.jpg)
| |||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
By:
Harrison Maina | |||||||||
| Posted:
Dec,06-2018 11:40:53
| |||||||||
|
BRIDGEWATER, Mass.,__After years of turmoil over a disputed church constitution that culminated into a yearlong court battle and eventual eviction through a no trespass eviction order by a few remaining but uncompromising leaders of the All Saints Anglican community church in Quincy, a group of 46 adults and 60 children who left to form the new Faith Anglican church have brought a rapidly growing and much appreciated revival among Kenyans and friends in the South shore region of Boston. To mark the remarkable turnaround by the small group with unwavering Faith in God, the church celebrated their second anniversary in a colorful and highly attended ceremony Sunday at their venue located within the Grace Church of Bridgewater who have partnered with the Kenyans to spread the Good news in the area. Over 200 guests packed the church to witness the special occasion. The fun filled celebration last Sunday was sight to behold for a small group of faithful who braved extremely hot sun in the summer into chilly Fall season of 2016 worshiping under a tree outside their former All Saints Quincy Church before finding a new home at the Grace Church Bridgewater at the invitation of Rev. Leah Turner. While reading a celebratory statement during the service on Sunday, church Secretary, George Kamau said that the partnership with Grace Church under Rev. Turner together with Bishop William Murdock of the North American Anglican Arch Diocese and Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit of the Anglican church of Kenya and has seen the church stabilize and grow from the original 46 members to over 100 in just two years. Kamau also thanked Faith Anglican church pastor, Venerable Dorcas Abreletch for her decision to stand with the evicted group when the dispute erupted at All Saints and led them to continue worshiping under a tree until they found a new home at Grace church. "We cannot forget how far our God has brought us to where we are today.I would like to thank our pastor, Venerable Dorcas, Mother Leah of Grace church, Bishop Bill Murdock and Archbishop Jackson Ole Sapit of the Anglican church of Kenya for guiding and supporting us through the difficult journey which has culminated in this second year anniversary," said Kamau to loud applause. The strong partnership have seen the Faith Anglican church agree to a joint ownership of the building that houses the Grace Anglican church in a 50-50 basis, with the Kenyans already finishing paying off the required mortgage payments one month ago.
Many worshipers who had left the All Saint church when the dispute arose have already rejoined their fellow worshipers at the Faith Anglican church as well as many other Kenyans from the south shore region with no previous church affiliation, a testament to the huge revival going on in the area powered by the new church. "This is amazing. It feels really good to be here today and celebrate this achievement. I also have seen so many Kenyans I have not seen I many years. I think this church is doing a great job bringing Kenyans in this area together for worship after overcoming all those hardships we heard about in the news," said Samuel, a popular Kenyan DJ in the Boston region who appeared at the church for the first time together with his wife and three children. The All Saints church dispute was extensively covered by Ajabu Media as it played out both inside the Superior court in Dedham and both inside and outside the church venue on 33 Grafton Street, Quincy. Invited guest preacher, Paul Thuo Githinji of the St. Veronica Anglican church in Newark, Delaware also congratulated Faith Anglican church leadership and worshipers alone for their remaining steadfast in the face of adversity. He encouraged them to continue looking ahead as they continue to rebuild the "temple that was destroyed". Reading from the book ofZacharia 4:1-10, Githinji drew a parallel with the hard task that Zerubabel had to do to rebuild the temple that was destroyed after initially giving up hope for over 10 years until due to discouragement from rulers of the day in a community that did not value those who held onto their Faith in God. "We thank God that on the second anniversary of this church, we can see a great revival. Do not throw in the towel. Zerubabel threw in the towel and for 10 years, the work he started in the temple of the Lord remained in ruins because he saw the persona leadership us hostile to rebuilding the temple," Githinji told worshipers.
"Sometimes you have to rise beyond the noise, beyond the discouragement all around you so that you can do what you have to do." He urged worshipers to be ready to give their time, money and talents while avoiding internal conflicts in order to continue rebuilding the church to greater heights. "Don't be derailed by some people who want to bring you down form your vision." The Delaware clergyman listed down four keys to success for the church as they celebrate their second anniversary including:; Know your master (God) and obey him, know your enemy and his tricks so you are able to thwart them ahead of time, realize what is in you and use it for the glory of God, develop and attitude of gratitude as you go about your life both in church and in the community and identify a supportive group of friends who value you and your ideas. "You need to go through your phone and find friends who add value to you. Some friends will stay for more than a year without bothering to call since they don't really appreciate you. Such friends do not appreciate you and do not add value to you. Please utilize the delete button and remove them from your contact list!" added pastor Githinji , as he stressed the power that comes with building strong relationships among the faithful. The celebration saw several children and young adults receive baptismal rites conducted by Venerable Dorcas and Rev. Leah Turner.
Rev. Dorcas urged members of the community in the area who may not have a church to worship at to visit Faith Anglican church and join a supportive group of worshipers. Elizabeth Nyambura led the faithful in several songs of praise and worship. It ended with a vote of thanks by John Kombo before guests were treated to Kenyan traditional cuisine of roast goat meat, Mukimo, rice, porridge, fruits and salads as well as other soft drinks. The dramatic dispute and eventual revival that gave rise to the Faith Anglican church has been hailed by many as wake up call to many Kenyan churches in the region struggling with similar issues that led to the breakdown of the All Saints church and several other churches in the last few years. Worshipers have complained of the concentration of church management power and decision making to one single pastor and carefully regulated boards of directors made of family and close friends unable to question management decisions to avoid the wrath of their pastor. Many have seen this as resulting to many forms of manipulation and abuse that is currently prevailing in some Kenyan community churches with many members scared of confronting their pastors about issues that are going wrong within the church. However, with most the transparent and inclusive way that decisions at the Faith Anglican church lying among the membership through democratically elected and independent minded board members, the Faith Anglican church serves a good template for an expanded and much needed revival to other Kenyan community churches in other parts of New England and diaspora at large. Faith Anglican Church is located at: 1095 South St, Bridgewater, MA. More pics coming soon | |||||||||
|
Source:
AJABU AFRICA NEWS
| |||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RSS