Key points:
- Making disciples is about reaching new people, not about destroying one denomination to build another.
- Zimbabwean bishop noted with surprise how disagreements that existed in the church even before disaffiliations have not destroyed the church.
- The establishment of pioneering institutions such as the Pan-African Africa University shows that no denomination does ministry better than United Methodists, he said.
United Methodists have argued enough and should unite and rejoice as they have many achievements to celebrate, Zimbabwe resident Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa declared during April 27 morning worship at the United Methodist General Conference.
“There is no competition in the kingdom of God,” he said. “If you don’t know church, get down on your knees and pray to find what church is all about. Wherever you are, my friend, bring more people to Christ. It’s not about destroying one denomination to build another,” he reminded the delegates.
“It’s not about competition but [instead] going out there and reaching out to people who still need to hear the good news,” he reiterated. “Africa needs to know how the gospel got to the continent before you send people there to pull people out of The United Methodist Church.”
Nhiwatiwa, who preached to resounding applause and a standing ovation, gave the example of the late U.S missionary Dr. Samuel Guerney, who dug a well in Murewa district of Zimbabwe in 1909. That water source still exists. “When people don’t know the beginnings of these institutions,” the bishop said, “they try to play with them.
“Don’t be advised by people who don’t know your roots,” he advised. “You have your fathers and mothers; we have the (retired bishop) Kulahs and we have lost the (late bishop) Yambasus and (late bishop) Machados.”
General Conference photos
He also cited Zimbabwe pioneer schools such as Africa University, established in 1992 as the first private university granted a charter (license) to operate. Its creation paved the way for other churches to set up similar institutions.
“United Methodists have passed a lot of very difficult times … when things were a bit unusual,” Nhiwatiwa continued. “Stop arguing and start praising the Lord.
“Don’t you know that no matter how much you argue, you will not gain anything? If there’s anything we should be surprised about is why these arguments never destroyed the denomination. It should have gone a long time ago, even before disaffiliations.”
The bishop declared his love for The United Methodist Church.
“I love the church,” he said, “not because I am a bishop, but I have loved it since I received Jesus Christ in 1964. It’s now 60 years. From my personal witness, there’s no other denomination which does ministry better or more than this denomination.”
Nhiwatiwa, president of the Africa Colleges of Bishops, declared, “We (African bishops) have been taking the lead because we know how the gospel came to our continent.
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“We are not going to support any attempt to dissolve The UMC. We disassociated from organizations who do not share our vision,” he said in apparent reference to resolutions from bishops’ retreats in Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. “We don’t lead like we are cowards; we say things openly — those who love us, they love us; those who hate us, they hate us, because we love this church.”
He shared Zimbabwe pictorial joys with General Conference attendees. One was Munyarari Clinic, which benefits thousands of villagers and was built with support from Bel Air United Methodist Church of Maryland. Another was the Africa University women’s residence hall built by the East Ohio Conference and named after incoming Council of Bishops president, Bishop Tracy S. Malone. The dorm, built at a cost exceeding US $1 million, will provide safe campus accommodation for generations.
“You don’t come to Zimbabwe to work alone,” Nhiwatiwa said. “Under the Chabadza partnership, you will see Zimbabweans already at work,” he explained regarding projects supported by the Western Pennsylvania Conference. “The community is now drinking fresh, safe water in Mount Darwin, one of the driest places in Zimbabwe. And you tell me I got to tell those people benefiting to disaffiliate because that was voted at General Conference?”
Drawing his Friday worship message from Philippians 4, Nhiwatiwa narrated the story of a churchgoer who struggled to sit still during sermons. The man annoyed congregants by standing and shouting “Hallelujah!” He was promised a pair of new shoes if he managed to stop his habit, but at the next worship service, he started fidgeting and eventually jumped up, declaring, “Shoes or no shoes, I will praise the Lord! Hallelujah!”
“May the good Lord continue to bless this denomination!” the bishop exclaimed. “May The United Methodist Church survive forever and ever, amen!”
Chikwanah is a correspondent for UM News based in Harare, Zimbabwe.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free Daily or Weekly Digests.
