adminsermons particularly that the country is going for tripartite elections on September 20 this year.
Bishop Mulumbwa said during the “Meet the bishop” service at Hillcrest congregation in Ndola on Sunday that all UCZ church ministers should remain non-partisan before, during and after the September 20 elections.
“We’ll not allow any church minister to tell members which party or candidate to vote for. Our church rules do not allow that. Church ministers should therefore remain non-partisan,” he said.
Bishop Mulumbwa said the UCZ was affiliated to the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) through which it has voiced its stance on national matters.
“However, the official spokesperson of the UCZ is the synod bishop and in his absence, the UCZ general secretary can perform this duty. We are affiliated to the CCZ and I am sure that you’ve seen statements in the media from the CCZ,” he said.
The UCZ through the CCZ would continue to collaborate with the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) on religious, governance and other issues.
He said the UCZ had never tolerated reverends that took a partisan stance and has taken action administratively without publicising issues through the media. The church should remain united and ignore matters that did not contribute to the strengthening of the body of Christ.
“The voice of doubt always makes the work of God difficult. Church members should know that something which is done easily and without any difficult may not be a good thing at all. A difficult start may itself be a good thing. In short hard work produces good results,” he said.
Bishop Mulumbwa said the voice of doubt was not progressive and that the UCZ had witnessed a number of church projects failing because of counterproductive activities among the members.
“Secondly, we have the voice of hatred. There are some members in all congregations that will always hate those who are doing well.
They will congratulate you and hug you, but deep inside, they hate you and your achievements. Such people have a bad spirit,” he said.
Bishop Mulumbwa urged the Church to develop the voice of trust or faith so that the work of God and in particular capital projects could succeed for the body of Christ to grow. He said all members should conduct prayers with respect to the Lord and at the same time work towards improving the Church infrastructure.
“Worship should be conducted in a conducive atmosphere.
The Church should grow while members should also grow in the Holy Spirit,” he said.
UCZ Ndola North consistory chairperson Mwape Chapakwenda said he was encouraged by the members’ commitment towards improving church infrastructure. – Zambia Times.
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