Good News amidst Covid-19: Women Leadership in the 19th Episcopal District
Rev. Teboho G. Klaas, Pastor of Robinson Temple AME Church
19th Episcopal District (Republic of South Africa)
Covid-19 related morbidity and mortality are rapidly increasing in South Africa with the reported second wave, due to a new variant coronavirus. By the unfathomable grace of God, however, good news have increased in the 19th Episcopal District, too. The number of women Presiding Elders and pastors in major pulpits are on an increase, likely to increase further.
Bishop E. Earl McCloud, Jr. superintends the Episcopal District, presiding over its virtual planning meeting on 7 December 2020, and has appointed two women Presiding Elders – namely, the Rev. Fredolene J. Manganye and the Rev. Joyce S. Tembu from the East and Orangia Conferences, respectively.
He landed in the district in September 2019, appointed by the Council of Bishops. Since the first series of annual conference, that year, winds of change were seen as he encouraged generational mix conference leadership and participation. Consequently, women and youth participation in finance committees instantly increased, with most committee chairpersons being young women – clergy and lay delegates, alike.
First time ever, the Episcopal Treasurer is a woman and a lay person, Ms. Ndidi Mpye – a W.M.S. member and a Chartered Accountant. She one of first few South African women in the profession. Recently, she delivered an Episcopal District financial policy, an independently audited financial statement and a proposed budget, unanimously adopted. She has co-engineered the resuscitation of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), doing the same for a state-owned enterprise (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa – PRASA).
Her financial report has reflected a philanthropic donation to the church, by the Motsepe Foundation, for the first time, benefit various church ministries. The ministries include, among others, scholarship and prison ministry support, as well as augmenting the District’s development fund. In the same vein, she has put in place a financial policy that encourages greater accountability, previously a sore point in the immediate past.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Tebogo Thobane now manages annuities for clergy, with established clarity on coverage. The psycho-social wellness of the clergy has been prioritised with the appointment of a professional consultant, Dr. Lerato Motsoaledi. She is a Clinical Psychologist also contributing towards a sound mental health response to the pandemic for the broader church constituency.
Women ministers with proven leadership and pastoral capabilities are in major pulpits, an agenda still in progress. The Rev. Nonkosi Mawisa is such a pastor promoted and, who, Bishop McCloud, Jr. apologised to her for a previous East Conference sexual misconduct verdict against her and overturned it.
Gender-based Violence and Femicides has strongly featured in the District as Bishop McCloud, Jr. convened a virtual workshop which included the 14th Episcopal District. It was addressed by the North-West Province Judge President, Justice Monica Leeuw (a W.M.S member, also), first South African woman the State President appointed in the office. Since the workshop, the Bishop has reversed the re-admission of a clergy member who served jail time for domestic violence. He can no longer perform ministerial function and respond to the clergy roll call.
The district is collectively thinking strategies for doing effective ministry and church growth during a pandemic. At the helm, driving this thinking process, are Ms. Christina Mosala, a Social Worker and the Orangia Conference W.M.S. President, together with Ms. Zikhethele Sithole, the Natal Conference Y.P.D. President, who co-chair an Episcopal Think Tank.
Meanwhile, the Bishop has declared Mrs. Violet Lodi, a W.M.S. life member and former Connectional Associate Editor of the Missionary Magazine, the Mother of the 19th Episcopal District. She serves as the advisor in the Episcopal W.M.S. Executive Board which has since out-smarted itself in its missionary pursuits in the pandemic. Together with her late husband, the Rev. Peter Lodi, also a Presiding Elder, she has endeared herself to many church leadership and membership here and abroad.
Hybrid hosting of meetings and conferences, currently spoken about in the connectional, works. All gatherings, this year, were virtual. However, to allow for clergy and lay delegates with internet access and affordability constraints, in-person participation was allowed in internet hubs located within the Presiding Elders Districts. They had to strictly adhere to Covid-19 non-pharmaceutical preventative interventions (i.e., compulsory wearing of face masks, sanitising hands, social distancing and temperature screening) and the hubs were exclusively accessible to them only.
It is proven, “We are better together (Acts 2:1).” It is theme which guided these accomplishments, cheerfully led by Bishop E. Earl McCloud Jr. and Dr. Patricia Russell McCloud, who are the Presiding Prelate and Supervisor, respectively.
