Healing Wounds of Division

Reflection 5 of 6, from our recent visit to East Africa:

Forty years ago Tanzania Mennonite Church was shaken to its core by serious conflict. Causes included tribal and clan loyalties among church leaders, and a bishop who refused to honor the church constitution did not call church conference assemblies, and brought legal charges against the church when he was challenged. Eventually, several leaders who were loyal to the bishop formed another denomination, the Evangelical Tanzania Mennonite Church. In the nearly 20 years since the death of the bishop, the intensity of the conflict has decreased, but it remains mostly unresolved.

We learned of efforts towards understanding and reconciliation between the two groups, enabled in part by new leaders who did not experience the conflict in such personal ways. One of the issues to be resolved is ownership of church properties, where former Tanzania Mennonite churches chose to join the Evangelical Tanzania Mennonite Church and maintained possession of the building. The conflict divided families, as some persons associated with the new group, while others maintained loyalty to the original group. The former General Secretary Magiri said, “Like putting stitches in a wound, we have tried to bring the two edges together, so it will heal. We are trying to resolve the issues through conversation and negotiation, rather than in the courts.”

We are grateful to see bridges of understanding being built, and pray that new unity will bring a stronger church and a testimony to God’s grace and forgiveness.