ON ANY other Sunday, the African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation make their way to the house of the Lord.
But yesterday the Orlando West congregation swapped their Bibles for placards and church hymns for struggle songs.
They blocked the church entrance and postponed worship until fires died down at the church.
They were protesting against Reverend Sibusiso Gule’s suspension.
They demanded that his suspension be lifted. They said in a statement: “We believe Reverend Gule was unconstitutionally and illegally suspended for standing up for truth and justice.
“We therefore reject the appointment of Reverend Moyo in our church. We cannot have a sell-out serving in our church.”
Church steward Judith Mothlabane claimed: “There’s a lot of corruption in the church. Most pastors are aware of the injustices and the looting of money. Our pastor was fighting against these injustices.”
She claimed the new pastor knew about the corruption.
“But clearly he is now following that route, so we don’t want a corrupt pastor.”
Gule said he was not formally charged.
“I received an email from the committee inviting me to appear before them, but they did not say what for. I met them at a conference last week and they said I was referred to them by the bishop for insubordination. There was no document of what I was charged for and by whom,” he said.
The presiding bishop of 19 Episcopal District, Paul Kawimbe, told Daily Sun he was not aware of the protest action.
He said if Gule was angered by the suspension he should appeal. He said he must leave the appointed pastor to do his work.
The Reverend Phafane Mengoai, the church’s Joburg district leader, was also barred from entering the church. He said Gule was suspended for a year.
