Harare — The Reverend Canon Tim Neill, former vicar-general of the Anglican Church's Diocese of Harare, has ruffled many feathers both within the church and in Zimbabwe's political circles in the last few months.

Neill, an outspoken cleric who has led St Luke's Church in Harare's Greendale suburb since 1985, has just been dismissed as vicar-general of the diocese of Harare after he lost a bid to challenge the confirmation of Reverend Norbert Kunonga as the Bishop of Harare.

In this article written exclusively for the Financial Gazette, Neill reflects on the events leading to his ouster and says that the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe faces testing times in articulating the word of God amid injustice.

By Tim Neill

A SORDID but desperately real tale of lies, deceit, manipulation and slander threatens the church's credibility and standing, effectively silencing its prophetic voice.

It has been my honour to serve in St Luke's Greendale diocese for 16 years. During that time our street children's work, begun by the good and godly Mr. Kasimonje, has grown and over 500 children are cared for in the still expanding project.

Our church's work in Epworth is proving to be effective, the pregnancy centre for those who have unwanted pregnancies is firmly established, we are a politically relevant community and our church members have gone on missions to Cape Town, Malawi, Zambia as well as to various rural and urban centres in Zimbabwe.

Last year St Luke's income exceeded $5 million.

But now events in the diocese will be sending me into exile. Why?

The Church by definition is in the Kingdom of God business and there are certain fundamentals which when applied to our lives lead to abundance of life and success - principles such as simple-hearted goodness, a trust in the love and power of God, a clear proclamation of the death of Jesus and an affirmation that all people have dignity and value to God.

Equally it holds that you cannot build the Kingdom on wickedness. Even with the full backing of ZANU PF you cannot establish Zion in injustice, racial hatred, immoral conduct or the like.

The beginning of the villainy was a letter full of scurrilous slander that was circulated to electors involved in the election of Reverend Norbert Kunonga as the new Anglican Bishop of Harare. From there we moved to the silliness of holding a church court in secret in Zambia. I and others pointed out that this could not be done.

The sorry saga went on and we have, I am convinced, moved to a situation where a Bishop of Harare has been elected contrary to the fundamentals of the church.

On the same day that Judges Ebrahim and McNally had a vote of no confidence passed in them, the ever-cheerful Vicar-General Tim Neill received the same from the Harare diocese standing committee.

Whereas the good judges had rules that protected them, the same cannot be said for this clergyman and he was removed from office.

Should I have stayed quiet, like so many ministers of the gospel, in the face of the gross evil confronting this land? If I had to begin again would it not be better for this clergyman to stay out of politics and perhaps thereby have further advanced his career? If I had been more circumspect then the brilliant ministry in Greendale could continue - is that not so?

No. Because dynamic leadership is founded on good and godly principles. Primarily, God's ways, as given in the scriptures, have to be applied to life. The demand for justice for all, for a new constitution, for a return to the rule of law, for the criminal elements in the government to be made to pay for their crimes - these are not negotiable.

The church must embody the gospel it proclaims and then it can and indeed must offer a prophetic alternative to a world dying in terrible hopelessness. By preaching a godly life it reminds the nation that there is something far better possible for peoples and communities which lie in ruins.