Liberia: Methodist Church in Turmoil

The premises of the New Georgia United Methodist Church, located in Gardnersville, was a scene of heavy protest as the Sunday, October 13 worship service was disrupted as worshippers demanded the reinstatement of their Rector, Rev. Leo Mason, who was recently recalled by Bishop Quire.

The protesters expressed their support for Rev. Mason and chanted slogans calling for ‘JESUS’ instead of ‘Quire’. Sources indicate that the recall was linked to Rev. Mason’s opposition to the endorsement of ‘Same Sex Marriage’ within the UMC.

“Bishop Quire has lost the moral and spiritual authority to preside over the LAC as our spiritual head. It is now time that he leaves,” one worshiper said. “God created Adam and Eve, and not Adam and Steve. This is what Quire knew over his three decades of ministry until he decided to be an agent of the devil whose eyes have been filled with money and mind obscured by materials of the world. He is a disgrace and his presence as our Bishop is a shame.”

The protesting worshippers voiced their solidarity with Rev. Mason and called for Bishop Quire to respect the agreement made at the 191st session of the Annual Conference regarding a special session to address outcomes of the United Methodist Global conference.

The confrontation between the protesters and authorities escalated, leading to the intervention of the riot unit of the Liberia National Police, resulting in the closure of the church premises.

The protest also spread to the 72nd United Methodist Church, the home Church of the dismissed Rev. Mason, as well as other local Churches.

“We will ensure that our denomination will not be at peace in Liberia until we are at peace with ourselves as Methodists,” a local leader of the New Georgia church said. “This is shameful and embarrassing. We must address it head-on. We are no longer backing down until the will of the majority membership of the Church prevails. Quire and his cabinet do not own our Churches and this is the time we let them know.”

The United Methodist Church, has for the past few months, been experiencing increased tensions due to the challenge in reaching a clear position following the global annual conference’s approval of same-sex marriage. There are concerns about Bishop Samuel Quire’s hesitation to organize a special annual conference session to discuss the future of the denomination in Liberia post the General Conference’s resolution.

Previous Agitations

When hundreds of young members of the United Methodist Church of Liberia took to the streets in early June this year to protest against their denomination’s acceptance of same-sex-marriage, they had hoped that the leadership of the Liberia Annual Conference of the UMC would have seen a gist of resolute resistance and acted accordingly.

What those protesters did not know was that the launch of that resistance would be used by Bishop Quire and his cabinet to become more entrenched in their quest for a rather subtle acceptance of same-sex marriage within the Liberia Annual Conference (LAC) as was adopted by the global Methodist body in June.

It has been more than four months since that protest, led by Alfred Mensah, a popular youth leader within the church, took place calling for a definite position of the Liberia Annual Conference on the issue of homosexuality — a plead that Quire and his team are yet to grant as hundreds of thousands of Methodists anxiously wait to break away from the global Methodist church.

During the protest, spokesperson Mensah expressed that same-sex marriage contradicts the teachings of God, and therefore, church members will oppose it.

The UMC is currently facing heightened tensions over a failure to reach a definitive position following the recent global annual conference’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage. Concerns have been raised regarding Bishop Samuel Quire’s reluctance to convene a special session of the Liberia annual conference to address the denomination’s future in Liberia after the passage of the General Conference’s decision.

The Bishop’s critics are demanding that he calls a special session of the annual conference so that conference members might vote to leave the denomination as was done in the Côte d’Ivoire Conference in May this year.

At a recent press conference, L. Olandor Boyce, Secretary of the Liberia Annual Conference Delegation, accused Bishop Quire of delaying the special session and expressing conflicting views on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.

Efforts to prompt the bishop to call the session have faced resistance, leading to disagreements within the church leadership. Boyce highlighted concerns about Bishop Quire’s alleged suspensions of officials who raised objections and his disregard for dissenting voices within the church.

Bishop Quire was also nearly mobbed by angry worshipers in Ganta when he reportedly told members of a local church that anyone of them could leave the church if they felt dissatisfied with his stance and decision.

Liberia Council of Churches Calls for Unity

The Liberia Council of Churches released a statement last week, urging the involved parties in the United Methodist Church to seek a harmonious resolution to the ongoing crisis that poses a threat to the church’s spiritual development.

Emphasizing the importance of reconciliation amid disagreements among church leaders, the Council highlighted the necessity for leaders to prioritize collective well-being over individual concerns. Dr. Samuel B. Reeves, Jr, President of the Liberia Council of Churches, conveyed the Counci”s unwavering commitment to facilitating dialogues between all parties involved in the dispute to achieve a lasting and peaceful resolution.

Recognizing the historical significance of the United Methodist Church in Liberia, the Council stressed the imperative for spiritual reflection, reconciliation, and the restoration of unity in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The statement reiterated the Council’s dedication to engaging with Bishop Samuel J. Quire and the conflicting parties towards a constructive dialogue and Christian-based solution. Additionally, the Council called on the Elders of the United Methodist Church to collaborate with them in fostering dialogue and resolution for the ongoing crisis within the Church.

Bishop Quire’s response to the protests on Sunday and other allegations was not immediately available.

However, at a press briefing in June, the Bishop termed the accusations against him as misinformation.

“Be a United Methodist, love The United Methodist Church and stay a United Methodist,” Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr. urged his fellow Liberian church members, while providing clarity to the “misinformation.”

Quire emphasized that the the recently concluded General Conference that saw the international policymaking assembly remove denomination-wide bans on same-sex marriage and gay clergy do not alter the Liberia Conference’s own marriage and ordination policies. He also said the General Conference made decisions in the interest of the church dealing with the differences among its members.

At this point, the Liberia Conference’s next scheduled session is its regular session in February next year.

In the meantime, Quire used his press briefing to explain what the General Conference did and did not do.

“The removal of restrictions on marriage and ordination for self-avowed practicing homosexuals means that those conferences that wish to marry and/or ordain self-avowed practicing homosexuals can do so,” he said in a statement now posted on the Liberia Conference’s website. “It also means that those of us in Africa, and especially for us in Liberia, are free not to allow such marriages and/or ordinations.”

In fact, he pointed out that the General Conference also approved explicit protections to allow every United Methodist pastor to refrain from performing any wedding that goes against their conscience.

Rev. George D. Wilson Jr., chairman of the Liberia Annual Conference’s board of ordained ministry, had earlier issued a letter titled, “A Call to Prayer and Calm for a Way Forward for the LAC/UMC,” emphasizing the need for a session to address concerns arising from the General Conference decisions.

The letter highlighted the importance of Liberia Conference delegates sharing and acting on the Way Forward Committee report as agreed upon in February. Despite discussions with the bishop, Quire maintained his position against convening a special session, as outlined in a subsequent letter sent on June 19 — in which he informed clergy and laity that the board of ordained ministry and other church leaders met with the bishop that morning and Quire maintained his stance that he will not call a special session.

In the letter, Wilson also noted that the board would visit each district in the conference along with other leaders and delegates to the General Conference to provide a report on action taken at the legislative assembly and to vote on the report of the Way Forward Committee.

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Rev. Caleb S.G. Domah, a key figure in the “Stay UMC” group, advocated for a thoughtful, informed approach to potential changes like regionalization, proposed as part of the General Conference resolutions.

The goal is to educate and engage the community in understanding and participating in the decision-making process. Discussing the concept of regionalization during a press briefing, Bishop Quire emphasized the importance of empowering local churches and conferences globally to align mission strategies with their unique contexts.

While highlighting the traditional values of the Liberia Annual Conference, Bishop Quire reiterated the commitment to scriptural holiness and evangelistic outreach, regardless of future structural modifications within the denomination.

Under regionalization, the U.S. and each central conference — church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines consisting of multiple annual conferences — would become a regional conference with the same authority to adapt the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s policy book, for missional effectiveness. But for regionalization to take effect, it needs to be ratified by at least two-thirds of the total annual conference voters around the globe.

“We need to spend the next seven to eight months educating our people about the decision of the General Conference and how to go about the ratification process,” Domah told United Methodist News.

“The structure of the church has been deeply American ‘centric,”‘ he said.

Instead, he said, regionalization will empower United Methodist churches and conferences around the world “to make ministry and missional decisions appropriate for their context in order to be more relevant and effective.”

“Since the contextual realities of Africa are different from those of America, Europe and Asia, African conferences will decide what is needed to advance the disciple-making mission of The United Methodist Church in Africa.”

The ongoing crisis within the United Methodist Church in Liberia has raised significant concerns about governance, decision-making processes, and adherence to established protocols. Efforts to address these issues remain ongoing, and the role of Bishop Quire in shaping the future of the church is subject to scrutiny and deliberation.

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