Fight over pastor divides Rehoboth church

AN internal squabble over a pastor has divided the Ebenhaeser Parish at Rehoboth with the majority of congregants moving out of the church to set up their own church in a tent.

For two consecutive Sundays, including yesterday, the congregation of the parish, which falls under the umbrella of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) held two seperate worship services, with one group worshipping in the tent they erected in front of the main building, while the other group attending service in the main hall.

The dispute started over whether the church’s pastor Edward Thaniseb should stay or leave after his term expired at the end of

February.

Thaniseb’s five-year stay at Rehoboth expired, but some parishioners wanted him to stay, while others wanted him to leave.

An elder of the church, Ella van Staden said after reaching a dead end, the group that supports Thaniseb sympathisers decided to move out of the church and conduct their own service right in front of the main parish. Another church elder said they will be holding their funeral services and other important church sermons in the tent.

“It is very direspectful and provocative,” ELCRN bishop Erns // Gamxamub said about the church tent that was set up. “It has now become a police case.” //Gamxamub, however, said that they have not yet taken the matter to the police.

The parishioners wrote to the pastor on 28 March, telling him that the majority of the 13 000 members wanted him to stay until the end of December.

A member of the church told T that the letter was sent to the ELCRN head of ce in Windhoek for approval, but ELCRN leaders disregarded the congregation’s constitutional decision.

On 4 May, the ELCRN’s associate general secretary Wilfred Diergaardt wrote to Thaniseb, asking him to stop conducting day-to-day church activities.

In a letter to the bishop on 16 May, some parishioners then called for the withdrawal of Diergaardt’s letter, for Thaniseb’s contract to be extended as well as the reinstatement of the previous parish council with immediate effect.

A meeting presided over by // Gamxamub on 29 May at Rehoboth resulted in a divided parish over whether Thaniseb should stay or leave, and He walked out of the church and opted to resign.

Thaniseb told that he opted to leave because he was being intimidated, and his name dragged through the mud.

“I was being accused by some church members of being rebellious in front of the bishop, so I chose to resign,” he stressed. He said the setting up of the church tent, which he admitted he attended, was not his idea but that of his sympathers.

//Gamxamub stated that Thaniseb had wanted to be transferred to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa on 2 March, but the church elders asked him to submit all the outstanding narrative reports, financials and other administrative matters which needed to be properly concluded before his request could be considered.

“In the same letter, he admitted that his term [at the parish] had come to an end. He admitted that himself,” said //Gamxamub.

He said the church wanted to extend his term until December to provide him with adequiate time to submit his outstanding reports.

He also said he recieved Thaniseb’s resignation letter two weeks ago stating that he would refrain from all faculties of the church.

Thaniseb said he could not provide the church leaders with the outstanding administrative reports because he does not have access to the financial records of the church.

Diergaardt said he only issued the letter because the bishop was out of the country and that he had to tell Thaniseb to refrain from church activities until the bishop returned.

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