wfn.org | Once-exiled Bishop Returns To Zimbabwe

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (529
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Note 529 by UMNS on Jan. 5, 1998 at 16:46 Eastern (5641 characters).

CONTACT: Linda Green				2(10-31-71B){529}
    	    Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470	Jan. 5, 1998

NOTE: A photograph is available. 

Zimbabwe celebration marks homecoming 
for once-exiled United Methodist bishop

A UMNS feature
by Linda Green*

OLD MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS)— Thirty-four years after being expelled from the
country, a former United Methodist bishop returned in triumph to help
celebrate the church's centennial here.
For retired Bishop Ralph E. Dodge, 91, the anniversary celebration of the
United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe represented a homecoming. Dodge, who
returned Dec. 9-14, had been forced out of the country in 1964 for his work
against the discriminatory policies of the former white-minority government. 
"It’s nice to be back," Dodge said. "To see the development of the church is
amazing, and it's gratifying."
	The church was founded in 1897 by U.S. Bishop Joseph Crane Hartzell, who
first preached here to 35 people. Today, the church's Zimbabwe Annual
Conference has more than 100,000 members. 
A former missionary to Angola, Dodge was elected bishop in 1956 by the Africa
Central Conference. He was the only American Methodist missionary ever elected
bishop by the African Methodist Church in the colonial territories of Angola,
Mozambique, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of
the Congo). He served as bishop for eight years before being expelled from the
country in 1964. He was re-elected in exile and served another four years
before retiring. He now lives in Dowling Park, Fla.
Since 1968, the United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe has been led by two
African bishops, Abel T. Muzorewa and currently Christopher Jokomo.
Between his missionary service and his Episcopal election, Dodge served for
six years as the executive secretary of Africa for the Board of Mission,
predecessor to the General Board of Global Missions.
	Dodge participated in the 100th anniversary session of the Zimbabwe Annual
Conference by preaching the ordination service and helping ordain 13 pastors
as elders. He asked the pastors to:
· install Jesus Christ in their minds as Savior and God;
· preach the Word; and
· realize that God through the Holy Spirit will be a guide in all of life. 
	Dodge also received an honorary degree from Africa University on Dec. 14 for
his efforts to promote education on the continent during and after his tenure
as bishop.
He was responsible for assisting many African students in receiving a college
education in the United States. The Dodge Family Foundation recently
established the Ralph and Eunice Dodge Memorial Endowed Scholarship to support
a student annually in the Faculty of Education at Africa University.
	When Dodge, accompanied by his son Ed, stepped off the plane in Harare to
attend the conference and celebrations, he was met by Grace Cole Musuka.
Through Dodge's efforts, Musuka received a scholarship to Drury College in
Springfield, Mo.
The return to Zimbabwe to take a leadership role in the conference session was
frightening for Dodge.
"I have never craved leadership," he said. "I’m not a natural leader and was
forced into the things I’ve done. My whole contribution to Africa came at the
right time for what I felt I could give. My contribution was in trying to
encourage people to assume responsibility and leadership."
Called a revolutionary because he treated Africans as equals, Dodge was
declared a political outlaw by the colonial regimes that ruled Zimbabwe.
Throughout his missionary stints, he stirred controversy by setting aside
tradition and accepting the hospitality of the people.
In Angola, he said, the practice among missionaries had been to take a cook
and bedding along when they visited. Though he, too, had a cook, Dodge broke
tradition by eating with the people and sleeping in their homes.
"My interchange with people was on an equal basis," he said.
	"The reason I was expelled," he said, "was that I had written a book that
criticized the church on racial matters and said the church should be
preparing to take over or train people to take over responsibilities.
"The assumption was that if the church could prepare people to take over, then
why couldn’t the government do the same thing? There was the assumption there
that the time had come for a transfer of authority . . . and the government
did not like this."
Dodge said he was being true to the gospel by attempting to transform the
country’s oppressive social systems.
	He described his expulsion in his book, The Revolutionary Bishop, which
chronicled his experiences with family, friends, fellow missionaries and black
nationals.
When asked in interviews about his political activity, he would say he was
involved "only so far as religion overlaps politics," he wrote.
"Politics, economics, social life all interact with religion, and certainly
religion, if it is  vital at all, should influence each of the other phases of
life. True religion has no bounds, knows no frontiers." 
	Upon his return to Zimbabwe, Dodge found that the pulse of the people had not
changed.
"They’ve always been friendly and cooperative," he said. "I depended a lot on
them, and they responded to the assumption that they had abilities to do
certain things."
	Dodge said he devoted his mission to helping the African United Methodist
become independent and have indigenous leadership. 
Today, he said, "I see in them responsibility and the ability to carry it
through. They picked up the reins and have taken hold."
# # #
*Green is the news director of the Nashville, Tenn.-      based office of
United Methodist News Service.
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