2019 is an elective year according to the calendar of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (P.C.C). Constitutionally, after every five years, mandates are renewed or changed. Just like in political elections, shake up starts from the base to the top.
There's been a ground shaking trend of dedication of newly elected church elders and session members within the Meta Presbytery of the P.C.C, Mbengwi Central Sub Division. In almost all the parishes, the euphoria has been the same, that of merriment. The population of a congregation determines the number of elders it should have. Presbyterian Church Wumnebit Congregation for example has four elders while Njembeng Congregation has twelve.
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| Newly Dedicated Elders of P.C Barakwe Holding Offertory Baskets |
Within the past month and still continuing, every Sunday, elders are being dedicated somewhere. At the level of the Wumnemburg Parish, Lower Medig Zone, Reverend Mujem John, the parish pastor, started the exercise at P.C Wumnebit Congregation on Sunday April 28th, then to Meh Congregation on May 5th and last Sunday May 12th was the turn of Barakwe Congregation.
First things first, the dedications have been clashing. Same Sunday, several dedications in several parishes and as such Christians find it difficult to share themselves into parts to attend all the ceremonies where they have friends and relatives being dedicated. Again, there's been osmosis every Sunday. The congregation having elders to be dedicated becomes so full while that having already dedicated elders becomes so empty.
Ngwe Obed is a session member of P.C Wumnebit. He says he's been trying hard to encourage Christians to first attend Sunday service in their congregation before going to where the merriment is, without which the church house will be scanty. This, because many Christians now get up on Sunday mornings and start going straight to neighbouring congregations where elders are to be dedicated.
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| Full Church House |
The peculiarities about this exercise are enormous. It's a crowd puller. Non church goers are once more found in church. It's interdenominational. Christians of other denominations now attend service where they have a colleague, friend, relative being dedicated. In the Wumnemburg parish these days firexample, it's difgicult to detetmin a Catholic christian from a Presbyterian Christians. Dedications are fun filled. The anxiety of putting on the white robe before hundreds of Christians and being addressed as elder is something only those who have such titles can best testify the ambiance and euphoria that goes with it.
The after church celebrations in the homes of the concerned is what raises many questions. What is really in an eldership position? Certainly not any salary. Why then will people spend hundreds of thousands just to throw a party for being an elder? Probably as their pocket shows. Church authorities have kept encouraging after-service-merriment to remain only within the church house reason why all the newly dedicated bring food and drinks to church so that after service, the congregation and guests sit down to share a common meal and drink.
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| Christians Cuing up for Offertory |
From observation, what is usually brought to church is just a tip of the iceberg. Cocktail parties are organised in various homes. No matter how poor an elder is, one will still find at least three different dishes and various brands of drinks in the compound where he or she is celebrating. Hundreds of Francs are given in church during offertory meanwhile hundreds of thousands are spent for entertainment back at home.
The situation becomes more complex and pressing on the concerned as after service, Christians start moving from house to house as if to come congratulate the new elder but the hidden intention is to go eat and drink. Imagine a christian moving to six different homes and in every home, he or she is offered a plate of food and a drink. In all these homes, he or she went with nothing. Instead, some take canned drinks and pocket and take home. Others pour wine from bottles and cartons into plastic containers and carry home, a phenomenon described by many as acute greed.
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| Elder Bah Christopher Promising to Keep Eldership Values |
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| Elder George Dara Being Decorated |
And so becoming an elder seemingly becomes more of a burden because of the financial cost that goes with it. What if all this money spent for refreshment was asked to be gathered and brought to church for the enhancement of God's work, many think it will be the beginning of the fall of that congregation.
As birds have learnt to fly without perching, so too have hunters learnt to shoot without missing. It is for this reason that pastors have been deriving various means to extract money from Christian's pockets. During service, first there's general offertory after which all the newly dedicated are asked to move out of church and dance in with their followers for special offertory. So if there are six elders, there'll be six baskets. During this time, one finds Christians struggling to change money to the smallest amounts. A Christian will participate in the offertory six times but the total of all what he dropped in the basket may not be up to 300Frs. Apart from offertory, there'll still be collection of tithes, education fund, health fund, training of pastors in the seminary , up keep of pastors and a lot more.
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| P.C Barakwe Session |
In all these dedications, women have been leading. Most of the Congregational chairpersons, elders, committee members and group leaders are wonen. To Reverend Mujem John, Pastor of Wumnemburg Parish, "It is not man or woman issue but the people who can render the service"
If elections and dedications at the bottom could be like this, then by the time the church gets to the level of electing a new synod clerk, moderator...
Excellent report
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