The Annual Methodist Church of Fiji conference was opened in Suva this morning.
While launching the week-long Conference – outgoing Methodist Church of Fiji President, Reverend Dr Tevita Banivanua – raised his concerns about the number of sexual offence cases in Fiji.
He added that it is saddening to hear cases where the accused and victims are related.
Bainivanua says the statistics is a reminder to the church that the Fijian society is far away from the Kingdom of God.
“It shows us the distance that we have to sail in rough seas and our journey of our new exodus. To state the case of the new exodus in these rough seas means we need to not only keep addressing these issues of all forms of violence against women, children and minority groups and promote gender equality within the family, the church and society.
“It means we need to go further and ensure that our communities are made up of people who are experienced in God’s salvation are also experiencing the safety of living in a peaceful oriented community,” Methodist Church in Fiji President, Reverend Dr Tevita Banivanua.
The Methodist Church of Fiji is also expected to elect a new president today as Bainivanua has completed serving his three year term.