Understanding the PCC and Elections

The Synod Office, Headquarters of the PCC, Buea

The Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) has 31 presbyteries nationwide, excluding diaspora, with a membership of over 2 million Christians and over 600 pastors. It is the 7th highest employer in the country with a 25 billion balanced budget as of last year 2023. After every 5 years, elections are organised to restructure the governing organs of the church from congregational to synodal levels.

At the congregational level, the process starts with church groups/choirs, the session and elders. Later, the next stage is that of presbyteries where presbytery chairpersons, their vices, synod delegate etc are voted. After congregational elections, each congregation sends three representatives to the presbytery level to partake in the voting exercise there. After every presbytery elections, each presbytery sends three delegates to represent them at the synod elections. 

However not all positions are occupied through election. There are ex officio members like presbytery treasurers, presbytery secretaries and moderator's representative that are appointed and automatically become members of the presbytery Exco and or the synod. The PCC has at its top leadership the Moderator, the Synod Clerk and the Finance Officer. There are also those referred to as the first 4s of the church. They are the Moderator, the Synod Clerk, the Secretary of Committee of the Ministries and the Secretary of the Constitution Committee.

About 134 pastors from information gotten are qualified to run for the office of moderator or synod clerk this 2024. This on the basis that they're all ordained clergies, aged between 45 to 60 years, have uninterruptedly served as pastor for at least 15 years from date of their ordination, have never been disciplined by the church amongst other criterias. 

The PCC Elections are guided by the Holy Bible, the Constitution, Book of Orders, the Finance Order and the Election Manual which is in itself an except of the aforementioned  books. The PCC is self propagating, self governing and self financing. All these make the PCC an independent church operating on its threefold missions: to preach, to teach and to liberate God's militants through healing, economic empowerment and development. These are achieved through its Preaching (Churches), Teaching (Schools) and Healing and Development (Hospitals, Development and Training programmes and Economic Structures).

Under the mandate of Right Reverend Fonki Samuel, a PCC reserve account which never existed was created to ensure sustainability with a minimum deposit amount of at least 50 millions. This is to ensure the church is never broke and should at any point in the future the worse comes to the worst, this reserve will help rescue the church. According to information gotten, the reserve account of the PCC at the time Fonki is leaving office stands at close to 1 billion francs.

The Electoral Commission manages elections in the church. It is made up of Christians of right standing at the level of their congregation, presbytery and synod that must not be contesting for any position. Right Reverend Fonki refers to the elections period as "the 5th year curse of the church". It is always characterised by blackmail, character assassination, backstabbing, propaganda, sponsored media write ups, reports and at times physical confrontations. To reverend Numfor Godwin, Presbyterial Secretary for Boyo/Tubah presbytery doubling as the PCC Webmaster, "after all these, we always come back together as a church". To him, the church in general irrespective of denominations is "an association of convicted sinners". 

Church elections at times tend to look like political party elections. While many see this abnormally, Numfor thinks differently because to him, those who make up political parties as militants and politicians are same people who make up churches as Christians. However, this does not give room for disorder before, during and after the electoral process because in reality, church elections should be exceptional. It is for this reason that the PCC has a Social Media Code and Book of Orders from where every disciplinary decision meted on a Christian or pastor is drawn from. 

At a time when elections within the church are around again, in this social media era, a lot of write ups and voicenotes have been circulating online and will continue to, at times from anonymous sources and at times from reputable Christians, clergymen and women. One of the social media code not just for the PCC but generally is that whatever information you forward, share, you own it even if you're not the author. Elections will come and go, disciplinary sanctions will follow after and often the victims are aware of where they faltered but lay Christians will be quick to judge the decision taken and question its validity.

Those who master the organigram of the PCC understand that the church is structured in such a way that no institution or individual has overbearing powers over another. For example, the Financial Secretary is the authorised signature of the church's account and handles the payment of every worker of the church from cleaner to moderator. The Synod Clerk is the Chief of Staff of the PCC. The church has an audit team that is often on the field for checks and there are records of Christians and pastors that have been forced to pay back what they were found guilty of having misappropriated. Others are in jail for financial wrongdoings within the church. Even the moderator and Synod Clerk can be sanctioned if found wanting of violating the church's binding principle as stipulated in the various books. 

On the 12 of October 2024, presbytery meetings will be held a across all the 31 presbyteries of the church. The meetings will end with the election of new presbytery executives. Then in December, synod elections will take place. Fonki will be leaving office after successful serving two terms of 5 years each. He will be handing over the Pectoral Cross, the highest symbol of authority to his successor. 

Though eligible to still run for  Synod Clerk, he has made it clear his interest is to go back and serve as Pastor wherever he will be posted to work. He has seven more years before reaching retirement age. This is the first time a moderator will leave office and still continue his pastoral ministry for 7 more years. All of his predecessors left office at retirement age. It will be the first experience ever in the history of the PCC for a former moderator to go back and serve as a congregational pastor and become answerable to a presbytery secretary.

We were reliably informed that the church takes proper care of her retired moderators. Upon retirement, each is entitled to a car, a driver, a cook, a juicy monthly allowance plus other benefits. Rev. Fonki made history during his mandate and is about to again make history even after his mandate. It's a wait and see. We have noted that the current Synod Clerk, Rev. Miki Hans Abia has been tipped as top favourite successor of Fonki to head the PCC as next  moderator except otherwise. If it happens as such, he will serve just for a mandate of 5 years and go on retirement because age would've caught up with him.