A Diocese must bear Town Not Clan’s name
2 min readBy Paanluel Wel.
Whereas this article from Rev. Mou is a great read, it may not necessarily be the case that there is any correlation between “naming” controversy and the well-documented mass defection of senior pastors from the Episcopal Church to other denominations. The senior pastors, like their counterparts in the SPLM/A, defected due to bitter power struggle over leadership within the Church.
While the “naming” controversy was a concurrent issue of the time, it may not explain why Rev. Daniel Daau Deng (Kong’oor), Rev. Philip Ang’ony Chol (Bor) and Rev. John Machaar Thon (Dukeen), who were then the most senior pastors below Bishop Nathaniel Garang, defected from the ECS. If anything, may be only the case of Rev. Peter Bol Arok could be explained in term of his opposition to “Kong’oor” Diocese.
The new mass defections among the ranks of the ECS pastors occasioned by the election of Bishop Akuurdit Ng’ong has nothing to do with “naming right” whatsoever. It was a consequent of a power struggle between Rev. Akuurdit Ng’ong, who was very close to and favored by Bishop Nathaniel Garang, and Rev. Nathaniel Bol Nyok, who was very close to and favored by the majority of youthful pastors within the Bor Diocese. Rev. Bol Nyok followers, after the election, refused to accept defeat and decided to defect to the Lutheran Church.
Though visibly disgruntled with the Mother Church, both Rev. Bol Nyok, who lost out to Bishop Akuurdit Ng’ong of Bor Dioeces, and Rev. Mark Atem Thuch, who lost out to Bishop Diing Ajang Malangdit of Twic East Diocese, have decided to play it cool: neither have they defected and nor are they longer as active in the Church Administration as they used to be in the past.
Moreover, there seem to be no more bickering over “Kong’oor” Diocese after it was officially renamed as “Twic East” Diocese. The understanding was that Kong’oor Payaam will have a chance in the future to have their own diocese which they can name however they would wish without offending anyone.
http://www.borglobe.com/25.html?m7:post=a-diocese-must-bear-town-not-clans-name
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