Cape Town: The Work in the 15th

17 Mar - 9:30PM
I've finally settled in the Cape. Settled means I've developed some normalcy of my time here. I have a routine, I'm getting used to the nuances that are different than being in Kentucky and the extremities of my work have hit me like a ton of bricks!

I will now talk some about my work. Due to the sensitive nature of the work, I am unable to provide significant details, but essentially its this: cultural differences + church politics = a big mess!  Allow me to provide some context...

The AME Church - African Methodist Episcopal Church - was founded in 1787 and born from a defiant spirit and desire to worship freely without the issue of white dominance and control from the American Methodists.  After spreading the Connectional Church across the United States (mainly in the northeast and midwest), by 1896, the AME Church established a presence in Africa. Today, 7 of the 21 Episcopal Districts represent over 20 African countries in the AME Church.

The General Conference is the presiding body of the Church - composed of the 20 Bishops (as ex-officio officers) and an equal number of ministers and lay representatives from each District (in addition to other ex-officio members).  The Council of Bishops meet annually to hear and address concerns regarding issues brought against the Bishops.  The Board of Incorporators oversees the AMEC's property issues.  The General Board serves as the administrative body with representatives from the various Commissions (and its officers) in addition to a presiding Bishop and the others.  The Judicial Board is the appellate court of the Church.  While maybe seemingly unimportant to the reader here, this structure puts the Episcopal in the AME Church and is relevant to my work here.

This structure rests at the heart of the issues in the 15th District. Strained relationships between individual lay persons, between the lay and the pastors and the between the lay, pastors and Bishop(s) have all been supported or challenged by the processes outlined in the Discipline.  The rules of the Church rest in the Discipline - the book that guides the AME Church. Everything from worship services, to the appointment of pastors to the discipline of leadership - Bishops, Elders and ministers - is written in the Discipline.  Here in the 15th District, the Discipline seems to be more important than the Bible!

24 Mar - 11:20AM
The issues here are multi-layered: misuse of power, disrespect, allegations of sexual misconduct, historical precedence of non-action on behalf of leadership to discipline leaders, capitalism, imperialism - the list could go on and on. Perhaps, besides the latter two issues, these conditions are not specific to South Africa. AME Churches and for that, other Christian denominations - Catholics, Baptists, Evangelicals - suffer from many of the same issues as do we. Its my belief that these issues are more pronounced here in Cape Town partly due to the larger political context that serves as a backdrop for how people live.

Colured woman and her child

South Africa is dominated by the African National Congress party. ANC members are Africans - true Africans as I would say. They have a tribal heritage, have dark skin and are referred to as the "Blacks."  In Cape Town, they are not the majority as they are throughout the country. "Colureds" - or people of mixed race with lighter skin tone than Blacks - make up most of the city. Most of the AME churches are congregated by Colureds. Afrikaans are the White people. For the most part, these groups live in segregated communities and do not mix socially. Colureds and Afrikaans speak Afrikaan - a mixture of Portugese, German, Dutch and other languages of groups who colonized the country. Blacks mostly speak the Cosa language (though there certainly are many other languages spoken as well). Most everyone knows some English and serves to some degree as a uniting element.

A quick and dirty assessment of what I have been dealing with is this...

Prior to Bishop McCloud's time here, the past Bishop made pastoral appointments that some people didn't like, he removed an Elder that rubbed some people the wrong way and was found guilty by the AME Church of mishandling a sexual misconduct case. He was removed of his post and Bishop McCloud was his replacement - almost three years into his 4-year term.

When Bishop McCloud arrived in February 2011, many ministers and lay had joined a group within the church called The Movement for Change. The Movement wanted to see the past Bishop brought to justice in addition to the pastor and Elder who had been accused of sexual misconduct. The investigation of the sexual misconduct case was mishandled and after 3 Judiciary Committee processes there lacked enough evidence for the AME Church to pursue charges against the accused (in addition to the lapse of time according to the Discipline). The accusers did not pursue the case far enough for the secular justice system to work in their favor. In the midst of this all, the sexual misconduct case hits the local tabloid causing a wave of presumed guilt toward the accused that further damaged relationships in the church.

Ebenezer (Bellville) with locks

Since Bishop McCloud's arrival (and even prior to), many of the ministers have left the Movement and have been accepted back into the AME Church. For them, the removal of the past Bishop was enough for them to move forward. It is rumored that some of the ministers left the Movement in order to receive favor from Bishop McCloud and to get good pastoral appointments.  Whatever the reason, all but 11 of the original 42 ministers have left the Movement.  The 11 that remain have since been expelled from the Church for refusing to abide by AME laws. They are upset by this as are many of their congregates and hence are "occupying" the churches under the auspice of seeking justice and wanting to continue to worship in "their churches."  That fight is a very tough one and has even gotten physically violent. The Bishop has appointed new ministers to these churches and the church body's are refusing to accept the newly appointed pastors. Churches are being locked and disputes over keys and control of the buildings continue to persist.

So my day-to-day work has been in meeting with ministers and lay to hear how these issues have affected them personally, their families, their churches and the overall climate of the District. What Bishop McCloud has asked me to do is help develop a process for reconciliation as a way forward. In three weeks, this task has seemed quite impossible!