Churches urged to run with vision

Bonte Seepi | Tuesday February 9, 2016 12:39

Speaking during the OAIC president consultative leadership Annual General Meeting at Mahalapye Prisons College on Saturday, Philemon Motlhagodi urged leaders of OAIC churches to run them with kindness.

He said most leaders run churches based on what they want, not looking at the interests of the church. He said: “Be leaders who have dreams of taking churches somewhere. We should find ways of avoiding conflicts and find out where everything went wrong.”

He emphasised that African churches come from as far back as 1910 but they still do not have offices and are run from individuals’ homes. He said OAIC should have a secretarial office so that the committee can do their job thoroughly.

Motlhagodi indicated that conflicts and wrong leadership in churches contribute immensely to flouting of churches’ rules and regulations. He added that those misunderstandings are the ones that hold back development of African churches. He said people should come to church happy and go back home happy.

He urged churches to change how they have been doing things, saying that people should trust churches and know that it is the place of peace and tranquility. He said every church must have a plan at the beginning of every year on how everything will go and what they wish to achieve on a set time frame.

“Let’s understand where we are going and give churches peace. Botswana is a peaceful country, so churches must lead the community in reflecting these. Members of OAIC should start Functional Classification Scheme, which will help us to manage our resources. We need good record management practices in order to take our churches somewhere,” said Motlhagodi.

Meanwhile, the president expressed concern over the livelihoods of church leaders. He called upon churches to introduce a living allowance to the leaders to help them deliver the services of God without any obstacles.

“It is embarrassing to see our leaders queuing at Ipelegeng in order to earn a living. We do not take care of our leaders, but we always expect them to deliver the services. That is why our churches do not develop. Churches must be self sustainable, so if we can provide a living allowance to our leaders, it will motivate them to work hard,” Motlhagodi added.

Churches were also advised to manage national heritage sites, at the places they carry out their prayers like hills and bushes.

“It is okay to pray at those places, but my worry is that churches pollute the places. But these are the places that boost our economy as they are tourism attractions. Therefore, go and deliver the message to members of your churches that after praying they should clean up those areas,” he said

The president also expressed concern over the issue of churches squatting. He said they are currently trying to resolve the issue in which 127 squatting churches are supposed to be destroyed. He said they are currently trying to convince the relevant ministry to resolve the matter in another way.

Motlhagodi urged OAIC members to have a voice on issues of national interest like the budget speech. He said churches must interfere when they feel that some things are not being run properly in the country.

He said churches are part of the country’s leadership hence they should speak out and help where there it is necessary.