South Africa Methodist Church inducts first female presiding bishop

South Africa – The Methodist Church of Southern Africa (MCSA) inducted its first female presiding bishop in over 200 years on Sunday.

“I feel overwhelmed, honoured and filled with gratitude to God,” the new presiding bishop, Purity Malinga, told News24 on Monday.

Malinga said she had prayed that there would be a female presiding bishop in her lifetime – not necessarily her – and was pleased that this had been realised.

She was elected in June by synods from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa, which comprise the MCSA. She succeeds Bishop Ziphozihle Siwa.

Malinga said patriarchy had been a way of life in the church, and although she had not encountered any resistance as a woman leader in the church, she was ready to “convince those who are not convinced yet”.

As the leader of the church in the region, her priority would be to make the church a safe space for women and people in need. “The poorest of the poor,” she said.

Her induction comes amid the ongoing refugee crisis at the Cape Town Central Methodist Church in Cape Town.

The Reverend Alan Storey offered hospitality to about 600 people, including children, who were forcibly removed by the police and law enforcement officials from an arcade near the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ offices.

Source – https://www.news24.com/