THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND THE GENERAL CONFERENCE 2020
Royd Mwandu – Field Representative, 17th Episcopal District
Every four years, The Bishops the of our great Church Led By The Holy Spirit Churn Out The Quadrennial Themes? By Collective Prayerful and fasting The Whole Council Of Bishop who meet in their retreat to seek God face on the direction that the church would take? You will recall that At The 50th Quadrennial Session Of The General Conference Held In Pennsylvania Philadelphia, The Quadrennial Theme 2016-2020 was shared. In What Constituted The Episcopal Address, Bishop Henning, gave out The Year By Year breakdown of the Theme As Follows:
“The African Methodist Episcopal Church: A Social Justice And Liberating Faith”. “And What Does The Lord Require Of You But To Do Justice, To Love Kindness, And To Walk Humbly With Your God?” Micah 6:8 (NASB)
- Political Justice (2016)
- Criminal Justice (2017)
- Environmental Justice (2018)
- Economic Justice (2019)
The Clergy And Laity were Encouraged To Incorporate The Connectional Theme In The Ministries Of Local Congregations With Special Worships Services, Bible Studies, Retreats/Conference Sessions, Action Plans And Community Conversations. Whether or not this was achieved is for you our reader to provide a feedback.
Additionally, Auxiliaries, On The Connectional And Conference Level were Encouraged To Include The Theme In Their Ministry And deliberations. It Was Hoped That Those Will Not Be Just Talking Points But Action Items For Our Global Ministry. Again, whether or not this was achieved is for you our reader to provide a feedback.
The question is do we take our Episcopal Leadership Address with the seriousness with which the sharing is presented. Or is it just a talk show of sharing ideas of what could be done without rolling out corresponding action plans with quantifiable deliverable.
No doubt, Covid-19 has been an untimely interjection and challenge to parity in our church’s Global Ministry. For 2019, Economic Justice, Was The Theme That Was Going To Usher Us Into The General Conference 2020 Which Is Now Being Help In 2021 under the transitioned, modified and flexible Orlando Hybrid, Due To The Challenges Of Covid-19. The writer is seating in the cluster at what we arer calling “Orlando, Ndola, Zambia, while other are in Orlando, Liberia amd Orlando South Africa.
In the yearly roll out, one line Items That Was To Be Given Attention In 2019 was the The Digital Divide, A careful look at the details makes one prove that it is fitting well into the covid-19 environment the church is groping in.
“Digital Divide” Refers To The Gap Between Demographics And Regions That Have Access To Modern Information And Communications Technology, And Those That Don’t Or Have Restricted Access. This Technology Can Include The Telephone, Television, Personal Computers And The Internet. See, the Bishops saw it and were on point that in 2020, digital divide would be a problem if not well handled.
The GC2020 has fully exposed the true realities of the Gaps that exist between Demographics and Regions in the USA and the African continent. Resistance for GC2020 to go 100% virtual were a clear indication that the church did not prepare adequately for the obtaining digital divide. In spite of technical advice for the church not to proceed with in person gathering, we insisted went on swimming against the current of Covid-19. Simply stated, we did not prepare adequately and we failed to invest heavily in the much needed necessary Information and Communication Technology ICT’s. Clearly, their were pockets of laxity in closing gaps of digital divide between Africa and the USA. At the end of the quadrennium, we should have been boasting of having state of the art Episcopal Computer labolatories and ICT war rooms in Africa. Apart from a few Districts that have institutions of higher learning, none ever made an attempt to make digital divide hay while the sun shined.
To this end, not withstanding, in the GC2016, all accredited delegates were provided with electronic tablets irrespective of the District of their origin. In contrast, in 2021, delegates from the continent of Africa were requested provide their own pieces of electronic gadgets whether they liked it or not. As a result, at the time of this write up, some delegates on the continent of Africa who do not have their own laptops and tablets told their Bishops they would not participate in the GC2020. Some of these are Presiding Elder and that tells a story, the situation among the clergy and laity is worse off.
It is hoped that, in the GC2020, will take the Episcopal address seriously so that we do not find ourslevs in the same situation we found ourselves on the issue of digital divide. We wish all our Bishops, General Officers, Connectional officers, delegates and the whole AME Church family success in the GC2020.
Royd Mwandu – Field Representative, 17th Episcopal District
