’ Court official.
Recently the wife of a priest loyal to Bakare passed away and was denied burial at the Anglican Cemetery in Chitungwiza. Parishioners no longer attend funerals together because of the feud.
The contention within the Anglican Church started in the year 2007 when Bishop Kunonga decided to wean the church from the Province of Central Africa, claiming it supported the ordination of gay bishops and leaders.
Kunonga’s spokesperson, Bishop Alfred Munyanyi, said: "The synod decided to pull out of the Province of Central Africa because we did not concur on their tolerance of gays."
The church then went on to form the Anglican Church of the Province of Zimbabwe.
However, some parishioners were against the idea of pulling out of the Province of Central Africa resulting in the feud. In the past two years, there have been battles for the ownership of church premises, resulting in the matter spilling into the High Court.
Judge President Justice Rita Makarau ruled that the two factions share the church buildings, with the Kunonga faction conducting their mass from 8am to 10pm and that of Bakare entering the church after a period of 90 minutes.
The Kunonga faction immediately appealed to the Supreme Court against Justice Makarau’s ruling.
The Supreme Court is yet to rule on the matter. In the meantime, violence has become commonplace in the church, with police being called upon to restore order.
Bishop Munyanyi said the Bakare faction should not use the premises because the appeal by the Kunonga group to the Supreme Court suspended the High Court ruling.
Some of the Bakare followers such as those at Chitungwiza’s St Mary’s Anglican Church have resorted to worshipping in open spaces. They pitch a tent when it is raining.
St Peter’s Church in Mabelreign has been renting space from the Roman Catholic Church for their services.
Last week, five parishioners from New Tafara appeared before Harare magistrate Mrs Catherine Chimanda facing charges of malicious damage to property after they allegedly forced entry into the church building. Another resident identified as Misheck Mhike last week remarked: "If political leaders could come together and work for the benefit of the people, why should church leaders fail to do the same?"
But Bishop Kunonga dismissed any prospects of coming together with Bishop Bakare. He said the worshippers were free to come back to the Church of the Province of Zimbabwe.
"There should be only one authority in our church," said Kunonga before referring all questions to Bishop Munyanyi.
Bakare, on the other hand, said he was not in any battle with Kunonga, adding that he commanded a lot of followers. Bakare said the battle was between his faction and the police.
"If you visit our churches you can see that Kunonga has no following. It is now a battle between my faction and the police," said Bakare.
Bishop Bakare said his faction needed protection as the police perpetually chased them out of the church.
"Our huge gatherings are always dispersed every Sunday by the police. But we will keep on praying," said Bishop Bakare.
Bishop Munyanyi dismissed Bishop Bakare’s assertions, saying if Bakare claimed to be the head of the church he should have an office.
-- Edited by annointed on Saturday 18th of April 2009 10:42:54 PM
What a shame? why cant you just come together and be united in Christ instead of fighting. The buildings and property are not the true church but Christ is the true church and each member is part of that board, so don't fight. resolve your differences. what will you say to God when the day of judgement come, that we chased away those who also wanted to worship? leave the judgement on the issue of gay bishops to the Lord who will judge everyone.
