‘Runaway pastors’ push ELCRN to the edge

THE country’s second largest Lutheran church has become a house divided following the exodus of some of its congregation members to join breakway parishes.

The embattled leadership of the ELCRN has decried the extent to which it is losing members through pastors who are leaving the church and taking a large number of followers with them.

At a press conference in Windhoek yesterday, Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) bishop Ernst //Gamxamub said the three pastors in question, namely pastors Edward Thaniseb of the Ebenhaeser Parish in Rehoboth, Thomas Tsuseb of the Immanuel Lutheran Parish in Tsumeb and Japhet Sem of the Halleluja Indepedent Parish in Windhoek, were all called to disciplinary processes, but refused to subject themselves, and “instead chose to leave the church with a few followers to form their own formations [sic]”.

“We have noticed a rebellious tendency that greatly threatens and undermines church unity. A few pastors ordained under the orders of the ELCRN committed wrongful acts, including fraud, theft of the church’s properties and resources, and gross disobedience and disrespectful acts against the church’s constitution,” charged //Gamxamub.

The ELCRN recently lost about 600 members from the Rehoboth parish after Thaniseb parted ways with the mother body. Following a row with the church leadership in May, Thaniseb left the ELCRN to form his own house of worship which he befittingly named the Exodus Lutheran Parish, taking with him 90% of the congregation. The Namibian understands that Thaniseb has teamed up with Tsuseb to form their own Lutheran body, seperate from the three existing Lutheran churches in the country.

“We have learned with dismay that the so-called Exodus Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia is false and opportunistic, and gives the impression that a fourth Lutheran church has been established in Namibia,” said //Gamxamub. The bishop went on to say that the pastors responsible for the breakaway movement should not use the Lutheran name to form their own churches.

“These pastors can use other names and establish parishes, if they so wish. They want to further worsen the situation of the mushrooming of churches established for self-gain,” said the bishop. “The ELCRN will not condone the formation of a fourth Lutheran church in Namibia. We will object with the registering authority on the use of the name,” he stressed, adding that they have been working hard to unite the three Lutheran churches in Namibia.

“We are consulting our legal teams to ensure that any resources, symbols or properties of the ELCRN and the Lutheran community are not misused by these disrespectful pastors,” said //Gamxamub.

The Rehoboth congregation is the third ELCRN parish to break away from the mother body in recent years, after the Halleluja congregation did so two years ago. The Immanuel congregation in Tsumeb left the ELCRN six years ago. Contacted for comment, Thaniseb yesterday denied forming a breakaway church, saying the majority of the congregation decided to leave the church with him when he left.

“The congregation formed a separate church, and I attended that church as a member for the first few weeks,” he said, admitting that he is now the pastor of that church. He also said the congregation left the ELCRN because they were fed-up with //Gamxamub’s refusal to address burning issues within the church.

Pastor Sem, who is still on suspension following an alleged fraud case since 2009, also denied establishing his own place of worship.

“I am currently still on suspension, and still have a case pending, and I was not the pastor of that congregation,” he said. Tsuseb could not be reached for comment. The ELCRN has 55 parishes countrywide and 250 affiliate congregations.

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