By Staff Reporter
Crisis ridden Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe (AFM) has resolved to defer Church conferences that were slated for March and April owing to financial challenges emanating from the long standing church disputes.
In a statement sent to all Provincial Chairmen, Provincial Secretaries, Provincial Overseers, and Provincial Treasurers, the church said the drastic measures were meant to counter negative impact of low revenues.
“Due to the challenges faced by the Church over the past three years which include a barrage of court battles setting up of new structures, clearance of legacy issues and so forth, the Church was not in a good position to mobilize adequate financial resources to meet all its obligations and has in some instances, been inevitably lagging behind on meeting its commitments.
“At its recent meeting, the National Executive Board noted that the revenues being generated and remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, are currently below expected levels, and not covering all the costs of the Church. It is against this background that the National Executive Board resolved to take some drastic measures to counter the negative impact of the above and implement a program of interventions for the purpose of extinguishing the growing debt burden and re-align costs to income levels.
“Deferring March/April Provincial Spiritual Conferences, the National Youth Conference and National Ladies Conference. The rationale for the deferment is to reduce the impact of levies of these conferences on the revenue generation efforts of Assemblies. Separate communication will be issued with details of when these conferences have been rescheduled from the relevant offices,” read the statement
The church added “Implementation of an urgent manpower audit with a view to rationalize the number of the Church’s employees. The Board has further resolved that all Provinces shall be levied an amount based on the principle of equity, to raise the required funding according to the attached schedule.
“We regret any inconveniences caused by the changes, which we anticipate will yield long-term benefits to the Church and key stakeholders. We appeal to all Provincial Boards and Leadership to ensure that the levied amounts are collected and remitted promptly. We look forward to the unwavering support of our formidable Church Membership to overcome this temporary challenge. Your efforts in this endeavour are greatly appreciated.”
