Anglicans disgruntled with new Makokoba priest

ANGLICANS at St Columbus Parish in Makokoba are locked in a nasty feud with their new leader, Father Edgars Kasongo, who they accuse of making unnecessary changes in the church, such as the submission of Lent offering in unsealed envelopes.

The congregation is worried this will compromise the confidentiality of the Lent gift as people might refrain from offering, adding that Father Kasongo has introduced changes to the processes and conduct of a number of church administrative and pastoral activities, resulting in members of the congregation walking out in protest.

Anglicans who spoke to Sunday News said the manner in which Father Kasongo was discharging his duties as a priest was a serious cause for concern.

The parishioners said they wanted their concerns addressed immediately because if unattended to, would disrupt the proper running of the church's administration.

Congregants complained that when the church holds its meetings, chaos is present and some members walk out in protest, something that has never been done before.

They even wrote a letter to Father Kasongo venting out their frustrations and even copied it to the Archdeacon.

In the letter, the parishioners expressed their disgruntlement, saying what worried them the most was that the father was yet to be inducted but already was making "milestone changes".

Father Kasongo confirmed receiving the communiqué but said he had not read it because he did not know who wrote it.

He said congregants knew the correct channels of expressing their unhappiness with something. He said he was therefore disregarding the authenticity of the complaints expressed in the letter.

"Who are they? Are they members of this church? Why didn't they go the church wardens who could have brought their complaints forward? The church has a structure that it adheres to and each leader on that structure knows how to deal with certain sissies," the father said.

Part of the letter read: "Father Kasongo had suggested changes to the Vestry meeting meaning that church councillors would be elected from their residential sections, which in their opinion was not Vestry and as such considered such elections null and void.

"You have also announced in church that the Lent envelopes must not be sealed, the parishioners must go to Father Katunga and show him the envelope and submit it unsealed. We as parishioners are concerned about this new arrangement, which in our view compromises the confidentiality of the Lent gift. This arrangement is also subject to abuse."

The Anglicans also said they believed Father Kasongo was trying to influence the process of the vestry elections while misinforming the congregation and when one of the church members clarified the issue, she was called into his office and cautioned.

"This we consider a serious act of victimisation from a church leader," they wrote.

It was pointed out how Father Kasongo uses dictatorship to run meetings and had even dissolved a church council and the church has been operating without this council for three weeks yet he continues withdrawing money from the bank using the signature of the chairperson from the dissolved council.

"You imposed the vestry secretary on 17 February. This was immediately disputed by the congregation but you disregarded the parishioners' concerns and continued using the imposed secretary. This again in our opinion is an act of disrespect for the parishioners.

"We are concerned about you withdrawing money from the bank yet there is no church council and treasurer for purposes of accountability. With all these events going on in church, you have suddenly gone quiet as if nothing is happening. This has caused further anxiety in the congregation and put your attitude on further scrutiny. We have never witnessed such an event at our church. We as church elders are very concerned about such events and therefore request you to address the issues therein contained in this letter, with the urgency they deserve," reads the letter.