.jpg)
| |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
|
By:
HARRISON MAINA | |||||||||||
| Posted:
Mar,28-2016 13:27:47
| |||||||||||
QUINCY, Mass.,---An atmosphere of hope and reconciliation reigned at the All Saints Church in Quincy Sunday after embattled pastor, Rev. Fredrick Thanji and dissenting parishioners agreed to have a mutually revised church constitution, following more than six hours of judge ordered negotiations a day earlier.
The newly found truce seemed to energize both sides, with previously warring parishioners and the pastor openly mingling with each other, exchanging hugs and hoped to put the snafu back into the annals of history, and the church back on track.
During the negotiations on Saturday, 10 negotiators, five representing the group that sued the pastor, and five from the groups supporting him together with their respective attorneys met for over six hours behind closed doors at the church in an attempt to work out a compromise after a Norfolk Superior court judge ordered them to negotiate one more time or the court would intervene to decide in the next one week. Speaking to Ajabu Africa news after church service on Sunday, the soon to retire pastor declined to give details of the newly reached agreement but said he was happy with the new development. "We reached an agreement and we will meet again in two weeks with our attorneys to finalize the details. I am very happy with the developments so far," Rev. Thanji told Ajabu African News soon after the Sunday service. He said he was looking forward to working with members from both sides of the issue to rebuild the trust that was broken when the dispute came up and attract members who had fled the church to other neighboring churches come back to continue "worshiping together and doing the Lord's work". However, according to reliable and confidential sources present at the meeting, by the end of the meeting that started at 10am till 3pm, both sides reached a truce and agreed to have the church constitution revisited by attorneys representing them to hash out controversial clauses causing heartburn to some members. Following the breakthrough, another meeting was scheduled in the next two weeks where all parishioners will get a chance to review the newly reworked constitution with a view to getting a mutually agreed endorsement that would put the troubled church back on track. "This is great. We reached a breakthrough. Both sides agreed to have the constitution reviewed by both lawyers so that everybody feels their views are taken into consideration. We will have another meeting in two weeks so that we can all get to take a look into the new constitution.The problems are almost over," said the source on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press on behalf of the negotiators. Members congratulated the pastor, leaders of the suing group and both attorneys for the hard fought for truce.
"They did a great job. Our church is intact. We have come from far and we cannot let the church go just like that. That is why we came up with a solution," said Judy Kiboro with the new outcome. Members also urged their friends who left the church to return and continue worshiping together. "The healing has started at All Saints Community church and we are all moving forward. We are telling those members who left that they are welcome back," said Esther Ruminjo. The heated dispute had been simmering at the Kenyan community church for several years with majority of members complaining that their grievances were not being addressed, and that a newly worked out constitution put in place to address the grievances went ignored by the pastor for a long time. They accused the pastor and his supporters of having edited out some of the clauses from the new constitution that stripped the power to govern the church from the church council and shifted it to the church pastor and close family. Members also feared the pastor effort to install a "handpicked" successor as a new pastor as well as affiliate the church with the Anglican Diocese of Thika back in Kenya may put the church property and funds in danger of loss. However, the church pastor vehemently denied the allegation through his attorney who termed it an "unreasonable fear", while the attoney representing the suing group maintained that they needed clear cut safeguards in the disputed church constitution as the controlling document for good governance. As the dispute flared more in September last year, a good number of members fled the church, leaving a small number of members supporting the pastor bickering with a larger group that demanded change while maintaining that the pastor was "refusing to talk and address their issues". Having reached the end of the road in their efforts to resolve the issue within the church, the dissenting group moved to court as a last resort and sued the pastor, with the pastor's attorney responding by asking the court to dismiss the case. During the hearing, Judge Bevery J. Cannone at the Norfolk Superior court in Dedham declined to dismiss the suit--but ordered both sides to hold an immediate last chance meeting to find a lasting solution or the court will be forced to intervene. (Recap Here:Kenyan pastor in Boston sued by parishioners for alleged corrupt practices, judge orders urgent final talks). "We have been trying to make the changes not for our own material gain, but for the welfare of our children and future generations. We have all expended a great deal of financial and time resources at building this church over many years and therefore we are all happy that we can get along together to continue with the work in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding. This new development is great news. I am very happy," said Joseph Kamotho. Both groups predicted a better church attendance next Sunday since tempers have cooled down significantly. The pastor was represented by attorney Stephen J. Mclaunghlin attorney Corrina Hale represented the group demanding change. Ajabu African News will keep you posted on the progress of the volatile but rapidly improving situation. The All Saints Community church is located at 33 Grafton St, Quincy, MA with Sunday Services starting at 10.30am.
| |||||||||||
|
Source:
AJABU AFRICA NEWS
| |||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg)
.jpg)
RSS