Ajabu Africa News

By:

HARRISON MAINA

Posted:

Jul,16-2016 18:52:21

(Saturday, July 16, 2016) BOSTON--In a stunning defiance of the warning by the Norfolk Superior court judge against preventing dissenting members of the All Saints Kenyan Community church in Quincy from pursuing their grievances using church channels, Rev. Fredrick Thanji has moved to expel the members from the church by threatening them with possible "trespass" charges should they set foot in the church going forward.

However, the protesting members vowed to stay put and continue attending their church "as usual".

The shocking move comes in wake of an equally surprising move last Sunday when the dissenting members took over the church service, leaving the pastor and a few close associates watching from the office, resorting to call in the police who never the less decided not to intervene in the religious affairs after finding no evidence of chaos as previously reported by the pastor.

According to several members who received the letters from attorney Stephen J. McLaughlin acting on behalf of the pastor, Rev. Thanji made the move in an effort to prevent them from pursuing grievances they presented to him last Sunday but he ignored, choosing to call the police in an effort to kick them out.

The members said that they have been having governance issues that pastor has consistently ignored, forcing them to resort to court intervention and the resulting embarrassing developments at the Kenyan community church they claim to have built using their own personal finances and efforts over a period of more than 15 years.

However, efforts by the disgruntled members to seek court intervention were unsuccessful when a judge at the Norfolk Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit they had filed against the pastor, indicating that the civil court was not in a position to intervene in internal governance matters of a religions organization according to limitations of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

He also ruled that the suit was not properly brought as none of the suing members were officials of the Massachusetts Incorporated organization, or members of the church council.

However, at the same time, Judge Jeffery Locke indicated that Rev. Thanji may be stopped by the court from denying members who sued him the right to pursue their grievances using the laid out church procedures and hierarchy at the church which whose alleged affiliation with the Anglican Church of Kenya has become a matter of contention.

Feeling energized by the ruling, both groups attended church last Sunday ready to pursue their agendas, but matters deteriorated rapidly when Rev. Thanji denied the group's request to table their grievances.

According to the aggrieved members, they presented the pastor with a list of two grievances they wanted addressed, namely: the scheduling of an urgent Special general Meeting to discuss recent developments at the church, as well as voting for a new church council, claiming the existing one is compromised and was no longer representing the wishes of the majority of the congregants.

Sensing no hope to make any meaningful headway with the pastor, the large group decided to take over the Sunday worship service which they proceeded to conduct peacefully, even after the police landed, to the dismay Rev. Thanji and several close supporters.

"We presented Rev. Thanji with the list of our two grievances but he totally ignored it. He chose to call the police to kick us out for no reason but we thank God the police did not see a need to do that. We will continue to worship in the church the same way until the pastor decides to discuss with us," said Margaret Njoroge, a mother of two during an interview with Ajabu African News at the scene.

"It's very unfortunate that the pastor did not want to listen to our grievances. We have built this church together over a very for a long time and this is not the time to kick us out. Rev. Thanji is trying to kill a generational vision that we have been having here. We were hoping to bring up our kids in the fear of God here but it seems like Thanji does not care about them at all. We can’t leave this church under any circumstances," said Jacob Thuo, a father of three and a long time congregant.

Among those who received the "No Trespass" letters were leaders of the group that sued the pastor, among them John Bret Giathi, former church Development Committee chairman instrumental in purchasing and renovating the church building and the new Children's Learning Center, George Kamau, former treasurer, and Jacob Thuo, who said that virtually all other 59 members of the group expected to be served.

A similar letter was sent to Ajabu Media Communications, seeking to prevent the media from accessing the church and reporting on the unfortunate the dramatic developments unheard of before in the Kenyan community in the Diaspora, but very frequent in Kenyan community churches in the motherland where church disputes have sometimes ended up in physical violence, at times leading to loss of lives in the process.

"The letters are just an empty threat as they totally irrelevant. Why would Rev. Thanji claim that All Saints church is a private property, yet we are the ones who purchased it so that anyone in the public who wishes to come in and worship can do so without any restrictions?" wondered Giathi.

"We already told the police the building is not owned by pastor Thanji by himself, but by the entire membership of the church. He has no right to kick us out and we will go there again tomorrow to worship. We urge Kenyans everywhere for prayers to help us solve this problem and save our church for the sake of our children and future generations," he added.

The group said that there were no signs of trouble during all the years before they acquired the $1.5 million church property, and during the time of mortgage payments.

"Before the mortgage was paid off, the pastor was very friendly. He made us commit to pay $300 a members, and $600 for a family for church every church building fundraiser that we held twice a year as towards purchasing this church. That does not include the money we would contribute at the actual fundraisers, and the money we would invite other Kneyans in the community to bring us. Now that the church I fully paid for, the pastor is trying to kick us out. This is very unfortunate and we will not relent," said Giathi.

The group blasted a few members of the church council that are supporting Rev. Thanji to deny them the right to worship at their own church.

"It's very wrong for a few of our friends who we built this church together and are now claiming to be the church council members to gang up and sign a letter authorizing to expel us form the church. This is very disingenuous and is the height of hypocrisy," said George Kamau, members of the group demanding change.

Kamau added that among 11 church council members who signed a petition to expel the group includes: Rev. Fredrick Thanji, George Gichimu, Anthony Kabuga, Elizabeth Mbugua, Nancy Muiru, Martha Nguru, Joseph Njuguna, Samuel Mwai, Simon Kamoni, Anastasia Kamau, and Job Kariuki. Grace Mbogo, 12 the member of the disputed council, did not append her signature.

According to theSecretary of State website,the church board of directors include: Fredrick Thanji (President), Joseph Njuguna (Treasurer), David Maina (Clerk), Mary Kinyanjui (Director), Anthony Kabuga( Director), and Elizabeth Mbugua(Director).

The members agitating for better governance at their church vowed to remain united and resolute in their quest for justice in the wake of defiance from the pastor, whom they admitted to have “trusted blindly to lead us in the past without questioning his motives, only to be shocked by his demands to unilaterally install a successor pastor and keep control of the church administration to his family and close friends as soon as we finished paying off the main church mortgage,” they told Ajabu Africa News.

"If the pastor had told us this is a family church from the get go like some churches are, we would have made our decision whether to remain here and help him build the church or not. But he presented it as a church vested in the Kenyan community in this area. Obviously, now we see this was not the intended case, and it is very dishonest for a man of God to do this kind of thing," added a member who preferred to remain anonymous.

Source:

AJABU AFRICA NEWS