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The Star reports that an international church of roughly three million members worldwide is embroiled in a contentious court war after a pastor was axed for allegedly fighting for gay rights.
On Thursday, at the South Gauteng High Court, Reverend Teboho Klaas, a pastor of the US-headquartered African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church based at its Robinson Temple in Vosloorus, Ekurhuleni, accused Bishop Paul Mulenga Kawimbe of an illegal campaign to remove him. He alleged the bishop was homophobic. Klaas, who was initially suspended in October 2018 and fired last month, claimed in court papers that Kawimbe – who heads the more than 40,000-member strong 19th district of the AME – waged a concerted battle to get rid of him because of Klaas’s public support for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community. “I also work for the Other Foundation, which works with various nonprofit organisations in southern African countries. This role has put me at loggerheads with Kawimbe because he does not believe that LGBTI people should be accorded similar privileges in the AME or that, as an active pastor in AME, I should be seen actively campaigning for the respect of the human rights of the LGBTI people,” Klaas stated in his affidavit. The lawyer representing AME, Kawimbe and other church officials, conceded in court that the process to expel Klaas could have been flawed. He did not respond to the allegations of homophobia. Judgment was reserved.
- Read the full original of the above report by Khaya Koko on page 1 of The Star of 6 September 2019
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