Rev. Fonki Forba
Some Christians of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC have vowed to paralyse the church describing recent appointments in the Church as punitive.
On May 29, the newly inducted moderator of the PCC signed a decision to appoint and transfer staff in all the Presbyteries of the Church around the country. Among those transferred was the Secretary for Bali Presbytery, Rev. Titatang Kingsley Bobga who doubles as Parish Pastor for PC Ntanfoang-Bali.
When the news got to the Christians in Bali on June 1, they sealed the church, demanding that the moderator redresses his decision. They said Rev. Titatang has been there just for 10 months and his transfer to Bui Presbytery in the same capacity is punishment. There are also isolated cases in other presbyteries of the church where Christians are dissatisfied with the transfer of their pastor. There are, however, instances were Christians are jubilating. Some Christians in PC Molyko are happy with the transfer of Rev. Jones Ebot Ayuk to Douala, advancing varied reasons which are for the most part personal.
Unfortunately, all the pastors we got to were either out of the country or maintained sealed lips. The National Secretary for Communication, Rev. Thomas Mokoko Mbue we learnt was attending a workshop on “Peace Building” at the Mindanao Peace-building Institute in Davao, Philippines.
The Programme Officer of the Christian Broadcasting Service, Rev. Gustav Tabi Ebai, however, talked to The Journal by telephone. He also doubles as Parish Pastor of PC Likoko-Membea.
Asked if we could get a copy of the appointments, he said the list was being updated and denied claims that mass protest against the appointments was the reason why the list had to be updated.
“When they do staffing in the PCC, they can never withdraw the list, no matter the degree of agitations. There will always be agitations. If I was removed from here, there are those who will be happy and others who will agitate. It is always like that. There has never been any year without agitations. It is just that some people are media mongers. If I can recall well, this same time last year, and even the years before, there are always agitations. It always happens but it doesn’t change the church. We are in a corporate organisation with over 1,200 congregations. Can you really staff them without agitations?” he questioned.
Reacting to claims that the transfers and appointments were punitive, Rev. Ebai told The Journal on June 13 that:
“The pastor for Bali is not in the country. Why will the church choose to punish somebody who is out of the country on mission for the church? If the church wanted to punish him, they would not have sent him out of the country.
“Few people in the congregations around feel that by making noise, they are showing love for the pastor. I always prepare the minds of my Christians to know that I can be transferred at any time. Some people because they have fallen in love with you will not want you to leave. The Secretary for Bali presbytery is one of the church leaders. He occupies another position bigger than that of the Presbytery Secretary.
“He has higher positions in the church. The Synod Clerk is from Bali, and would not want to hurt his own brother, not to talk of him wanting to hurt the Christians in Bali. There are just some funny persons trying to manipulate the members of the church in Bali. “I was transferred to three different congregations within two and a half years. In each of the places, there was no uprising because I had prepared the minds of the faithful. If a pastor is good for congregation “A”, he should also be good for congregation “B”. No congregation can monopolise a pastor.free press ad
By July 1, when those appointed are expected to take up office, these same Christians making noise will embrace the new pastors as if nothing ever happened,” Rev. Ebai said.
Synod Clerk, Rev. Fochang Babila washes hands
Contacted to comment on the uprisings that have greeted the recent staff appointments in the Church, the Synod Clerk, Rev. Fochang Babila reacted like the biblical Pontius Pilate.
His words: “I don’t know. I’m not the church. I’m just a member of the staffing committee and so it is the committee that can address the issues, not me.”
Reminded that there was an emergency meeting held at the Synod Office on Friday June 5 to arrest the crisis, the Synod Clerk said; “We don’t have crisis meetings in the PCC. We have regular meetings that are on the timetable. We have a calendar of activities. We did not have a crisis meeting. We don’t have any situation where we need a crisis meeting. What we had was a statutory executive committee meeting. It holds once in two months. There’s no crisis in the church and as such, we don’t need a crisis meeting.”
When we requested a copy of the appointments, Rev. Fochang said: “Go to the appropriate quarters. When appointments are made, each presbyterial secretary carries the information and the letters to the various staff members who have been appointed or transferred. I don’t have it.”
All attempts to get to the Moderator were unsuccessful as his phone rang without pick up.
