Table of Contents
On 5 December 2006, Commodore Bainimarama led a successful military coup against a Qarase government that had been strongly supported by the Assembly of Christian Churches of Fiji (ACCF), an umbrella organization in which the Methodist Church of Fiji is the most dominant member. Within two days of the coup, the Assistant General Secretary of the Methodist Church, in his capacity as chair of both the ACCF and a second umbrella group, the Fiji Council of Churches (FCC), condemned the coup as illegal and unconstitutional. This position has been retained – by the Methodist Church in particular, despite its support for the previous coups in 1987 and 2000. By contrast, the Roman Catholic Church took an alternative position, which was to become influential: That while the coup itself was illegal, the church supported the multicultural views expressed by the military and the interim government. Almost a year after the coup, in October 2007 and amid much controversy, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Fiji Archbishop Mataca accepted the role of co-chair of the National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF), the body charged by the interim government with developing the People’s Charter for Change and Progress. Together with Commodore Bainimarama, he signed the draft charter in August 2008.
Clearly, the Christian churches played a role in the aftermath of the 2006 coup by articulating strongly divergent visions of the way that Fiji should be governed. This reflects the extent of the polarization between the Methodist Church and the Roman Catholic Church in Fiji (and consequently the division in and between Christian umbrella groups), and also shows markedly different ideas about the role religion should play in politics in Fiji.
The FCC, an affiliate of the World Council of Churches, was established in 1964 as an ecumenical institution to unify Christians, deepen their faith, foster an understanding of other religious traditions and encourage activism in social justice issues. Its members are the Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian and Samoan Congregational churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the Salvation Army and the Fiji Baptist Convention. Of these, the Methodist Church is the largest. It is also the largest religious organization in Fiji – with 36.3 per cent of the total population and 66.5 per cent of Fijians identifying themselves as Methodist in the 1996 Census.[1]
By contrast, the ACCF was formed after the 2000 coup, and currently has about 27 member churches, para-churches and attached organizations.[2] While the Methodist Church is central to the ACCF, nearly all the other churches and para-churches are Pentecostal and evangelical in orientation. Two influential members are the Assemblies of God and a fast-growing local variant of Pentecostalism, the Christian Mission Fellowship (CMF). Pentecostal/evangelical churches have burgeoned since the 1970s – with many of their converts drawn from the Methodist Church, which resulted in political and social upheavals within village communities.[3] For the Methodists, an umbrella organization that promoted unity with the Pentecostal/evangelical churches offered a means by which Methodists could promote dialogue and teamwork – a measure which could go some way to healing divisions among Christian Fijians across Fiji.
The philosophy of the ACCF is not about ecumenism but about unifying Fijians under Christianity. In a country where the two main ethnicities are Fijian and Indo-Fijian (the latter are more likely to be Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh), most Christian churches have predominantly Fijian membership.[4] The vision statement of the ACCF calls members to strive towards making Fiji a nation that honours and glorifies God in order that the country becomes ‘God’s Treasured Possession’. To attain that goal, all flocks need to unite, members should live God’s way of love, leadership should be God-fearing, and Fiji should be reconciled for peace and prosperity.[5] As most Fijians are Christian and most Indo-Fijians are not, the vision statement’s objectives are clearly aimed at uniting Fijians under (particular perspectives of) Christianity, and at converting all others – thus emphasizing the importance of Christian leadership in both church and government, and the importance of evangelism. With its underlying objective of turning Fiji into a Christian state,[6] the ACCF’s mission lies in stark contrast to the FCC’s goals of promoting interfaith understanding and interaction.
While the FCC and the ACCF have profoundly different philosophies, the chair of both organizations is currently the Assistant General Secretary of the Methodist Church, Rev. Tuikilakila Waqairatu. The unfolding politics that have resulted from the stance of the various churches – particularly the Methodist and Roman Catholic churches – within the larger context of these umbrella organizations, are embedded in a history of active church involvement in politics; whether through direct influence on government or through critiquing government policy.
[1] Fiji Islands Bureau of Statistics. 1996. http://www.spc.int/prism/fjtest/index.htm, accessed 23/5/07.The 2007 Census statistics are not yet available but are likely to show considerable change in church affiliation, away from the Methodist Church and towards the Pentecostal/evangelical churches.
[2] In 2005, members were listed as: the Apostles Gospel Outreach Fellowship International (AGOFI); Assemblies of God, Fiji (AOG); Christian Mission Fellowship (CMF); Christian Outreach Centre (COC); Church of God of Fiji (COG); Covenant Evangelical Church (CEC); Grace Baptist Church; Advanced Breakthrough Ministry (ABC); Jesus Power Church; the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma; the Methodist Davuilevu Theological College; New Life Centre; Pentecostal Churches of Fiji; Rescue Mission Fellowship; the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), the Worldwide Church of God in Fiji and Tonga; the Fiji Brethren Assemblies Partnership (Gospel Churches); the Family Life Ministry; the New Methodist Church; Fiji Baptist Convention; the Prison Chaplaincy; Impact World Tour/YWAM; Prison Fellowship; Global Sports Ministries; Summit Ministries (World Views); Teach us to Pray (ministry); and Assemble Communication.
[3] Newland, L. 2004. ‘Turning the Spirits into Witchcraft: Pentecostalism in Fijian Villages’, Oceania, 75(1):1-18.
[4] Indo-Fijians have joined the Indian Division of the Methodist Church, the Assemblies of God, and a small number of other Christian churches such as the Anglican Church and the Fijian Brethren Assemblies Partnership. Other small churches have mixed congregations of Pacific Islanders and whites (eg. the Presbyterian Church and the New Life Centre).
[5] Newland, L. 2006. ‘Fiji’ in Manfred Ernst (ed.) 2006. Globalization and the Re-Shaping of Christianity in the Pacific Islands, The Pacific Theological College, Suva.
[6] A reference to the Christian state reappeared in March 2006 in an ACCF project aimed at healing the land; it then became a call to make each province in Fiji, Christian. See, Newland, L. 2007. ‘The Role of the Assembly of Christian Churches in Fiji (ACCF) in the 2006 Elections’ in Fraenkel, J. and Firth, S. (eds) 2007. From Election to Coup in Fiji: The 2006 campaign and its aftermath, Institute of Pacific Studies, Suva and Asia Pacific Press, Canberra.