We Are Yet Alive
By Sipho Mfundisi, 19thEpiscopal District
In the AME Church across the entire Connection, the year of 2018 witnessed the holding of penultimate annual conferences in the current quadrennium. In 2019, all annual conferences will be held with a view to the denomination’s 2020 General Conference.
Delegates from among the ranks of clergy and lay members will be elected to represent each conference and Episcopal district. In some cases, the 2018 Annual Conferences in the 19thEpiscopal District left casualties in their wake as some pastors were left on the conference floors without appointments, others were transferred to more lucrative charges, and others were promoted to presiding elder positions.
The 2020 General Conference will, as usual, see lobbying for positions of the bishopric as some bishops will retire because of their advanced age. Positions of general officers will also be sought by some aspiring individuals.
It has always struck my mind why elections in church tend to be so divisive. Lots of money is spent on campaigns for positions in the church! One would have thought that there is no need for monetary incentives.
Positions of power are sought all over, especially in the church. While men and women of character have to be elected, there should be no “blood” left on the floor or losers left to lick their wounds.
I hold the view that the North-South situation, or North America set against Districts 14-20, will not help much. While the best man or woman has to win, a territorial advantage is for the Americans in terms of venues for the General Conferences. This gives them better chances to emerge victoriously.
One would be forgiven to believe that the Global Development Council is set to give men and women an opportunity to take our cause across the globe. There is again the unwritten rule that in order for a bishop to be assigned to a district in America, they should go through the eye of the needle. I may be wrong but I have yet to be informed of any bishop born outside America who was ever presided in the United States.
The Episcopal Committee should be open as to the criteria they apply in assigning bishops to the extent that no bishop who is not an American, newly-elected, or a doyen has ever been assigned to serve a district in the USA.
On the contrary, there are many pastors of American origin who campaign knowing that the maximum number of years they may serve outside America is eight. Some fortunate ones get recalled after serving only one quadrennial outside America while it looks like bishops of African descent are destined to serve as equals among equals only in Districts 14-16.
We are aware of some bishops who hit the road running in Africa, would have loved to have a second bite of the African cake in the episcopacy. Yet, they were “recalled” to the USA.
One looks forward to a General Conference where some soul from the Global Development Council area will be elected to a general office in 2020. Let the best men and women stand up to the challenge to show that we are yet alive on the Mother Continent.
Mr. Sipho Mfundisi, BA, BEd is a career educator having served as both teacher and administrator. He served in the Parliament of South Africa from 1999-2014 where he rose to the position of Chief Whip for the United Christian Democratic Party. He has held various positions in the 19th Episcopal District Lay Organization and has served as delegate to several sessions of the General Conference. He is a member of Agnes B. Hildebrand AME Church, Mabopane.
