ANGLICAN BISHOP DALCY ANNOUNCES TASK TEAM TO DEAL WITH ISSUES

MBABANE – The Anglican Church Bishop, Dr Dalcy Dlamini, has announced the names of people who will form a task team to focus on the issues that threaten to split the church.

This follows an incident in which the Office of the Bishop was petitioned on Sunday. Some of the issues that gave rise to the petitioning of the bishop by the congregants included the transfer of the All Saints Rector, Advent Nhlanhla Dlamini and his archdean to the Mhlume Branch. The duo is expected to relocate to their new workstation by April 30, 2023.
The bishop announced the list of the task team members yesterday evening after she officially received the petition from the All Saints Cathedral Christians, who had also paid her a visit on Sunday at her place of residence but did not find her.

Consultation

According to Bishop Dlamini, following much prayer and consultation, she said by divine permission as bishop of Eswatini, she decided to set up a task team to focus on the issues at hand as they crafted a way forward. Dlamini stated that they had been requested by His Grace Archbishop Thabo Cecil Makgoba of Cape Town and Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, to resolve the matter as a diocese. She said the Archbishop’s Office indicated to them that they had received a correspondence from the All Saints Cathedral, adding that they should decide on the matter. The bishop said the church knew where to go during perilous times. She added that the bishop, as the shepherd of the flock, began a journey with a clergy person in any given situation, including transfers. In case there were differences, the bishop stated that such a clergy knew where to appeal as stipulated in the canons.

She reminded the Christians that they were guided by the constitutions and canons of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa; the regulations of the Diocese of Eswatini Anglican Church as well as the Sola Scriptura, reasoning and traditions. “The above tools guide us on how to act and conduct ourselves both in the church and in public,” she said. Bishop Dalcy added that the outcome of every negotiation may not be what one expected, however, the duty of the bishop was to look at the bigger picture. She said the plea was that the Church of God should always remember that they had clergy for the diocese not for a particular parish. She said the clergy took vows of canonical obedience, both to the bishop and successors, hence their prayer was to assist the clergy in every way they could.

Furthermore, she stated that both clergy and laity had their boundaries, adding that what had brought them to where they were today was the fact that they might have forgotten their identity. “We are not here to judge or condemn each other, but the saying might be true in this instance that ‘grass often looks greener on the other side’.” Among the resolutions taken by the congregants was that the transfers be stopped while the issue was being resolved by the archbishop’s office. The Christians made it clear that if the response from the Archbishop’s Office was not satisfactory, it shall be rejected. Furthermore, they reaffirmed that they would not remit the assessments. On the issue of the rector’s transfer, they stated that there would not be any movement, while they were still awaiting the archbishop’s response. Also, they mentioned that the response from the archbishop’s office should be aligned with the manner they wanted the church to operate, which would make it grow and not divide it.

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