-In Nimba County
BY: SHALLON S. GONLOR / shallonsgonlor@gmail.com
NIMBA COUNTY — The United Methodist Church and Global Methodist Church are facing legal battle over properties ownership at the 8th Judicial Circuit Court in Sanniquellie, Nimba County.
United Methodists in parts of West Africa, including Liberia remain locked in struggle with members of the Global Methodist Church, as both sides fight for control and ownership of United Methodist properties.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday on the ground of the 8th Judicial Circuit Court in Sanniquellie, the Nimba District Superintendent of the Global Methodist Church, Pastor Ebenezer Belleh called for members of his congregation to remain calm, noting that homosexuality is incompatible with Biblical teaching.
The conflict stems from a deep divide within the congregation as the result of disagreements regarding the church’s stance on gay marriage.
Admonishing the members of the Global Methodist Church — a breakaway of the United Methodist Church, Rev. Belleh cautioned his Methodist congregation to join the church to continue worshiping God.
Rev. Belleh expressed confident that the Court will rule in their favor based on complaint filed by the United Methodist Church leadership, requesting the court to deprive Global Methodist right to have access to the church premises.
“Well, we know God will be victorious. We are not even fighting for ourselves. This is about God. This is about faith. That’s all,” he said.
The breakaway group, Global Methodist Church which recently split from the main United Methodist Church believes that all Methodist properties, including the church buildings, land and others belong to the majority Methodist members.
Once used to worship together under one umbrella as a church, Rev. Belleh noted that every property of the Methodists belongs to Global Methodist — a majority branch of the United Methodist.
Several pastors and members of the split Methodist congregations gathered in large crowd on Tuesday on the ground of the 8th Judicial Circuit Court, marking their first court appearance.
According to Rev. Belleh, Global Methodist legal team has argued and requested the court to throw the case out on ground that all Methodists are entitled to the deed for all of the properties.
“We are not lawyers, but I think our lawyers were just arguing in the court that the case the people brought should be dismissed because all of us are entitled to the deed they have.”
He said the deed to the disputed properties belongs to all Methodist members. “The deed for all of us and by right, we in the majority can have seven percent control on one property that belongs to all of us,” Global Methodist Church, Nimba District Superintendent stated.
Rev. Belleh highlighted that the United Methodist Church is claiming right to the properties because they brought some sinister behavior in the church, something he said some biblical things in the church even traditions does not allude to.
“Even culture does not allude to same-sex marriage and we say we can’t be in that church so they decided to take us to court. The system we say we don’t want to agree to is for man and man to have sex, woman and woman to have sex.”
He concluded “We were friends, we were close, we had meetings together, but it went after our Bishop Samuel Quire had made several commitments to us. We promise not to ascribe to this thing and any attempt for even the people to even force the bishop to accept the aggression. In fact, when it happened, they will call the church gay church, and we will leave the church and go to GMC.”
