TWO church mother bodies are disappointed that the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) is opposed to the construction of the New Tabernacle National House of Prayer.
And United Church of Zambia (UCZ) St Margret’s congregation minister-in-charge Chipasha Musaba says the opposition of the declaration of October 18 as a national day of national prayer by some people in the Christian circles was a sign of immaturity.
The two church mother bodies are Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and Independent Churches of Zambia (ICOZ) EFZ president Reverend Pukuta Mwanza said in an interview yesterday that the church mother body is certain that the New Tabernacle National House of Prayer will not be a “white elephant” because it will attract a lot of people.
Rev Mwanza said this is evidenced by thousands of Zambians who turned up for prayers and fasting on the national day of repentance, prayer and fasting declared by President Lungu on October 18.
Will this multi-purpose hall solve the loadshedding problem, loss of jobs in mines, inadequate teaching materials in schools, inadequate personnel and medicines in hospitals etc. If not then its not a priority. Just use the money to buy gen sets or solar panels and batteries and computers and distribute to rural schools and clinics
Pukuta Mwanza is dreaming to be pastor in-charge of that BICOGA church. When is the new “ultra modern” stadium in Mongu will be open? When is new KK international airport open to accommodate the state-or-art Zambia Airline. Is the road to that Tabernacle part of link Zambia 8000?
Dream on, that is PF at its best.
Its a very important priority to the nation. God first then all these other things can come. This move should be commended by every true believer in Jesus Christ. Not these guys who just profess on the mouth yet their deeds do not conform to the standards of Christianity. THey are the same people who are even advocating for guy rights in Zambia. A church?Ehh!!! Anyway the bible says we shall know them by their fruits. THese are fruits of a shallow type of christianity. Its secular and its heathen. They need repentance and to come to the true experiential saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
PF is scoring here, because all this is meant to divert the attention of Zambians from asking question on the economical situation and now the writing of exams in the mid of the night. The Rev. is just seeking govt approval for his own personal gains best known to himself. Building a church without its own Bishops/ Priests to reside over it, when schools have no computers. Did someone say some millions of kwachas will be spent on this project. How many computers can the country buy for school and avoid making our girl child vulnerable by walking back from an exam at 02 00hrs am.
Is this Reverend Pukuta Mwanza the same one Sata dismissed as a fake?
That thing will only be used for National mourning for Politicians and October 18,the Expenditure outweighs the usage you Pentes! Not necessary.
It is REAL immaturity to accept politically motivated establishment of “State” religion contrary to the Constitution.
Therefore, hierarchy of UCZ and EFZ should be enough “mature” to accept ZEC position to worship in their own consecrated temple according to the Laws of Zambia.
What next by UCZ and EFZ, declaration by the new “supreme religious leader” to be appointed by the Government?
We are living in the Republic of Zambia and not in Peoples Republic of China, or God forbid in Democratic (lol) Republic of Korea where FREEDOM of religion is protected by Constitution and NOT by the whims of politicians.
Zambian churches are leading in a role they were never called to play – sycophants
The house of prayer is my heart.
Just were are the priorities with this govt really? Do they think building such a building will help solve the problems the country is facing. The money meant to build the church can be diverted to solve many healthcare and educational challenges being faced that need urgent attention, fima church you can build them later, it is not so important after all.
These church reverends and pastors must just shu.t up. One can clearly see that even them have no conviction in their pronouncements. They have been paid by Edgar Lungu to say what they are saying. All of us have our own established churches. Why waste money on a structure that wont be used? This is all politics. One can clearly see that there is no genuine reason for setting up a national church other than to gain political mileage. If the declaration of the national day f prayer was genuine we would have seen a change in the language being used by Edgar Lungu and his minions. The whole Christian thing is a sham. To make matters worse we even declare a holiday for prayers. We have become a laughing stoke as a country. We cannot solve our economic problems through prayer; we need to…
i totally agree with you. Afrca, Zambia in particular Twasebana. Kapwepwe said it.This crap reminds one of Emporor Bokaasa who built something akin to what is being planned. Make a CLEAR distinction between REligion and Government. We are not in a Moslem world for Gods sake bafika-0—
The “white elephant” means who will be using that tabernacle on Sundays or Sabbath, because even Pukuta Mwanza has his ka Ntemba church. Fr. Chiti will not go and do a mass at that Tabernacle, not even Fr. Bwalya.
Dan Pule will not leave his “fire-impact” church, or elder HH will not observe his Sabbath in that PF’s house of worship. I really wonder if any Jehovah witness president like Mwanawasa will use it as a Kingdom hall.
Whoever advised Edgar must be a low class believer, who believe in miracles of TB Joshua.
Maybe MCS was right to have left out this ‘Rev’ Pukuta Mwanza from the constitution technical committee (how the good ol’ rev cried!).
The guy is just like all of them new christians, the “he who fills my bowl gets my clapping” type. Remember his predecessor, think a guy called Mususu, just as slippery a dyke he was.
As for ICOZ, well, who am I to judge? Word is them guys now carry annointing milk around their loins.
“TWO church mother bodies are disappointed that the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC) is opposed to the construction of the New Tabernacle National House of Prayer.” THOSE OPPOSED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THIS CHURCH ARE SHORT-SIGHTED. IF YOU HAVE BEEN TO BARCELONA, SPAIN, THEN YOU WILL AGREE WITH ME HOW TWO CHURCHES, THE La Sagrada Familia and Tibidabo ARE INTERNATIONAL CROWD (MILLIONS OF VISITORS) PULLERS. SO, DEPENDING ON THE DESIGN, THAT TABERNACLE CAN ALSO BE A TOURIST FEATURE ATTRACTING MILLIONS OF VISITORS PER YEAR ESPECIALLY THAT ZAMBIA HAS EVEN BEEN DECLARED A CHRISTIAN COUNTRY. BUT, YOU SHOULD CONTRACT REALLY EXCELLENT INTERNATIONAL DESIGNERS.
Is there someone out there with knowledge in explosives ? we need to bring the structure down and I shall light the fuse!
Oh, I see: we build a tourist attraction, not a HOUSE OF PRAYER.
How many millions of tourists are needed to pay for the attraction?
Or is it intended as a replacement for Mulungushi Hall??
I m not surprised by the catholic reaction. Have u ever seen a catholic priest in a UCZ, Baptist, RCZ, Pentecostal church for a funeral service or any kind of occasion? Catholics are too proud. They think they have monopoly of spirituality. Dont mind them. Let the tabernacle be built. If it had been a catholic church being built, they would have singing praise, hail mary mother of jesus which is not even scriptural
Stop insulting Catholics, mind you they Feed, Cloth, educate, provide health services etc to he greatest number of people than any other single organization in the world. The views expressed by ZEC do not nessacerily mean all Catholics agree with this position. For instance, ZEC is not entirely in agreement with the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation. But late President Sata clearly pointed out that PF in principle agrees with the declaration of Zambia as a Christian nation. Accusing catholics of being proud is lagheble. ”monopoly of spirituality” facts are clear unlike any other church catholics did not break away from anyone they are the foundation opon which other churches built there doctines. Stay Blest!
To agree with LT, even the Doctrine of Holy Trinity, its the catholics that past on this doctine to even SDA,s.
They dont need it they can manage to build their own churches many tutemba churches are salivating thinking they can be renting the place for their services
You are wrong Analyst. No one passed on any doctrine to anyone. Yes, breakaway churches separated from the Catholic church on account of doctrine. But they did not disagree on every belief. One belief they took with them is the Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit because it is scriptural and therefore true. They were party to this doctrine in the first place. But they disagreed on many other beliefs such as the veneration of Mary because scripture does not support it and it is therefore false. LT, as for the foundation upon which to build, check-out 1 Corinthians 3:11. We build upon the doctrine of Christ, and no church can claim to be a foundation for other churches.
but do we honestly need such a hall!!!
while children in shang’ombo r stil learnin under de tress and my grandma in Muchinga has been cryin for that bag of fertilizer for the past 5years?????
we can be warshiping frm stadia or show grounds and lets use that little money to build blocks of classes in some rural area!!!!
ELC please don’t deceive people again. In 2011, PF deceived people with a nice menu of more money in your pockets in 90 days. This time around they have realised that the 90 day menu will not work for them hence the use of religion this time around. They know that a lot of poor people will sing praises and vote for them come 2016. Another PF donchi kubeba strategy. You are being warned.
Imwe is it the catholic church or one man telescope mpundu who was expressing his personal opinion?
If you remember correctly, it is the Catholic Church which helped PF win the 2011 election, ignore Telesphor Mpundu and the Catholic Church at your own peril.
Why are you surprised?
Read your Church History again.
How can Catholics worship in buildings not mysteriously dedicated by secret Roman Catholic Church rituals?
Moreover, the Roman Catholic Church is behaving exactly like an African government that will not allow opposition political parties to develop constituencies that they represent in Parliament.
When proposals are made to build the stadium in Livingstone, Mongu and other places, no one complains. Ifya kwa Lesa ati tuleonaula ulupiya. How mush benefits are people going to derive from these stadiums? To be entertained only. Let the people of mongu reject the stadium for something that will benefit all. Church, lets help them if we can.
Actually the problem is with Telephone Mpundu and not the whole catholic church. Telephone Mpundu is a big hypocrite cause when his “brother in law” Sata was in power you never heard him say anything even when people were being brutalized by the police. Now suddenly because his in law is no longer in charge he has woken up from slumber to condemn even what would normally not be condemned. This guy was a big and loud mouth during Levy and RB Presidency but went very quiet during Sata. I lost respect for him because of that!!!!
me a Iam a moslem let the presido build us a mosque aloso
Mwana Kalunda;
Read Lk 1: 26-56.
the Catholics want attention. they know that the terbernacle will attract attention than the catholic building and then lose grib on politicians.
I fully support Archbishop of Lusaka T. Mpundu all Christian denominations in our country have worship centres built by church members themselves or through donations from other Christian communities . surely the government of Edgar Lungu can not get loans and especially eurobonds just to build halls for prayer and fasting. Visionless Edgar concentrate on getting the economy back on track. Church matters are for the clergy and the clergy are doing a great job.
Zambians don’t know what they need or rather what their government should be doing with tax payers money. The levels of ignorance are pathetic and saddening.
There is noting wrong with putting up this structure.