Suspended Buea EBC Christian: "I am righting the wrongs of the church "

 

Hansel Ekwa Itue, the Baptist Christian who provoked a crisis at Ebenezer Baptist Church (EBC),Buea, leading to his suspension, likens himself  to  Martin Luther, who wrote 95 theses against the Roman Catholic Church, bringing about reforms.

Ekwa Itue spoke to The Horizon’s Contributing Editor, Christopher Ambe on Sunday after the EBC Pastor Rev. Gefon and Nkwan Amos blamed him, in a previous interview, for plunging the church into a crisis. Excerpts:

Do you still consider yourself as a member of EBC after your temporary suspension, which you have been protesting against?

 I remain a member of EBC.   I am not yet liberated by the Church.

After my unjustified suspension, I wrote to the church requesting they should terminate my member but they have not responded.

But if you angry with the church for its decision temporarily suspending you,, can you not  quietly and voluntarily withdraw your membership and worship elsewhere?  

I can do that if need arises, but I remain a Baptist for now. And there are issues in EBC  which must be resolved before I start considering whether to leave or not. The issues are crucial in the unity and growth of the church.

But the issues you raised against the church leadership have been looked into by same and judgment  passed against you, resulting to your temporary suspension .What else?

I must keep pressing because the church of God is not owned by an individual or group of individuals. I pray the church leadership should sooner or later come to reason. Remember when Martin Luther [who was Professor of moral theory at the University of Wittenberg, Germany] protested against the Roman Catholic Church, everybody thought he was  mad until he published the 95 theses about the church, in which he condemned its excesses and corruption.   The EBC or church leadership may consider me a mad man because I am trying to right the wrongs of the church, but   only time alone will tell.

What are the wrongs that you want to correct?

I want to be categorical on my position. The senior pastor of the church Rev.Gefon, in my opinion, is rude and very arrogant, which are not supposed to be traits of a pastor.

Secondly, the pastor “scammed” the church about a project in Munyenge for the building of a house for a desperate pastor .In the Baptist Church, the pastor does not collect, keep or spend money in any congregation. The Church has a financial secretary, treasurer and chair person who takes financial decisions on behalf of the church. Why did the Rev Gentleman involve himself in this financial mess, by raising funds and spending such without records?

Scamming should be a crime. Why did you not lodge a complaint with the Police for investigation if you are sure of your claim?

 I made this known to the church, because when you raise money in the church it is church money. And the pastor cannot raise money and the church does not have the financial records. Church money is supposed to be spent with the approval of the church committee, which is not what he did.

But the Pastor has dismissed your claim as unfounded, insisting the Church knew and approved his expenditure on the Munyenge pastor’s house.Why Insist on this point?

This is not true.  The pastor, as a man of God, should stand by the truth and the truth alone shall set us free. The pastor should be honest at once that the church never approved of the project. The church has no records of the project in question.

If the church did not approve of the project, why did it raise the requested funds?

You see, there should be somebody who sees in the world of the blind. That is why I say he deceived the church. He has no right to raise money and spend it without following church procedures.

During the fund-raiser where were you?

I was there and raised an objection. But fund raising continued in the church and nobody could reason with me.

Didn’t that suggest to you that the majority of the church endorsed the fund-raiser?

They did not approve. They did not know whether the pastor was right or wrong in what he was doing. There is no Baptist church where funds are raised by the pastor and same spends the money without  the vetting by a committee.

It seems you are the only one faulting the pastor, despite the many informed Christians in EBC.Don’t you think so?

There are many who blame the pastor in silence. They lack the courage to speak out. As I told you when Martin Luther raised concerns about the Roman Catholic Church, everybody thought he was mad. He insisted .But when his points were finally appreciated and understood it sparked the great revolution in the Catholic Church.  I think that when the church will understand the truth of what I am saying there will be a revolution.

 You have petitioned church authorities on your claims now for months and even copied the Executive President of CBC.What has been the response of superior authorities?

They have not responded to my complaints. They have not given me their position yet.

Don’t you think that they have not seen any merit in your complaints and have ignored you?

Not at all; I complained to those directly concerned and only copied the executive president. So, I don’t expect a direct response from him.

From your previous interview with the pastor and secretary, the church claimed to have put a reconciliation mechanism where I am not responding. It   is unfortunate all that is falsehood.

 The Pastor told me he has no personal problem with you. Do you have a personal problem with Pastor Gefon, who is from the Northwest region and you are a native of Buea?

I don’t! It is just a matter of church principles and practice. His practice to me looks strange and un-Baptist.

When you were suspended you were given some counselors to work with. Have you been interacting?

The disciplinary sanction against me did not follow church principles; the judgment against was based on falsehood and I reject it.

Do you want the pastor relieved of his functions at EBC?

 I don’t want him sacked! I want the unity of the church to stand. The right things should be done. We should not take advantage of the ignorance of the majority on how the church is supposed to run to do wrong things.

Church internal rules have been violated- by putting me on suspension. So my suspension is null and void.

If  the pastor is sacked, will that make you happy?

Honestly, I won’t be happy. Life is a learning process. If you are at fault, accept your fault, accept your corrections and move ahead.

But the EBC leadership has been making effort to bring about peace and reconciliation?

On the contrary I have made several official attempts to bring about peace and reconciliation to reconcile with the pastor… I went to the pastor personally to reconcile with him in his office.  But he scandalized me by telling people that I attacked him. If I attack his short comings, am I not correct to do so?

Let it be clear: the pastor has neither made any effort to reconcile with me nor sent anybody to facilitate that.

 Would I be right to call you the Martin Luther of the church?

It is such a big title to be thrown on me.But that is exactly what I am doing: correcting the wrongs of the church.

I pray that there will be peace and reconciliation. You don’t expect the things of God to  happen automatically. Time alone will tell.