No more differences in ELCT - Malasusa

The Head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, Bishop Alex Gehazi Malasusa

The newly elected head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, Bishop Alex Gehazi Malasusa, has set peace and unity in the ELCT serve as his main agenda and his election to the throne is a step by the God to achieving that ambition.

Addressing thousands of his congregation and other faiths who thronged the Azania Front ELCT Cathedral in the heart of Dar es Salaam city yesterday, the clergy said that minor differences in the Church have reached an end. Bishop Malasusa is also head of the ELCT of the Eastern and Coast Diocese.

He told the gathering: ``God baffles me. I went to Arusha to chair the meeting that would elect the head of the ELCT. Little would I think or dream that that head would be me.

I am too little, and I thought some of my superiors with glamorous abilities would be vested with this responsibility.

I am saying this because I know my weaknesses, only that God knows me better``.

The new head stressed that there would never be room for the devil to penetrate and divide the Church, observing that he was cordially accepting the new responsibilities because he believed all the Lutherans were behind him.

``I am grateful that our members are spiritually mature. Unity is our pillar,`` said Bishop Malasusa, adding that he was not only moved by his election to the throne but by the spirit of unity, peace and cooperation shown throughout the meeting.

The new ELCT head was received at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam yesterday by thousands of believers before proceeding to Azania Front Cathedral where prayers and congratulations were offered.

At its meeting on 18 July, the Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) elected Bishop Alex Gehaz Malasusa to a four-year term as ELCT Presiding Bishop.

Malasusa, 47, was among the three contestants presented by the ELCT Executive Council to the assembly, the church’s highest decision-making body. He received 132 out of 184 votes cast.

Malasusa succeeds retired Bishop Dr Samson Mushemba, 72, whose term as presiding bishop expires this July. His tenure ended in July last year but was extended to July 2007.

Mushemba has served as presiding bishop since 1992, and as chairperson of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) National Committee in Tanzania. He was a member of the LWF Council and Executive Committee from 1997 to 2003, serving as chairperson of the Program Committee for World Service.

Born in 1960, Malasusa holds a Bachelor of Divinity degree from the ELCT’s Makumira University College, and is currently pursuing his Master of Theology degree by distance education. He is married, and has three children.

With some 3.5 million members, the ELCT is the second largest church in Tanzania after the Roman Catholic Church with a membership of 10 million in a population of about 35 million people. The ELCT joined the LWF in 1964.