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By:
HARRISON MAINA | ||||||||||||||
| Posted:
Nov,17-2016 19:36:07
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BOSTON--A dramatic twist of events happened Sunday at the troubled Kenyan church in Quincy near Boston when Rev. Fredrick Thanji categorically rejected an order by the new Anglican church of Kenya Archbishop, Jackson Ole Sapit to allow ejected parishioners back into the church if it was truly affiliated with ACK as claimed by the pastor in recent court proceedings. The drama got more intriguing as two conflicting police officers from the same Quincy Police Department showed by early in the morning at the church, one hired by Rev. Thanji to enforce a no trespass order he filed recently to eject the members--the other was reportedly sent by the Police Captain to ensure that the ejected members were allowed back into the church. The police Captain was reportedly acting based on Archbishop Ole-Sapit's letter as the ultimate authority in governance matters related to the Quincy church that has in the past claimed affiliation with the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK).
Ole Sapit's directive was addressed to the leadre of the Anglican Church of North America, Right Reverend Dr. Foley Beach clarifying the mandate given to the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) as the overseer of all Kenyan Community churches claiming ACK affiliation. It was delivered early last week to Rev. Thanji and the Quincy Police Department by Bishop William Murdoch leader of the New England Chapter of the ACNA, and mandated to oversee all Kenyan Community churches in the region affiliated to the ACK. In an effort to resolve the early morning impasse, the two officers entered the church where pastor Thanji together with his handpicked successor, Rev. Eliud Mwangi from Thika, as well as some church officials and parishioners. However, moments later, the Sergeant sent to oversee the expected safe return emerged to address the ejected group with bad news. "The pastor has told me that he does not recognize the Archbishop. Therefore he said he cannot honor the letter the bishop sent. He said he is the person in charge of this building as the pastor and has filed a restraining order against your group," the officer told the large group of shocked Kenyans led by their pastor, Rev. Dorcas Abreletch. Equally dismayed were and two American pastors, Rev. Leah Turner of the Grace Anglican church of Bridgewater and Rev. Lance Giuffrida, of the All Saints Anglican church in Attleboro sent by Bishop Murdoch as witnesses on his behalf. The officer added that the police had no power to force Thanji to open the doors to them as he was the person officially in charge of the church building according to legal incorporation documents, and had filed a restraining order against them in that capacity that still stood.
According to leaders of the ejected group, Bishop Murdock invited both sides of the dispute to a meeting last Friday in an attempt to bring the matter to a cordial resolution and have a smooth return to the church by the aggrieved members. Unfortunately, Rev. Thanji was reported to have snubbed the meeting and urged his supporters not to attend as well. However, encouraged that Archbishop Ole Sapit had resolved the dispute as the court had directed, the ejected group took care to file a copy with the Quincy Police Department since Rev. Thanji had filed a restraining order against them. The group said that they also filed a copy with the Attorney General's Office in Boston where they had reported the matter for investigation, and were therefore ready and excited to return to the church for Sunday service. Leaders of the group who spoke to Ajabu Africa News said that a captain at the Quincy Police department assured them that several officers would be present at the church to make sure there would be no hindrances to their re-entry. It was while armed with the Archbishop's strongly worded letter, and assurances by the Quincy Police, that the more than 40 adults and 40 children trooped to the church Sunday in high spirits welcoming the end of the more than 15 months of heartache, and headed straight to the main door.
However, to their utter dismay, a police detail hired by Thanji stopped them in their tracks, indicating that he had been hired to enforce an existing restraining order against "any unauthorized person". "This cannot be for real. We have a letter from the headquarters of the Anglican Church and we reported it to the captain at your police department. The Captain said this was good and assured us that we will return to the church without problems and that he would send an officer here to make sure that happened. We actually thought you are here to protect us as we go back in," John Bret Giathi told the officer standing guard in an intense exchange witnessed by Ajabu Africa News. Church members siding with the pastor in the dispute who came late and tried to gain entry as the drama ensued had to make phone calls to be let in, using a side door behind the church that was only cracked open slightly by a hidden operator, then shut quickly as soon as an "authorized" member slipped through.
In dismissing the case filled by the ejected group, the presiding judge said the responsibility of resolving the dispute to the Anglican church of Kenya since Rev. Thanji though his attorney urged the court to stay out of the matter based on the First Amendment of the US Constitution that bars civil courts interfering in internal governance issues of hierarchical churches in Massachusetts and the US in general. He also indicated that the case was not filed properly as none in the suing party had authority to do so as they were not officials of the church. However, Thanji claimed in court that the All Saints Quincy church affiliation with the ACK was very strong as evidenced by a partnership agreement he had signed in 2015 with Bishop Wanyoike, overseer of the Thika Diocese group of the ACK. In writing the now disputed letter, Archbishop Ole- Sapit was trying to clear the confusion over the alleged ACK affiliation key in determining the case in Thanji's favor. According to the letter obtained by Ajabu Africa News, Ole Sapit said that a meeting of the Anglican church synod held recently reaffirmed the long standing authority of the Anglican church of North America (ACNA) in overseeing all Kenyan community church in USA and Canada that wished to be affiliated with the larger Anglican Communion and the resolutions of the GACFON (Global Anglican Future Conference), a new Anglican Communion re-alignment against doctrines of gay marriage and influence of money in Anglican churches. The archbishop further said that as a result, in order to avoid conflict of interests, all ACK related business between such churches in the Diaspora must be channeled through the ACNA. "In particular, in the case of All Saints Church and Rev. Fred Thanji in Massachusetts, if Rev. Thanji wishes to continue in ministry there in North America as an Anglican, it must be through the Province there, the ACNA." "There is no provision for him to serve as an Anglican Pastor under the jurisdiction of a Bishop and Diocese in Kenya. The Anglican Church of Kenya will no longer have any clergy in active ministry in the Anglican Church under the jurisdiction of the ACK. Those ACK clergy who are in North America who desire to pursue ministry in the Anglican church must do by being transferred into the ACNA and come under the Canons of the ACNA," continued the Archbishop in the far reaching directive that will impact on other well known Kenyan pastors in Boston and USA who claim affiliation with the Anglican church of Kenya. He added that the decision had been communicated to all the Anglican Bishops in all provinces worldwide and especially to Bishop Wanyoike of the Thika diocese who had signed a partnership agreement with Rev. Thanji that was disputed by the ejected group. "This has been communicated even with the bishop of the Thika diocese and Rev. Thanji, and they have all agreed," reads part of the letter. (Read full letter here below). The dispute at the Quincy church revolves the control of the church that owns a paid up church building with a paid up equity of about $1.2 million once the pastor retires after many decades of service. Thanji , insisted on choosing his preferred successor as opposed to allowing members have an input as laid out in the disputed new Constitution of 2012.
This led to a large group of the church to suspect that Thanji wanted to gain control of the church and its assets even when in retirement in contravention to laid out of procedures of most affiliated churches with a clear cut succession plan. They therefore moved to court to seek legal redress, only to come against limitations of the First Amendment. "I am very saddened to see this happen to you all. We hope that something can be done to bring this matter to an amicable resolution. But if it does not work out, our church doors are open for you to come and worship with us especially as the cold winter rolls in," Rev. Turner of the Grace Anglican church in Bridgewater told the disappointed Kenyans during a brief sermon conducted in open air outside the Quincy church. Encouraging the Kenyans not to lose hope, Rev. Dorcas said that God would not let them down and may even surprise them with bigger blessings down the road as long as they kept their faith according to the instructions of God. The shocking developments at the Kenyan All Saints Quincy church have rattled the faith of the Kenyan community in Boston and elsewhere in USA alarmed that they have been following their pastors blindly with total ignorance of the First Amendment of the US Constitution that limits any legal recourse that aggrieved members would follow in civil courts in case disputes arise. The small community in Boston has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars raised by unsuspecting parishioners in aid of purchasing church buildings, only for the funds to be lost through misappropriation by some clergymen, who then vehemently resist any calls for accountability. "This not the end of the road for us and we are determined to fight it to the bitter end. The fact that the archbishop of Kenya has spoken regarding the partnership that the All Saints Church has with the Bishop of Thika, and given the fact that the Synod's meeting re-affirmed the jurisdiction given by the ACK to ACNA to oversee our Anglican affiliated churches, we are left with no option even if it means going back to court," said George Kamau, one of the leaders of the ejected group. "We are not going to stop, we are energized. We have to address the corruption in that church since we know that is the motivation behind pastor Thanji's actions. He even changed the board of Directors of the church recently without notice or approval from those who build the church. We are going to fight until the church is returned to the rightful members," he vowed. Kamau added that the ejected group will work closely with the Anglican church of Kenya and the local representative, Bishop Murdoch as well as the Attorney General of Massachusetts in an effort bring the embarrassing matter to conclusion.
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Source:
AJABU AFRICA NEWS
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