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By:
HARRISON MAINA | |||||||||
| Posted:
May,30-2016 12:01:56
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(Updated Fri, May 27, 6.40pm) BOSTON--Licenses for Rev. Fredrick Thanji of the All Saints Community church in Quincy and Rev. Paul Mwaniki of the St.James Anglican community church in Attleboro to operate as priests under the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA), were revoked in 2011, and therefore have been operating their churches as rogue Anglican churches away from the main stream Anglican church of Kenya (ACK).
The revelation was made today by the Right Reverend Bishop William Murdock,the leader of the Anglican Diocese of New England and suffragan to Archbishop Eliud Wabukala of the Anglican church of Kenya,while testifying before Judge Jeffery Locke of the Norfolk Superior court in Dedham in a case filed to resolve a serious dispute at the All Saints Community church. Bishop Murdock said that the issue of license revocation was clearly communicated to both pastors as well as the ACK church in Kenya, but does not know how they have continued to represent themselves as bona fide members of the Anglican church of Kenya, as they serve their congregations in Boston. He said that due to the license revocation, Rev.Thanji and Rev. Mwaniki were effectively not recognized as priests under the ACK-- since the ACK recognized the Anglican church of North America as the only legitimate mechanism to operate any Kenyan community church in USA and Canada professing to the ACK doctrine. Responding to intense cross examination by attorney Stephen MacLaughlin for Rev. Thanji, Bishop Murdock admitted that although the two pastors and their congregations were no longer recognized as part of the Anglican church of North America or the Anglican church of Kenya, there was nothing to prevent them from running their churches as they wished, call themselves any title they wished, but that does not mean that they are part of the mainstream Anglican communion. "This is America. Anybody can call themselves whatever they want and do anything they wish as long as they follow the law. But this does not mean that they are recognized as part of the Anglican church of North America, Anglican church of Kenya or the Anglican Church Communion worldwide all the way to the Canterbury," the bishop told a hushed court. He added that it was not within his power to decide or comment on any side agreements and partnerships that the Rev. Thanji claim to have with the Diocese of Thika under Bishop Julius Wanyoike, but that those partnerships were not recognized by the main Anglican Church of Kenya. Murdock added that a communication from Archbishop Wabukala issued two days ago to the college of bishops representing all the Anglican Church of Kenya affiliated churches clearly said that any Kenyan community church in USA and Canada that wishes to be part of the Anglican church of Kenya must go through the Anglican church of North America.
The bishop did not disclose why Mwaniki's license was revoked, but in a separate email submitted to the court and obtained by Ajabu Media, he said that Thanji's license was revoked after he wrote a letter to the diocese of New England to withdraw his membership. Rev. Mwaniki was present at the hearing today when Bishop Murdock was testifying. Murdock said that there are only two Kenyan community churches in the Boston region, the St. Paul's Community church in Lawrence under Rev. Peter Gachathi and the Faith Anglican church in Lowell under Rev. Justus Munyasya, have comformed to the authority of the ACNA, and thus recognized as members in good standing with the Anglican Church of Kenya and the Anlgican church communion worldwide. During his opening remarks before the hearing kicked off at 10am, Judge Locke reminded both parties of the limited role the court has in resolving disputes in hierarchical religious organizations that operate under a certain, documented operating principles related to governance and management. He added that due to the principle of the Separation of Church and State guaranteed under the 1st Ammendment of the U.S. Constitution, the court would have "very limited ability" to resolve the dispute at the All Saints church, and therefore needed to determine what kind of operating structures the church had. "If indeed there are operating principles related to the running of the church, then the court cannot step in to resolve any disputes, or even to say where there is any fairness in those structures. What we must determine is whether this church has, or ever had a controlling document, whether its bylaws, constitution or anything else," the judge said. Following the remarks, the court proceeded to hear testimonies for the next 4 hours related to a disputed church constitution as the controlling document, with only a one hour lunch break recess allowed. During the lengthy hearing, Bishop Murdock and George Kamau and Anthony Karanja testified for the plaintiffs, while George Gichimu, the church secretary, testified for the Rev. Thanji.
At the end of the submissions, the judge summoned both attorneys, Corina Hale for the plaintiff and Stephen MacLauhlin for the defendants, and retreated into his chambers with them for private discussions that lasted more than one hour. Upon resumption, the both attorneys told their parties that the judge had decided to give the two sides a last minute opportunity to come up with a workable consensus on how to go about the church constitution. A different judge, who initially took the case before she was transferred, had also given the two sides a similar ultimatum to hammer out an agreement on the church constitution issue. After several weeks of meetings where both attorneys drafted a constitution acceptable to all sides, the parties reported that they had come to a consensus and had agreement on the structure of the new constitution.However, due to the limited time left before the court closed for the day, the judge adjourned the hearing to give the two sides to hammer out an agreement, and resume tomorrow morning with a consensus, failure to which the hearing would continue and the judge would make his own decision. However, days before the deadline given, Rev. Thanji rejected the newly created constitution and indicated he would not be open to further negotiations, sending the dispute issue back to the court, and into the hands of the new Judge. The hearing continues tomorrow morning, Friday May 27 at 9.30am. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS STORY. CHECK BACK LATER FOR DETAILS | |||||||||
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Source:
AJABU AFRICA NEWS
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