Samoan churches say new denominations not needed

Updated March 17, 2010 17:26:27

Samoa's Council of Churches wants to use a government review of freedom of religion to keep non-established churches out of the country. Reverend Oka Fauolo, Chairman of the SCC, says there are enough churches in Samoa already, and new ones are simply taking members from the already existing churches.

He says there are concerns about non-Christian faiths coming to Samoa as well. Islam and the Bahai faith are already established in Samoa, as are smaller Christian churches such as Baptists, Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists and others. In a country where village church attendence is all but mandatory, having more than one church to choose from can lead to problems, up to and including violence and banishment from the village.


Presenter, Bruce Hill
Reverend Oka Fauolo, Chair of the Samoa Council of Churches.


FAUOLO: The presence of so many religions in Samoa of Christian origin, it is not necessary. It seems that the more we have different churches and religious way of doing this that disturbance of peace comes about. We have started the Samoa Council of Churches from 1971, where the three main line churches; Congregational, the Methodist and the Roman Catholic. At that time, perhaps about 90 per cent of the population were in those three main line churches. So there is thinking of SCC that we ask the government then and that we did I think 2008, to stop accepting any new religions into the country, except a religion that is applying for registration through the prime minister and under the advice of the SCC, that would be the only opening for a new church to come in.

HILL: Reverend Fauolo says the presence of new religious groups can upset social relations in small, tight knit villages. He's also not sure the way some of them seem to operate.

FAUOLO: There is this movement of people around that were not really familiar with this kind of religious lifestyle, the full Gospel church, the Church of the community, there are some things I do not remember names of other smaller church that come in. It seems that instead of the idea of our trying together to convert these people into Christianity, now new religions coming and they try to prosyletise the people already following other Christian religious faith. So it seems to us very unnecessary to receive more and more denominations. What we really need is keeping our faith in the religions that we have and it is not a question of having the right religion, but of a question of having the proper Christian faith. So when I hear that the government is considering stopping any more Christian religions coming into the country.

HILL: The Samoa Council of Churches has some specific concerns about some of the newer Christian sects which emphasis prosperity.

Reverend Oka Fauola says some of them seem more concerned about money than faith.

FAUOLO: Some of these new faiths appear to be a kind of business by those who need them. People trying to make business out of religious faith. They affect the people who are already belonging to Christian churches by saying now you work very hard in that church, but ours - no work - we leave you in your own free will giving that sort of thing. But when they become members, they find that there is nothing different. They still have the responsibility, financially and so forth.

HILL: You say your concerned about different Christian denominations and what you call sects coming into the country. Are you also concerned about non-Christian religions. You already have the Bahai faith and Islam in Samoa? Are you worried other non-Christian religions might come into Samoa as well?

FAUOLO: The only sort of non-Christian religion here in Samoa at the moment is Islam. We have not very many, but there is a few. There was a time when there we saw in the paper a ghost religion was going to come to Samoa, but then it never came, but it was on the paper that someone with a ghost or evil spirit religion was preparing to come to Samoa [and that there were already] Samoans overseas in Australia and New Zealand who believe in the ghosts or in the evil spirit religion and they are members of that religion, but it never came.

HILL: You say you don't want more denominations and more sects coming into Samoa. How do you stop that though? Don't people have a fundamental right to choose their own beliefs?

FAUOLO: We believe in God, the Father, God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit and we believe that disobeying the will of the will of God is sin and we also believe that penitence and faith can bring about forgiveness and salvation and we believe that faith in Jesus brings out salvation for those who have faith. That is the way, as simple as that that we all want. What makes us different is the way we do our worship and having sacraments like some churches think that baptism is a matter of sprinkling. Some people think baptism is total immersion. Some people believe that system is only wetting the finger of the minister and then just the head of the child or the baby and that performs the baptism. They differ on things like that, but they are smaller things than your believing in God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit.