Respect your leaders, says Bishop Tendani Gogome

The recently consecrated leader of the New African Apostolic Church, Bishop Tendani Nangammbi Tshifularo Gogome, has called on communities to honour and respect their own traditional leaders as they were instituted by God.

Gogome was speaking during a remembrance ceremony held in honour of the founder of the church, Archbishop TS Gogome Tshifularo. This ceremony is an annual event that holds a special place on the church’s calendar as the life and times of the late archbishop are remembered by the church. The ceremony starts with a night vigil, attended by various church leaders and bishops, with proceedings led by Gogome.

This year’s event, held at the church’s headquarters at Malavuwe outside Thohoyandou on Saturday, 2 July, was attended by Tshifhe Vho-David Thidiela, Bishop Phyllimon Miriri, Bishop Lukas Nemulalate, Bishop Bless Netshirioni and church members from all over Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Gauteng.

The highlight of the ceremony was when the church paid a courtesy visit to the traditional leader, Vhamusanda Vho-Nndededzeni Mafenya Mphaphuli, at his royal palace, where the chief partook in a church tshikona dance.

Bishop Gogome said that the church had its roots embedded in the African culture and customs, of which paying homage to leaders was one of them. “The new chief was officially installed on 25 September 2021 and, as a church, we deemed it fit to come and pay homage to him. This is to show respect and love for our new leader, and we will continue doing this as we are directed by the Bible. We are also honouring our late archbishop, who founded the church, for paving the way for us and his vision of starting this church. This is the culture here at our church. My urge to communities out there is to please respect and honour your traditional leaders for peace and good governance. Please also pray for them for a just rule, guided by God,” she said.

Vhamusanda Vho-Mphaphuli thanked the church and said he appreciated the good work it was doing in his community. “As leaders in this community, we feel very humbled by the good deeds the church is doing and the foundation it is laying by taking the youth from the streets. It makes our role as leaders easy when our children are taught about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. Please continue doing good and serving our people,” he said.

Tshifhe Vho-David Thidiela told the traditional leader that he was lucky to have a church that followed the African culture and customs in his village. He invited the chief to become a member of their church and promised to buy him a special uniform that would be befitting for him as a leader.

Date:17 July 2022

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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