This press release from the MCSA is very good news for Methodism in Southern Africa
The
Rev Dr Mvume Dandala has been appointed the next President of Seth
Mokitimi Methodist Seminary (SMMS). The Governing Council of SMMS met on
Thursday, 13 September, and after receiving the report of the Search
Committee it had appointed in May, voted overwhelmingly to entrust Dr
Dandala with the leadership of the MCSA’s flagship theological training
and formation centre in Pietermaritzburg.The appointment follows the tragic and untimely death in May of the seminary’s first President, Rev Dr Ross Olivier, who was able to complete only three of the eight years he expected to serve. Since May, former Chair of the Governing Council, Rev Prof Peter Storey has served as Interim President and will do so until December.
The
61 year-old Dandala is well known and highly regarded in Southern
African and world Methodism. He has had a distinguished ministry in the
local church and in positions of Connexional responsibility. He studied
at Federal Theological Seminary and Wesley House, Cambridge. For a
number of years he was the Connexional Mission Secretary and is a past
Presiding Bishop of MCSA as well as past President of the SA Council of
Churches. He was elected Prior of the Knights of St John and has been an
honorary Professor at Pretoria University. Dr Dandala also served
beyond the borders of Southern Africa as General Secretary of the All
Africa Conference of Churches. There was a brief period when he
resigned, honouring the requirements of our Laws and Discipline, in
order to represent the Congress of the People Party in Parliament. After
he returned to active ministry he was appointed to his present position
at Manning Road Methodist Church and as provided for in its rules, the
Governing Council has petitioned the Presiding Bishop and the Methodist
Conference to facilitate his release and stationing at SMMS.
Chairperson
of the Governing Council, Professor Gordon Zide, expressed his pleasure
at the decision and on behalf of the Council, extended his best wishes
to Dr Dandala and his family for accepting the challenge and ‘the work
the Lord has put on their shoulders.’ ‘SMMS is blessed to have a person
of Dr Dandala’s stature,’ he said; ‘He will bring vast experience into
the realm of the seminary. Mvume’s humility and his selfless devotion
and dedication to the Methodist Church will sharpen the future of SMMS.’
Prof Zide said that Dandala would be joining colleagues who had ‘given
their commitment to the seminary without fail,’ and that the Governing
Council would need to support them in their journey.
After
the decision, in a message to the seminarian community at SMMS, Prof
Storey said, ‘I am sure that when Dr Dandala comes among us, all of the
varied experiences which have made up his life and ministry will
contribute to a rich relationship with your new President.’ Storey told New Dimension
that the Chapel of Christ the Servant, where the seminarians had
gathered, was the scene of joy and celebration when the name was
announced. ‘The long months of not knowing have been stressful for
SMMS,’ he said, ‘There is no doubt about the warm welcome Mvume Dandala
will receive from the Seminary community.’
