WINDHOEKFRED GOEIEMAN
One of the losing candidates in the recent election of the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) has expressed his disappointment with the “ill-discipline” displayed by some of the delegates.
He has also hinted at tribalism as one of the reasons he did not enjoy more support.
Deputy Bishop Paul Hatani Kisting, who many saw as the frontrunner for the post eventually secured by Reverend Ernst //Gaxamub, told Namibian Sun yesterday that some of the clergymen had showed extreme disrespect toward the church hierarchy.
Kisting, who was eventually elected deputy bishop at the synod, said those with disciplinary issues had not supported him as bishop because he is seen as a strict leader.
The ELCRN Synod, at which the successor to Bishop Zephania Kameeta was elected, was held over four days in Tsumeb and has allegedly left a bitter taste in the mouths of some senior church leaders.
Among the unsavoury incidents included suspended clergymen being ejected from the venue by the police, after the arrived without invitation letters. Those ejected were Paul Goagoseb, Petrus van Zyl, Cornelius F Isaack and Hans Eduard Christiaan.
Kisting said yesterday that situations had developed at the synod which “one does not in most cases expect” and that the “disrespect for authority stems from Ill-disciplined pastors”.
He claimed he had been targeted during the synod because he was seen as being too strict and “culprits with disciplinary problems” allegedly fear him.
Kisting also expressed concern about church unity being threatened by tribalism.
“This is a disturbing phenomenon,” he stressed.
Kisting said he will do his level best to support the incoming bishop and ensure that the church fulfils its objectives.
“Our team will ensure the church carries out the instructions of God for the benefit of all in the country,” he said.
There have been allegations that 17 congregations were allegedly stabbed in the back by their delegates and clergy to the synod, who changed their votes not to favour Kisting.
Kameeta had held the church leadership for the past eleven years.
A church elder, who preferred anonymity for the sake of church unity, said Kisting, who had been nominated by 17 congregations, had been targeted.
He claimed that //Gamxamub was allegedly nominated as a candidate by only seven congregations.
Seven rounds of voting had taken place at the synod, when no candidate obtained a two-thirds majority.
//Gamxamub, who eventually obtained the most votes, was declared as the winner and it is expected to take office at the beginning of November after his inauguration.
“The delegates did not fulfil the mandate of their congregations. The clergy meted out the biggest dishonour to their congregations,” the church elder claimed.
