More chaos engulfs the United Methodist Church here, as breakaway church members clash with police in forceful eviction.
By: Emmanuel Wise Jipoh & Thomas Domah, Nimba County
Monrovia, Liberia, March 3, 2025 – Sunday, March 2, 2025, worship turned dramatic at Methodist Churches across Liberia over the eviction of breakaway members from Church properties for refusing to accept same-sex marriage under the new regionalization law.
The chaos started at the 72nd Methodist Church, where more than a hundred members and worshippers withdrew their membership from the United Methodist Church a few weeks ago over allegations of the enforcement of Same-Sex Marriage through the new Regionalization Law, under the Book of Discipline.
Worshippers clash with riot police on Sunday
The law allows two consenting adults to marry rather than a Man-to-Woman Marriage, as mandated under the law of Liberia.
The aggrieved 72nd Methodists, under the now Global Methodist Church headed by Rev. Dr. Jerry Kulah and Resident Pastor Kanneth Jackson, supported by 142 Methodists, were determined to resist the UMC leadership, which had gone to evict them from the Church building to install a new pastor.
The day became bleaker when resisting worshippers clashed with Police that had accompanied the United Methodist Church leadership under the Liberia Annual Conference to install Pastor Simeon Doe while evicting the newly-formed Global Methodist Church worshippers.
But the resisting worshippers sang songs and slogans while throwing stones, leading the Police to fire tear gas canisters and chase them away.
“We do not want gay rights”, they chanted.
According to them, they have been denied access to the church facility due to their split from the United Methodist Church over issues related to LGBTQ+ policies.
Similar chaos erupted in other United Methodist Churches, including N.B. Whitfield United Methodist Church in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, Ganta United Methodist Church in Ganta, Nimba County, Dwazohn United Methodist Church, and New Georgia United Methodist Church opposite New Georgia Estate.
The breakaway Methodists’ opposition to the church’s doctrine supporting gay marriage and appointment of gay bishops remain resolute in their commitment to preserving what they believe to be true teachings of Jesus Christ, even at the risk of their lives.
Dr. Jerry Kula and his followers are campaigning against the UMC’s regionalization policy that encourages and approves gay rights and other immoral activities within the church. They vow to remain steadfast in their opposition to such strange teachings that run contrary to the Holy Bible, which preaches marriage between a man and a woman only.
Speaking briefly upon their release, Rev. Kula accused the Bishop of the Liberia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, Rev. Dr. Samuel J. Quire, Jr., of betraying the church’s original teachings.
“Bishop Quire and all of us agreed that the day the United Methodist Church Worldwide passes the regionalization policy, we will leave and go our separate ways”, Rev. Kula reveals.
Dr. Kula continues, “Bishop Quire is on record campaigning from Church to Church, district to district, but after his 2023 engagement with the global convention, he somersaulted.”
He and his followers argue that the acceptance of gay practices within the church is not only a violation of moral standards but also a direct breach of Liberia’s Constitution, which strongly opposes such acts.
Despite the growing religious tensions surrounding the debate, the Government of Liberia, led by President Joseph Nyuma Boaka, is keeping a tight-lipped about the situation.
Meanwhile, Police made several arrests, including Rev. Dr.Kulah Kula and some of his followers, who were released subsequently with one vehicle destroyed in the clashes.
St the same time one of the heads for the breakaway faction of the Methodist Church that is now referred to as Global Methodist Church, Rev. Eblezener Belleh and Rev. Jerry Kandea openly blame the government under President Boakai for not speaking on the current crisis in the Methodist Church.
According to them, the authorities are waiting to see if the situation turns bloody.
During Sunday worship at Miller MCALLISTER United Methodist Church in Ganta, now under the control of the Global Methodists, the congregants vow they will not allow anyone to remove them from the premises.
The Government of Liberia has deployed armed police officers from Yekepa and Ganta, respectively, to protect the church’s properties.
The New Dawn gathered that Pastors Jerry Kandea and Eblezener Belleh, two ranking members of Gompa District, United Methodist Church, have crossed over to the Global Methodists led by Dr. Jerry Kula. They vowed not to allow anyone from the United Methodist Church to worship in the edifice.
State securities assigned at the Miller MCALLISTER United Methodist Church compound in Ganta say they arrested a cutlass from Rev. Eblezener Belleh, who had allegedly gone to attack them.
But when contacted, the former District Superintendent Rev. Belleh confirmed carrying a cutlass during the night hours but didn’t attack security officers, as alleged.
The NEW DAWN also gathered that several properties, including the Sanniquellie First United Methodist Church, have been renamed Sanniquellie Global Methodist Church by its head Pastor, Rev. Stanley K. Manbah, joining ranks with Dr. Kula and his new denomination. Editing by Jonathan Browne
