by Daniel Johnson
October 12, 2024
A gaggle of congregants filed a petition with a New York State courtroom to void the election of Pastor Rev. Dr. Kevin Johnson.
Usually, church drama doesn’t attain the courts, however a gaggle of congregants at Harlem’s influential Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York Metropolis filed a petition with a New York state courtroom to void the election of its new pastor, Rev. Dr. Kevin Johnson.
In keeping with NBC New York, though Johnson was elected to guide one of many nation’s strongest church buildings in September, 4 members are alleging that the vote was not performed based on established church bylaws.
Per the authorized doc, Rev. Dr. C. Vernon Mason, one of many unique members of the search committee who was expelled described a flawed course of.
“The method that I witnessed unfold successfully pushed apart different extremely certified candidates,” Mason mentioned.
One other petitioner, Clarence Ball III, who has been a member of the church for 10 years, informed the outlet that the search and choice course of undermined the power of members to have their voices heard.
“Abyssinian has been a beacon of mental and non secular mild for the broader African American neighborhood for 216 years. This flawed pastoral search and election course of has not solely usurped the pulpit, but additionally members’ alternative – and non secular proper — to have a pastor correctly chosen with integrity and fact to guide our folks by the trendy challenges we face as neighborhood,” Ball mentioned.
Nevertheless, the official place of the church is mirrored in an announcement from LaToya Evans, the church’s spokesperson.
“Abyssinian Baptist Church stands behind the moral, authorized and legitimate election of its new Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson,” Evans mentioned. “We’ll proceed to defend our church, legacy and pastoral choice course of from baseless assaults by a disgruntled few.”
In keeping with Jasmine McFarlane-White, one other petitioner, Rev. Johnson didn’t obtain the help from rank and file congregation members.
“You want an excellent majority, a majority of all of the members in good standing versus a majority of people that vote,” McFarlane-White informed NBC New York.
Congregants like Michael Deas, a deacon on the church, and Delsinia Glover, mentioned that they’d no points with the collection of Rev Johnson.
“He’s doing God’s work and that’s what I actually admire about him,” Deas mentioned.
“I by no means had any qualms concerning the course of in any respect,” Glover informed the outlet.
The petition asks for the courtroom to void all wage and funds or different compensation the church has supplied Rev. Johnson and to order the formation of a brand new pastoral search committee and pressure the church to current a distinct candidate for the congregation to vote on.
Different issues middle across the ouster of Rev. Johnson from Philadelphia’s Shiny Hope Baptist Church, and damaging protection of Johnson by the Philadelphia Inquirer described him as an “embattled pastor” who had clashes with church members who “tried to get solutions concerning the church’s monetary affairs, together with his wage.”
Guilda Squire, one other church member who voted in opposition to Johnson’s appointment, mentioned that the church simply wants to start out from scratch.
“If you mix the flawed and tainted search course of with a flawed election course of, and also you’ve ignored bylaws to take action, what that claims at the least to me, is that maybe we’d like a reset,” Squire informed NBC New York.
Squire continued, “How did what occurred at Shiny Hope Baptist Church issue into the search committee making an intentional determination to maneuver this candidate into the highest place?”
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