What is the church?

| Friday April 13, 2012 00:00

I would like to briefly reflect on what the church is. A church is a place where mankind can communicates with God in worship and prayer. It is a place of refuge; a place of spiritual development; a place where people can  find comfort, etc.  A church  has been playing a role in unifying nations since time immemorial. The Church's  role is also to help government and societies to fight the moral ills of mankind.

Mr Chairman,  I am informed that The Old Apostolic Church was established in Africa in the 1880's by an Evangelist from Australia called Carl George Klibbe. The First Congregation was established in Southernwood, East London (South Africa) in 1892. Evangelist Klibbe was later ordained as an Apostle for Africa on 08.07.1893. The Church has since spread throughout South Africa.

In Botswana, the Church was established in the early 60's by Brothers who worked as migrant workers in the Republic of South Africa. The Church has since grown from strength to strength in Botswana. It is also been established in Zambia and Zimbabwe and is now penetrating through Central to North Africa. When the Church began in Botswana, the members used to gather for their services under shacks made out of card boxes. This continued for a long time, and later some schools offered classrooms for our services. The use of classrooms was enjoyed shortly as the councils gradually began to deny the Church the use of such facilities. Hence the Church began to embark on proper structural development in the late 1970s, as outlined under other physical developments below. Although there were such challenges that the Church was faced, this has also helped to engaged itself and developed a reliant spirit putting up structures or buildings for worship.

Mr Chairman, I am reliably informed that this church has spread to most parts of the country from the major cities and towns to the most remote villages in the country. I am privileged to witness and officiate the official opening of yet another magnificent building in Mmankgodi.

I am also informed that membership is open to any person without regard to nationality, race or colour and is a privilege to those who have been baptised or taken up in the Church. Membership is also free. The Church has so far over 55,000 members distributed throughout the country

The Church is led by a Conference of Apostles [COA] which is the supreme structure which ensures the spiritual and physical development of the entire Church. It has other structures followed by  the Regional Finance Committee(RFC) which is responsible for the temporal affairs of the Church in the District (such as looking after the finances of the Church and the building of halls), then other Congregational Committees which are responsible for the day to day finances of the Church at a community level. There is therefore no one person deemed to be a leader of the Church apart from our Lord Jesus Christ. Mr Chairman it also commendable to note that this Church has and out-reach programme where it makes  some input in the development of the community it exists within. I heard that it  has also assisted in contributing in the Disaster relief fund in Botswana, Home-based care and STD unit, has also once made a donation of sums of money towards the Mozambiquean floods relief through its supreme body, it has donated sums of  money into the 'Sponsor-A-Child-Fund, to help children with dreadful diseases in Botswana to find a cure; it has contribute into the 'The Masiela Trust Fund', has also donated the sums of money towards the relief for the flood victims in the Okavango area.

The Church building at Mmankgodi has 192 sitter auditorium and an built-in ablution. The total cost for the construction of the above hall was P700,000.

It pleasing to note the commendable effort that this Church is making in providing magnificent halls of this nature in very district in the Botswana. Currently you are having 58 halls built throughout the country.

The First hall was built at Lobatse in 1978. And 2 new halls are concurrently being built in Metsimotlhabe and Mabutsane. Speech by the Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mokgweetsi Masisi at the official opening of the Old Apostolic Church in Mmankgodi