Gideon Madzikatidze and Byron Mutingwende
Churches should be non partisan and project themselves as custodians of peace, unity and development ahead of the the 2018 general elections, Vincent Goredema, the Overseer of the United Apostolic Faith Church of God has said.
He made the remarks during the absorption and confirmation of 75 women into the Mothers’ Union Guild.
“There is need to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women by the society. Discriminating women stifles development and their vigour to participate in issues that promote peace. As churches we should understand that women constitute the highest demographic dividend of our population and also influence decisions that are essential for transformation and development of any society. Women are the biggest sponsors of the church. We value their advice since they yield positive results and are peaceful by nature. We should involve women in peace building initiatives to avoid conflicts,” Goredema said.
He urged the church to be non-partisan and be inclusive regardless of differences in political ideologies.
“Christianity is a religion that binds us together as a society and confirmation of women into the Mothers Union Guild helps them unlock value to the society they serve. They will be taught to be considerate and supportive of any initiative that spurs development.
“Small projects mostly initiated by women are contributing to the economy’s wellbeing. History has it that women are the least candidates to be fingered whenever there are allegations of corruption, hence as churches we urge leadership to value the involvement of women in decision making and preservation of our culture,” Goredema said.
Guest speaker at the event, Apostle Enock Samuriwo weighed in by insisting that women’s participation lays an everlasting foundation to peace and unity. In the same vein, the church leadership was encouraged to focus on preaching the gospel of peace while desisting from dividing people on the basis of political affiliation.
Samuriwo said, “Every church leadership should embrace participation of women to realise development and constantly preach the gospel of peace as a unifying force which binds us together and we should not separate the church’s history with its foundation at the backbone as well as the support churches earned through promoting gender equality.
“Conflicts have notably emanated from leadership that is fragile. However, there is a need to take care of all those disadvantaged members of our society such as widows and orphans.
“As we drift towards elections, we need Christians who always preach peace and avoid hate speech that leads to disintegration of churches. Christians should be exemplary in the promotion of peace. even outside the church,” Apostle Samuriwo said.
The United Apostolic Church of God saw more than seventy-five women conferred with full-time membership into Mothers Union Guild. The women constantly meet during the week to discuss issues revolving around Christianity and how societies can be transformed sustainably through preaching peace, unity and development.