The United Methodist Church Nigeria (UMCN) recently celebrated its 100 years of existence.
For decades, the local church had battled with series of crises triggered by ethnicity and leadership tussle.
Lately, the same-sex marriage controversy has joined the fray, resulting in the eventual splitting of the church, reports The Nation.
Already, the presiding bishop, John Wesley Yohanna, has resigned his position, turning church members into sheep without a shepherd. Bishop Yohanna, who was due to retire at the end of this month (September), has opted for the church’s international arm, Global Methodist Church, which was formed after the May resolution of the General Conference in Charlotte, United States, where homosexuality and gay marriage were approved.
Among the resolutions at the said conference were the “removal of restrictive language related to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) people” and “removal of the language that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
Others include the removal of the ban on the ordination and appointment of self-avowed practising homosexual clergy and removal of language that made the ordination of self-avowed practising homosexual clergy and performance of same-sex weddings chargeable offence”.
Bishop Yohanna had also found himself in the eye of the storm within the church circles where he was fingered in the arrest and deportation of two bishops, Bishop John Scholl from the US and Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa from Zimbabwe, who were alleged to have come into the country to oversee the election of a new bishop to succeed Yohanna.
In an interview with our correspondent, Yohanna cleared the air on why he left the United Methodist Church and his role in the arrest of the two bishops.
He said: “When I became a bishop there was nothing like homosexuality. Marriage has been between man and woman. We have always voted it out when we go to the general conference.
“It has been our stand in this church that whenever homosexuality is legalised, we can’t continue to stay. This year’s May general conference, the UMCN voted to legalise the practice of homosexuality. We promised that whenever it is legalised, we would worship in the global Methodist Church.
“In 2022, they also had a gay consecrated for the church. In UMCN, when a bishop is consecrated, he or she is consecrated for the whole church. Those bishops can come to Nigeria and perform episcopal functions. The laws of this country are against that.
“Also, as members of the church in Nigeria, we felt if we continued to remain in the UMCN, we would contravene the laws of this country and we felt it is inappropriate.
“For us, the laws of Nigeria take precedence over any other constitution of the church, therefore we align with the Global Methodist Church.
“Therefore, I am no longer in the UMCN as of 29th of July 2024. I resigned from the council of bishops.
“On June 1, I informed the government of Taraba State that this is what the church is into now. Since then, the church has legalised homosexuality and I can’t continue to serve as a clergy and bishop.
“Bishop Nhiwatiwa happened to be the President of the African College of Bishops in which I was a member. When I resigned, I had no communication from them, except Bishop Tracy, the President of the council, who wrote on behalf of the other members of the council appreciating me and telling me they are okay and accepted my resignation.
“So, when he came, I had no information about his coming. The last person who came as far as I interacted with him from the council of bishops was Bishop Scholl. He took his flight to the USA.
“If there are problems between him and the security operatives, I don’t know anything about it, because I am not immigration. And if there are issues with him coming here, they had better contact the immigration officers.
“What would it profit me if I stop him from coming to Nigeria? After all, I am no longer in the UMCN. I belong to the Global Methodist Church.
“I have worked with Bishop Nhiwatiwa peacefully. I only disagree with same-sex marriage; that is all.”
He also said the policy called ‘regionalization’ by the church was unacceptable to him as it does not spare the church from the influence of the LGBTQ. Regionalization is meant to ensure certain countries, especially African countries, who do not accept the same-sex marriage to operate by different set of rules from the ones agreed upon by the general conference in Charlotte US in May.
Yohanna added: “There is what they call regionalization. They want the church to be regionalised. In other words, the church in the US can practise homosexuality while those in Africa would not practise homosexuality.
“But then we go to the same conference. The same homosexual bishop will preside over the conference and do a lot of episcopal function and then we continue to meet together, and you say you are not part of the church that legalised homosexuality?
“You cannot say the Bible is divided. That is why some of us felt that this is misleading. This is deception and can’t be condoned.”
Asked if he would take a legal action against those accusing him of stirring the current crisis, Yohanna said: “As a bishop, I want to comply with the word of God. For now I am not thinking of any legal action against anybody because that is not the best way.
“As a Christian, I feel there are other avenues that can handle the matter. Moreover, who is the greatest judge? God is the greatest judge. Only God can tarnish your image.
“But for people to be formulating lies on me, God knows.”
Yohanna frowned at those who accused him of stopping them from attending the annual conference when the court had already settled the matter, saying they were being sponsored by groups that supported the LGBTQ.
He added: “How can I stop them when they went to court to stop me from conducting the annual conference?
“A superior court order nullified the earlier order that was given. If they want to attend the conference, why did they go to court to stop the annual conference I was going to conduct?
“They went ahead to conduct another illegal annual conference. The bishop is the only one that presides over the annual conference, and when the bishop is absent, he would elect a pro-tempore president who will preside but would not do ordination. However a bishop must be there.
“I was there, they illegally appointed a pro tempore to conduct the annual conference. But because they speak for homosexuals, those people in the US are listening to them.
“There are groups in the US who are sponsoring them, otherwise going by the constitution, they have already been barred.”
In view of the ongoing crisis in the church, Yohanna called on members of the church to “be calm and seek peace”.
Regionalisation not meant to promote LGBTQ but inclusivity – Waziri
A journalist and member of the United Methodist Church, Salisu Waziri, said the crisis in the church was not all about LGBTQ. According to him, the policy of regionalisation was liberal, inclusive enough and considers countries who do not accept same-sex marriage or homosexuality.
He said: “In order not to scatter what the church has built over the years, they decided to come up with this idea of regionalisation so that countries who their constitution does not allow them to practice same-sex marriage can worship God and still be members of the United Methodist Church without having to associate with the church.
“That does not mean that any clergy man can be sent from any other country to come and be a pastor here in Nigeria. He would not join any couples.
“All that would matter to bring the church together is at the General Conference that takes place once in four years.
“When we go there it would be a discussion based on the growth of the church. The issue of same sex marriage would not be brought up in the discussion.
“It can only take effect in a country where such a law allows that. It cannot be practiced in Nigeria where the laws do not allow for the practice of same sex marriage.
“I want to repeat that the council of bishops or any other leadership in America or the global body of the church cannot and will never send any clergy that is sympathetic to homosexuality to come and work. It would not work.
“And the reason why the bishop was sent to Nigeria, in the first place, was because Bishop John Wesley (Yohanna) resigned and there was a vacuum in leadership.
“So they sent Bishop Scholl, who was not a gay person himself, who has a wife and children, to come and kick start the process of reelecting a new indigenous bishop in Nigeria so that he can replace Bishop John Wesley.”
We never recognised John Wesley for 12 years – Rev. Doppah
In the ensuing drama, one of the prominent figures of the church narrated how the crisis festered and why the Taraba State Government had to intervene.
The Director, Connectional Ministry, United Methodist Church, southern conference, Rev. Dr. Philip Micah Doppah, also said that they never recognised the bishop of the church throughout his administration, which indeed underscores the deep dimension of the crises in the church.
In an interview with our correspondent about the state of affairs in the church, Doppah went down history unearthing the ugly path the body of Christ had endured leading to the present situation.
He said: “In the 12 years, we never recognised him (Yohanna) up to the time he resigned.
“Now, at the 2024 General Conference, John Wesley was appreciated by the council of bishops and the entire delegates that gathered at Charlotte. I was there.
“The election of a new bishop is supposed to be held in December this year for his replacement. Because of his desire not to leave the office, he decided to join a new denomination.
“One faithful morning, he declared that they had joined the Global Methodist Church. Twenty four hours after the declaration, he now said that he has resigned from the UMC.
“He removed all the emblems and signboards at the secretariat.
“If John Wesley went to the General Methodist Church, nobody would say no to it. He is at liberty since he has resigned.
“He should have started on a virgin land. After all, the United Methodist Church promised an incentive for those that followed the correct formula of leaving.
“The correct timeline for leaving to another denomination expired in December 2023. Once you follow that timeline they promise $25 million to those that would leave to start their new denomination.
“Even the GMC promised heaven and earth. And that was why the government closed down all UMC churches.
Genesis of crisis
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a global church that traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley in England as well as the Great Awakening in the United States. It originated in 1908.
The mission of the United Methodist Church and of predecessor Methodist bodies began in Nigeria in 2022. However, the United Methodist Church Nigeria annual conference began in 1992 with headquarters in Jalingo, Taraba State. The Nigeria annual conference is further divided into the northern, central and southern conference, covering Taraba, Gombe and a few other states.
But the history of the church in Nigeria is replete with crises due to scorch-earth ethnicity, leadership tussle and the controversial LGBTQ issue that has crept into the church. As a result, lives were lost, people injured, properties destroyed, families and friends lost and enemies created in what supposedly should be a united ‘House of God’.
In Taraba, the headquarters of the church in Nigeria, the crises pre-date the state itself and saw at least four elected governors in the state trying to resolve them without success. As a matter of fact, the crises have deep historical, social and economic roots which make it quite complicated.
Added to these is the international dimension to it. At the moment, the feuding parties have retreated into their trenches as the Taraba State Government has taken over the matter.
Our investigation revealed that the crises continued to fester because the leadership of the church is heavily funded by the church in the United States. The local church contributes a paltry 14% of the entire budget of the church, according to an official, Rev. Dr. Philip Micah Doppah.
Funding for the church has therefore become a bait that often pitches the local church in the episcopal area of the church. Besides, the ethnic and cultural complexity of the state, which extends to governance and politics, has affected the church a great deal.
In his article titled, The Long Backstory of UMC Conflict in Nigeria, David Scott, says: “The pattern in the UMC in Nigeria is not just ethnic conflict among the three groups – those from the south, central, and northern areas. The pattern is ethnic conflicts that repeatedly pull in and involve the international church, with Nigerians seeking to enlist either its aid to calm conflict or its power to resolve conflict in favour of one group or another.
“This, then, is the true pattern in the current conflict in Nigeria: ethnic factions in the church that seek to draw powers from the international church and civil government into internal Nigerian church conflict, along with actors from outside Nigeria that wittingly or unwittingly allow themselves to be drawn in.
“This is a complex pattern, and there is a lot to unpack here: questions about mission strategy, local decision-making and international relations within the church; about ethnic conflict and peace and reconciliation efforts that seek to address it; and about branches of the church in one nation, whether the United States or Nigeria, that seek to use other branches of the church as pawns in their own games.”
Taraba govt places ban on worship centres
Meanwhile, the Taraba State Government, in its usual manner of intervention each time the crisis rears its ugly head, has placed a ban on worship in all UMC and GMC churches in order to avert a breakdown of law and order.
In a recent letter signed by the Secretary to the Government of the state, Barrister Gibon T. Kataps, all churches are to remain closed “pending the resolution of the crisis within the shortest possible time”.
The letter reads: “All signposts bearing Global Methodist Church are to be removed immediately pending the resolution of the matter.”
