Dear Editor,
I am a tithe-paying member of the CCAP Blantyre Synod.
Like many Christians, I have been brought up not to question what faith leaders do and preach in God’s name. This includes Jesus’ proclamation that we must give to God what belongs to God and Caesar what belongs to Caesar.
However, my faith has been tested lately as It appears some church
leaders will stop at nothing until the pockets of the faithful run dry.
Recently, Blantyre Synod has been asking its members to pay at least K10000 each in a desperate attermpt to clear a K2 billion debt accumulated in not- so-clear circumstances.
I find it inappropriate for church leaders to drag the faithful into a debt they cannot clearly explain. These leaders did not consult the faithful before accumulating the sum. The synod must be audited.
Before spreading the burden to congregants who have no idea who benefitted from the borrowing, it is only right that the borrowers clearly explain how and why they obtained the whopping loan.
The secrecy, which only ended after the debt had ballooned beyond the borrowers’ reach, raises eyebrows. Blantyre Synod owes
its flock a blow-by-blow breakdown of how the debt was accumulated.
Certainly, God-fearing people have the right and duty to demand access to information and hold faith leaders to account. God’s flock deserves the truth, nothing but the whole truth.
If believers repay the loan without any plausible account, the synod may repeat this mistake because our leaders do not bear any burden for the decisions and loans they take in our name and God’s greatness.
Blantyre Synod owes us a detailed account of the loan, not simplistic arithmetic that the debt could be wiped out if its flock paid K10 000 each.
Churches should be more accountable for the money they get in God’s name.
Concerned believer,
Blantyre.
