The Liberia Council of Churches appears to be in a leadership crisis, as some member churches are calling for election.
Monrovia, Liberia, November 18, 2024 – What appears to be a potential crisis has hit the Liberia Council of Churches, with some concerned member churches of the LCC calling for an emergency assembly on November 26, 2024, at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Compound in Monrovia, to elect new leadership for the Council.
A press statement issued here says all heads of member churches, including incumbent churches in leadership, are to send delegates for the pending election.
The concerned churches have decreed, resolved, affirmed, and covenanted that they will no longer consider Rev. Christopher W. Toe as Secretary General of the LCC effective Friday, November 8, 2024, and will cease to do any and all business with him.
The press release notes that five delegates for full members, three delegates for associate members, and two delegates for fraternal members have been asked to attend the emergency assembly.
It continues that because the assembly is an emergency, all dues and registration for delegates will be suspended, but the Ecumenical Women Organization will lead a fundraising effort to support emerging new officers who will be elected for immediate induction.
The concerned churches: “The resolution from the concerned churches to the President of LCC July 18, 2024, on counts of Constitutional violations that we recommended to him that the new Constitution that was adopted and still in a draft form should not be used and should be silenced.”
According to the concerned churches, the LCC has allegedly ignored this and continues implementation, setting up an executive board chatroom where decisions are made and circulated.
They maintain that the outcome of a meeting with Bishop Samuel Quire, Jr., the 1st VP of the LCC, which was with the approval of the President of the LCC to discuss the resolution of these concerns, was not addressed. This is a continued violation of the LCC constitution by not holding a General Assembly and conducting unconstitutional executive board meetings.
They claim that if the new LCC constitution was adopted in May 2021 at an assembly held with the current leadership presiding, it would be a ‘Conflict of Interest breach’ and mediocre on the part of the incumbent leadership to insist on its implementation, secondly, they argue that the intent is overshadowed prejudicially by an increment in LCC assessment dues by 400%, from $300 to $1200, that has made several member Churches stay away.
“Again, some of the constitutional violations surround the expired tenure of the General Secretary, which the leadership has ignored because of the implementation of the new Constitution, which gives him a new indefinite tenure,” the statement reads.
They point out that the Secretary-General disrespected members and heads of churches of the Council (Concerned) by locking the Council’s doors in an attempt to prevent them from meeting to seek redress on these matters, thereby brewing continued disunity among the LCC members.
They called to attention all LCC Members on these deliberate violations, which threaten the smooth operations of the Council, especially the officers’ deliberate attempt not to hold an assembly, which grossly violates the LCC Constitution and indirectly undermines the entire peace and democratic process of Liberia because of the role LCC plays in it.
Consequently, given the fact that the tenure of the present leadership expired with no assembly held in May 2024, the Constitutional month for the LCC assembly, and the gross violations of the LCC constitution, we hereby evoke Article (V) 3.11 and Section 5 of the LCC Constitution to host an emergency General Assembly on November 26, 2024, at the Lutheran Compound for the election of officers for 2024-2026, the concerned churches announced. Editing by Jonathan Browne
