People should be free to express their faith

ALLOW me to air my views on Evangelical Lutheran Church-PNG (ELCPNG) Bishop Jack Urame’s stance against preaching by lay people.
Bishop Urame’s stance is ethically and morally wrong and theologically unhealthy for the Lutheran Church.
Therefore, our learned theologian and newly-elected bishop should apologise to Morobe Governor Kelly Naru and all the laymen preachers of the Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea.
ELC-PNG is believed to be a laymen’s church and not clergy as he claims.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Every Lutheran knows very well that the pulpit belongs to ordained pastors and occasionally is only invited to the pulpit by the officiating minister or in the absence of a minister.
Can the bishop tell us how many pastors he has right now to adequately cater for the one million plus Lutherans in the country?
In many congregations, parish and circuits in ELC-PNG there are no pastors and some already left for greener pastures.
Laymen are actively running the local church preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in purity and entirety.
I don’t think there are any misinterpretation, misapplication and misapprehension of the Word of God by a Lutheran layman preacher.
Our learned theologian should be more focused on mending the division within the church by cultist movements, revival movements and reform movements.
On behalf of senior laymen of the church, I demand that Bishop Jack Urame withdraw his statement and apologise to all the laymen of ELC-PNG who are currently serving the church in various capacities where there are no pastors, and even supporting the church financially.
Most of our MPs, especially in Morobe, are Lutherans and you cannot work in isolation or separate the church from politicians.
Why not let them express their faith and belief, and strive to work with them to enhance our church.
The Body of Christ should be united in one spirit to fight for one common goal and that is to reach out to all corners of PNG preaching and teaching the Word of God to all mankind sharing our faith and building the church through love and not segregation and separation.

Concerned Layman, Via email