Anglican Bishop of Pretoria Cleared of Misconduct

George Conger reports:

The Bishop of Pretoria, the Rt. Rev. Johannes Seoka, had been exonerated by an investigatory committee of misconduct. The task force convened by the Anglican Church of Southern Africa found there was no truth in charges brought by members of the chapter of the Cathedral of St Alban the Martyr the bishop had stolen R500,000 of Diocesan Trust funds.

“The task team’s report states clearly that allegations that the Bishop of Pretoria, Dr Jo Seoka, had acted improperly regarding a loan for housing are groundless, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba reported. “The bishops call upon those making these unfounded allegations to desist.”

In June, the church initiated an investigation into the charges and convened a task force of the House of Bishops charged under  Canon 21.3 with investigating the claims.  The initiating of an investigation was not an indication of guilt or a finding of a prima facie case of misconduct, but is the proper canonical response to allegations of misconduct, a South African bishop said.

Bishop Seoka had protested his innocence from the start, telling The Church of England Newspaper the charges of theft were “ridiculous”.

In a statement released at the close of the 23-26 September 2012 meeting of the House of bishops in Pretoria, the bishops said they had received reports on “the internal crises affecting the life of the people of God in our dioceses (most notably those in the Cathedral of Pretoria and the Diocese of Umzimvubu).”

The bishops said they also discussed the “formation and training of new bishops, and ways in which we could better guide and mentor those experiencing difficulties within their dioceses.”

Sources in the South African church report that in private session the bishops received private briefings on the situation in the Dioceses of Umzimvubu and Pretoria.  At the close of their February 2012 meeting, the bishops said that at the invitation of the Bishop of Umzimvubu, the Rt. Rev. Mlibo Ngewu “we dealt at length with the complicated issues presently affecting his Diocese. After extensive discussions, we unanimously resolved the diocese should be placed under the care of a provincial administrative team.”

Elected in 2003, Bishop Ngewu has been charged by his clergy with simony, nepotism, embezzlement, fraud, sexual harassment and bullying.  In August 2011 two-thirds of the diocesan clergy had written to the Archbishop of Cape Town requesting his intervention.

The provincial administrative team overseeing Umzimvubu gave their first report to the House of Bishops at last week’s meeting. While its contents have not been made public, sources tell CEN the investigations continue.

 

Diocese of Pretoria South Africa Sells Anglican Church

Anglican Mainstream:

LETTER OF CONCERN OVER LOCAL ANGLICAN DIOCESE DECISIONS

According to an email circular, St Matthew’s Anglican Church in Brits, has suddenly and without any warning, been sold right from under the noses of the priest and the congregation for an amount of R850 000. ( £65,000).

The history of St Matthew’s Anglican Church dates back to 1933. An exchange was made with the church and the owners of the Overberg Hotel, which later became the Medi Clinic, for them to build a church on the property that was occupied, and for the hotel to have the remaining church property.

A meeting, held by the Acting Archdeacon of the Madibeng Archdeaconry at St Matthew’s, informed the Church Wardens of the selling of the property and hastily announced the date of the final service, followed by the formal handing over of the property just a mere two days afterwards. In the words of a concerned parishioner, the Diocese of Pretoria has “left the congregation of St Matthew’s shocked, dazed and in complete disbelief. The members of St Matthew’s have been dealt a devastating blow; it was found that all furniture was removed including service books, Bibles, hymn books and priest vestments.”

Apparently the St Matthew’s members have reason to believe that the selling of the property may have something to do with the cash flow of the Diocese of Pretoria, as other congregations have also had similar problems. In a letter submitted to JOY! Magazine, a parishioner expressed the following: “the congregation is shocked at the action of the Diocese of Pretoria, and saddened by all that has occurred. It seems that the Diocese of Pretoria truly is determined to prevent the expansion of the Kingdom of God, but this will not stop our congregation from getting back on its feet by the grace and mercy of God!” JOY! prays that the situation will be resolved quickly.

Read the full letter here. Shocking!

In any event, the news follows quickly on Saturday’s report of the Anglican Cathedral Parish in Pretoria closing after death threats allegedly made by the Bishop! See that here.