Change is the only thing that is permanent.
When Rev. Festus Ambe Asana became Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in
Cameroon PCC, he announced that change had come to the PCC. He was not blowing
hot air. Within months of his leadership the axe fell on a good number of PCC
methuselahs who initially considered themselves untouchable. A good number of
them had become brazenly corrupt. The decision was highly acclaimed. Even
before the Moderator took this commendable step, a majority of PCC vote holders
were already shifting uneasily on their seats. The crusade against corruption
in the church was already underway championed by Ntumfor Nico Halle.
Last Sunday, June 3, Rev Festus
Asana took another very dramatic decision. He authenticated albeit tacitly,
sanctions on three ‘recalcitrant’ pastors. The three are Rev. Solomon Wara and
Rev Tokabo Divine. Rev Adose Osage, one of the sanctioned pastors will have to
reimburse a sum of 10 million FCFA to the PCC. MANAWA has no quarrel with the
PCC Moderator who made the pronouncements on the heels of the graduation
ceremony of 24 student pastors from the Presbyterian Seminary in Kumba.
During the occasion, Rev. Dr.
Muyoh Joshua, Dean of Studies at the Theological seminary urged the graduating
pastors to abide by their calling.
In his sermon, the Right Reverend
Festus Ambe Asana harped on his philosophy of change. He described the
sanctioned pastors as ‘bad seeds’ and urged the graduating pastors not to
emulate their examples.
Is Pastor Wara Really a Bad Seed?
Rev. Solomon Wara is a household
name not only in Bamenda where he resides, but far and wide. His ministry
recently received an award from Cameroon Post International, a renowned English
language newspaper as the best in healing and deliverance. The testimonies of
people he has delivered and healed are there as proof. There must be something good
in something whom almost everyone speaks good of, just as there must be
something evil about anyone whom everybody condemns.
Pastor Wara is different from
other healing and delivering evangelists in that he never discourages those
seeking healing from taking their drugs. Many others tell those who come for
healing and deliverance that they don’t need to spend any money in hospital,
indirectly saying the money with which the patient should have gone to hospital
should be given to their churches. That is outright feymania. Deliverance is
necessary for people who have spiritual problems; the doctor attends to
physical problems. Preachers, who give the impression that doctors are useless,
greatly misdirect those coming for deliverance.
Polyclinics, renowned for the
handling of HIV cases, told Chronicle that a sero-positive patient who had been
put on anti-retroviral drugs, came to him after a deliverance session saying he
should test her; that she had been miraculously cured of AIDS. Of course, he
did the test and she still proved sero-positive. This is not to say that people
cannot be cured miraculously. This depends on the degree of the patient’s faith
and Pastor Wara never fails to point this out. Many patients with doubtful
faith have died because they stopped taking their drugs with the misconception
that they had been cured simply because they have attended deliverance services
and/or crusades. To say that Pastor Wara is a realistic and sincere evangelist
is to call things by their true names.
The PCC Failing to Learn From the Bible and History
History has been defined simply
as the story of the past events of man. History scholars commend studies on
man’s past so that he can cope with the present and plan for a better future
avoid the errors of the past. History is repetitive, sometimes refusing to make
sense, says W.B. Yeats. PCC authorities forget that the Protestant church came
into existence thanks to Martin Luther who wrote 95 points against the Catholic
Church for the sale of indulgences. He pasted them on the wall of the Catholic
Church in Wattenberg, Germany. That was the beginning of
the Reformation. But what many people don’t know is that Martin Luther died
still a Catholic. But the seed of discord he had sown grew. Today we have not
only the Protestant and Baptist churches, but myriads of worship houses and
ministries.
W.H. Auden, an English poet, was
not far from the point when he wrote that most of the confusion in the world
today stems from Martin Luther’s rebellion against the established church.
The PCC should therefore learn
from the fact that Martin Luther died a catholic, a lesson that we should learn
to tolerate dissenting views within the same community or organization if we
want a healthy society. The PCC should recall what happened in the case of
pastors with dissenting voices like the late Michael Bame Bame and Rev.
Jonathan Awasom. Rev Bame Bame started the Revivalist Movement in the
Presbyterian Church because of such vices like corruption, immorality and even
occultism which had taken root in the church. He was condemned outright and
sanctioned. Today, the PCC is implementing most of the reforms he proposed.
Rev. Jonathan Awasom, like Pastor
Wara was PCC Pastor in Bambili. The church tried to victimize him when he came
up with reformatory ideas. He was expelled and derobed. Today, he is based in
the U.S.
His victimization hastened his departure. Today, he is away from the scene but
his ideas live on.
The PCC hierarchy appears not to
have also learnt from the very Bible it uses for evangelization, when the
disciples were preaching and some authorities tried to victimize them. Other
more sensible persons thought otherwise. “If these men are of God, they will
succeed. If they are not they will come to naught”; was the advice from the sensible
ones. If all what Pastor Wara and other deliverance pastors are doing are not
of the Lord, everything would come to naught. But the PCC hierarchy has decided
to take a position in a matter which is God’s prerogative.
The Necessity to Respect Vows
The above analysis is by no means
an encouragement for insubordination. People should respect the vows they take
at graduation. Going against them is breaking a covenant. If God protects the
people of Israel
to this day it is because He entered into a covenant with Abraham, the ancestor
of the Israelites. The failure to respect vows is the cause of the regrettable
situation in the Catholic Church today. Priests who took vows of chastity and
celebrity are today not only openly involved in immorality with women many of
them married, some priests even get married. We have also the more deplorable
cases of child sexual molestation; male children to be more specific.
But the vows whose breakings are
even more serious are those related to respect for hierarchy and the tenets of
church teachings. Failure to keep them, especially those related to preaching
can be disastrous. The case of Father Etienne Nkumba of Bonjongo Paris in Fako
is a good example. It was Bishop Pius Awa who ordained him. Father Etienne
eventually became a healing priest, ignoring his hierarchy. Of course, Bishop
Awa suspended him. Today all his preachings and healing have come to naught.
Every individual has the right to
choose the path of his salvation. If you find the doctrine of the religious establishment
you were ordained to serve no longer palatable, officially resign and start
your own denomination. That is far better than creating a controversy and
waiting to be sanctioned. Pastor Wara attained a level of popularity which only
Rev. Bame Bame reached. He certainly received warnings and admonition from his
hierarchy. But for some unexplained reason, he continued what he was doing.
Many of his supporters see the sanction taken against him as an act of
persecution. Some of them who spoke to MANAWA say they are more committed not
to his preaching and healing than ever. But for how long? There is school of
thought that a Pastor dismissed from his church is like a flower pulled off the
river bank after heavy rain when the volume of the water rises. The weed thus
floats without any destination and can only germinate and produce seeds again
if it is fortunate to be deposited on another bank if not, it keeps floating
until it gets rotten.
Rev Wara may become like that
flower, but for now he has to adjust to the new situation where he finds
himself. MANAWA takes the position that the established church should be more
tolerant to diverse views and adapt to changes. Whether we accept or not, many
changes have been introduced to evangelism by the Pentecostals or ‘Born Agains’
the charismatic movement in the catholic church is a manifestation of its
adaptation to modern preaching and evangelization.
The PCC has to learn to live with
the fact that its Christians and clergy are much under the influence of
democratic tenets. Rev Festus Asana’s perception of change should not rule out
attitudinal changes within its clergy. The solution is not the sledgehammer but
dialogue. Dogma is still necessary in some aspects of preaching, it must be
understood that if the Catholic Church could not suppress Martin Luther over
400 years ago, it is unlikely that the PCC can silence completely some members
of the clergy who consider healing and deliverance as an alternative means of
spreading the Good News. Jesus Christ predicted that many false christs would
emerge. The Bible prophesizes that before the end of time, some counterfeit
prophets would emerge preaching, casting out demons and working miracles in his
name. At the same time Christ called on his not to judge in order that we too
should not be judged. Sanctioning Pastor Wara and his colleagues is passing
judgment on them which is Biblically unacceptable. The PCC should reconsider
its decision on Pastor Wara and engage dialogue rather than the sledgehammer
when dealing with future cases of dissent in the church.
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