‘Unholy’ church wrangles should be cured once and for all
On Saturday, the government of Jonglei State ordered two clerics of the ECSS to leave Bor and return to Juba to reduce tension among the congregations.
The newly installed Jonglei Internal Province Archbishop Moses Anur Ayom and defrocked Archbishop Reuben Akurdid Ngong Akurdid were ordered to leave Bor to allow tensions in the area to subside.
The authorities also ordered the closure of the four churches of Leudiet, Karak, Negil, and Langbaar B until further notice.
The acting governor said the order was meant to restore calm in the state capital, Bor, and lead to a lasting solution to the problem within the ECSS church.
These leadership wrangles in Jonglei Internal Province have lasted for about two years now, and it is time for the church leaders and the government to address this crisis. There is no way the church will grow when the leaders and the congregations continue to fight among themselves. Something seems to have gone wrong with the Christian faithful in South Sudan. In recent years, there have been similar crises in the Catholic Church. But now the ECSS has taken over the race, where congregations in Jonglei State have become followers of bishops instead of Jesus Christ, the only saviour.
Do we need the missionaries to come back and start teaching us about the good news? We seem to have gone contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ and those of his church. The ongoing leadership wrangles in the Jonglei internal province are so embarrassing and shameful for the Christian domination. They defy the biblical teachings.
Although the power struggles within the Church began during Jesus’ lifetime, we should not allow them to exist in our lifetime because society has already been divided by so many political views. So we need to preserve the Church from any power struggle or leadership crisis.
Jesus teaches us that “the power is service” and that “the greatest is the one who serves the most”. For Christians, service is real power; so there is no reason; power struggles have no place in the Church.
The Gospel tells us about Jesus’ passion, as his disciples were busy arguing over who was the greatest among them. The power struggle within the Church is not something new; it was something that began during Jesus’ lifetime.
However, much we learned that power struggles existed during Jesus’ lifetime, we should not allow it to continue. There is a need to address the current crisis in the ECSS for the congregations to be united and coexist as one believer and followers of Jesus Christ.
