Khartoum governor moves to resolve dispute over church premises

December 6, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The governor of Khartoum state, Abdel-Rahman al-Khidir, has formed a reconciliation committee in a bid to resolve a dispute between two groups within the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Khartoum North.

Last week, police stormed the church to allow an investor to hand over an area of the land inside the church as ordered by court, while the church emphasised that it has appealed the court decision.

The secretary general of the Evangelical Presbyterian Council in Sudan, Rev. Youssef Matar, underscored in a statement last month that the ongoing dispute is part of an administrative conflict within the church, which dates back to more than 40 years.

The reconciliation committee, which is chaired by Philib Abdel-Massih, includes Corey Ramla, secretary-general of the Council of Sudanese Churches, and Bishop Ezekiel Kando, Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan (internal compound), and Amba Sraba Amon, Bishop of Omdurman and Atbara and northern Sudan.

In April 2013, the ministry of guidance and endowments attempted to resolve the ongoing dispute by forming a mediation committee.

The governor of Khartoum instructed the committee to work towards restoring the constitutional status of the church according to its own rules and constitution.

According to the government-sponsored Sudan Media Centre (SMC) website, the chairman of the committee underscored the government’s keenness to maintain stability of the church in order to play its role, pointing the committee immediately began its works following the formation decision.

Last November, members of the church entered into an open-ended sit-in to protest the court’s decision to vacate the property (church) and following the government’s demolition of a premises belonging to the church.

(ST)