Open Letter to Delegates at the LBMEC’S 100th Convention Titled:A Renew Call To A ‘Divided and Non-Reconciliatory’ Leadership By: D. Edwin Clarke, Life Member, LBMEC Contacts: edclarke_79@yahoo,0886752410 It was on March 17, 2012 in the mountainous District of Yekepa, Nimba County when Baptists from all walks of life gathered to celebrate their convention’s, 98th Annual Session. At that Assembly, a bogus election without any due regard to the organic law governing that body, brought on board a questionable leadership to run the affairs of the church. During that staged-managed incident, sponsored by some so-called influential Baptists, who believed in the traditional path of life, manipulated the poll to bring on board Rev. Dr.Olu Menjay, who allegedly falsified his age to attain the necessary qualification for the presidency of the Convention. Dr. Menjay’s only contender, Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Reeves, Jr, after submitting a dossier of document to prove his claim regarding the age of Dr. Menjay, politely salvaged himself from the elections on grounds that he could not be part of an arrangement that seeks to tweak the constitution of the Convention. But to the contrary, Dr. Menjay who was born in a Nigerian Hospital on May 19, 1972, a month to his 40th birthday was qualified by the Search and Nominating Committee. Prior to the submission of the Committee’s report, the chair of the Committee, Deacon John Gray of Effort Baptist Church, was removed from the committee as chair, simply because he opposed the qualification of Dr. Menjay, on grounds that the evidence produced by his opponent was not sufficient to deny him. Being influenced by the Menjay’s camp, the outgoing president of the Convention at the time, Rev. Dr. Shelton Seidi, removed Deacon Gray and appointed a staunch fanatic of Dr. Menjay, Deacon Aaron Marshall, as acting Chairman, who alluded to the fact that Dr. Menjay’s age had nothing to do with his qualification and as such, Dr. Menjay had only a month to celebrate his 40th birthday. As a result of the bitter pills swallowed by supporters of Dr. Reeves, a group of Baptists headed by Rev. George Mcgee took the Convention to court, describing the election in Nimba County as fraudulent. Due to the nature of the case, up to date, the Supreme Court has failed to hand down ruling but chose to have a dialogue with all parties involved. In the end, a group of Baptists, known as the Elder Council, consisting of past presidents and other Senior Baptists chose to investigate prevailing circumstances. In their report, it was recommended that Dr. Menjay resigns as president of the Convention due to the manner in which he was elected. Since then, Rev. Dr. Olu Menjay has remained in power in defiance to the Elder Council’s decision and commenced a witch-hunting spree by targeting his perceived enemies (mostly those who opposed his ascendency to the LBMEC’s presidency). My reference is derived from the forceful resignation of Rev. William Kilby from Ricks, the removal of Rev. Nathaniel Tiba from Ricks and the forceful resignation of Rev. Dr. Arnold Hill as president of the Baptist Seminary. Not only did he stop there, Dr. Menjay as president of the LBMEC, spearheaded a kangaroo electioneering process to dethrone the sitting president of the most powerful unit in the Convention (WMU), only because, she did not support him. Due to this, our Convention currently has two different leaderships of the WMU in the Convention, namely: the Gwenigale Cooke and the Esther Richards- Freeman leaderships. To ensure that all of his perceived opponents are gotten rid of, he allegedly master-minded the removal of Rev. Dr. Samuel B. Reeves, Jr, from the instructional staff at the Seminary. This revengeful and vindictive nature of this current leadership that has dragged the LBMEC into the current division must be confronted at a deeper level, instead of hypocritical smiles be the order of the day at this convention, but deep down in our hearts, we have not reconciled our differences. This is a renew call to the leadership of the Convention to reconcile for the good and ensure that genuine reconciliation captures our various hearts with sincerity. As a result of these “brought day” vindictive deeds on the part of the leadership, almost all the Churches in Nimba County are planning to form an Independent Baptist Convention, a plan, we all must resist for the sake of our Convention. In the Book of 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, Jesus tells us and I quote “All this is from God, who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; God’s making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness to God. For as much as we see ourselves as Christians, we must be able to reconcile our differences and forge ahead for the common good of all, but it seems to be different when it comes to the operation of Liberia’s oldest religious organization, the Baptist Church. In the wake of this historical background as regards the ongoing conflict in the Convention, I, as a Baptist and a staunch Baptist indeed, at times see a lot of unorthodox things transpiring in the Convention without any trace or semblance of redress. We as Baptists, who at times, are referred to as the people of the book, do the contrary, because most of our deeds and works are far from the very book we preach on the pulpits. Today, as we celebrate 100 years of existence, it behooves us to love one another as instructed by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Every first Sunday of each month, Baptists in their respective sanctuaries read the Church’s covenant in response. In that Covenant, we are required to love one another as brothers and sisters and must be ready for reconciliation without delay. As I sit on the fence and observe the dreadful deeds in our convention, I at times, undergo a severe headache that spins down my back, which at times leads to stress. It is time for deceits, hatred, hypocrisy and cheats to get away from the Convention as we commemorate 100 years as a Convention. There are many issues to be addressed in this years’ convention, if we are to be a reconciled Convention. The issue of back-biting and hypocrisy are the chronic diseases that are eating up the convention, through the acknowledgement of some Baptists who have and continue to celebrate with the status quo by drowning the convention. With my 12 years of knowing the Convention, I have come to realize, that we are still living on traditions, but are yet to adapt to changes. If we refuse to change things as they should be, we will continue to remain backward in whatever we do. As the oldest Church in Liberia, we cannot boast of a fitting Baptist Headquarters to convince the world that we are indeed the forerunner of Christianity in Liberia. If my memory can serve me right, every Convention year, a huge amount of cash is collected for the construction of the Convention’s head office, but up to date, we are yet to do that. All these stuffs in my mind can be attributed to the lack of love and sincerity on the part of our past and current leaders. Can anyone show or tell me the whereabouts of the thousands of dollars collected for our headquarters’ project? I’m glad to ask! Another issue that needs to be carefully dealt with is the running of Ricks Institute. This Boarding school is owned by the Baptist Convention, but for the past 9 years, we are yet to get a vivid account on the running of the institution. If I can recall, there has been no report to the Convention for the past 9 years on the operation of Ricks, a very important instrument that has been ignored by some Baptists, only because they are friendly with the Chief Administrator of the School. This issue must be discussed at this year’s centennial Convention. There is no more time for deceits and hypocrisy, but time for reality. If the Baptist Seminary can provide to the Convention its status report, why not Ricks Institute? I’m glad to ask and I need an answer my fellow Baptists. The Kwendi, Nimba Project, a project owned by the Baptist Convention, situated in Nimba County, according to my record, it is being single handedly administered by two of our brothers, James Freeman and Shederick Zinnou. This project also consists of a rubber plantation, which I believe can serve as an instrument of supply for the growth and development of the Convention. However, there are sketchy reports that this project is to be turned over to one of our influential Baptist sisters, whose name I reserve for now. But wow unto those who see personal interest over that of the Convention. We also need clarity when it comes to the operation of the school at this project site. Since the arrival of the Canadian delegation, which was to take over that project, we are yet to hear anything about the CBM’s involvement. My fellow Baptists brothers and sisters, it is now time for real business and not time for business as usual. It is time that our leaders account for the properties of the Convention. If we come to convention, year in, and year out with the same old story, without any redress to these issues, our efforts and work will continue to be in vain. We must muster the courage to be positive and constructive by engaging our leaders and not preach or bury our heads in the sand when an issue is glaring. The Baptist House, the first symbol of our representation, is another issue that needs to be targeted or addressed at this year’s convention. We are receiving information that the Head office or headquarters is about to be leased to Lebanese businessman, Ezza Eid, for little or nothing (USD$150,000 annually). If what we are saying is something to go by, then we must pressure our leadership to bring the matter before the full session of the Convention for settlement. That headquarters is all that we have; and as such, we must be in readiness to muster the fortitude to make our leaders account for said project. We are yet to see the lease agreement when it comes to this issue, and there is a need that it be made available for our consumption and participation. As I conclude, part one of the 5 series report on the Baptist Convention, I would like to call on the leadership of the Convention to give a full update on the status of the church’s assets, especially the ones that have to do with the Waterside property. Remember that this very issue was raised by our former President, Rev. Dr.Shelton Seidi, at the Yekepa Convention in 2012. A Hint to the Wise Is Quite Sufficient! Watch out for Part 2&3
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:24:04 +0000
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