PCC Atlanta USA at daggers drawn with PCC Moderator

Rt. Rev Fonki Samuel Forbah

In a strongly worded correspondence signed by Besong Mpey Ekinde of PCC Atlanta in the United States of America addressed to the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC, The Rt. Rev. Fonki Samuel Forbah has been strongly criticized for terminating the services of Rev. Dr. Ekinde, one of the founding members of PCC Atlanta as stated in the communique.

 The communiqué runs thus, “My writing to you is with reference to the Letter you wrote to Rev. Dr. Ekinde titled “Termination of service with PCC” from the Synod office and duly signed by you.” The letter states that it wasn’t normal for someone who almost single handedly built PCC Atlanta (South) to be treated so shabbily by the spiritual leader of the same church he labored so hard for.

To show how Rev. Dr. Ekinde had contributed to the growth of the Church, Besong Mpey Ekinde narrates how prior to the inception of PCC Atlanta (South) Georgia, Rev. Dr. Ekinde held several meetings with a hand full of Christians in his residence to come up with a structure including where, when and how often they could worship. Besong Mpey Ekinde who happened to be among the few who attended all the meetings states that the very first service was held in his house and offerings collected were fifty-five dollars. Through the efforts of Rev. Dr. Ekinde, the Ghanaian Presbyterian Church offered space for worship on Sundays in the afternoon.

“ Rev Dr. Ekinde has conducted 99% of our services, visits the sick both at their houses and in the hospitals, participated in wakes and funerals/burial ceremonies both within and outside our community to even non Presbyterians, counsel members of the church irrespective of the situations to name a few”, the letter further explains adding that Rev. Dr. Ekinde was not receiving any stipend from PCC Atlanta for a year six months but whatever was required by the church during this period for smooth functioning, he paid for it out of his pocket. His selfless services to PCC and the community at large should be applauded and not smeared, the communiqué further emphasises.

Lashing out at the Moderator’s suspension letter which refers to Rev. Dr. Ekinde as a contracted Pastor of the PCC, Besong Mpey Ekinde goes ahead to question  the terms of such a contract in one sweeping statement; “Rev. Ekinde’s work has been sacrificial and selfless- and you can’t even talk of contract and stipends taking into consideration the labor laws in this country.”

Among other things, the moderator’s letter accuses Rev. Dr. Ekinde of violating the constitution, embarrassing the entire church and the Cameroonian community at large.

Reacting to this negative publicity that PCC has been receiving, a concerned Synod delegate who was present at the Synod of Endurance in Bafoussam, who decided not to disclose his identity reacted in the following manner: “I take it as a duty to make certain corrections to the misstated facts found in the circulated publication titled, “Arise and Save the PCC.”

This Synod Delegate said most of the publications against the Rt Rev. Fonki Samuel were beefed up by tribal sentiments.  Synod Elections he intimated were around the corner again, so it was normal for these unfounded diatribes to resurface.
Bickering between Moderators and Synod Clerks he said have often been the trademark of the PCC, given its democratic and protestant spirit. “This would hardly cease to be because it is also the dynamic strength of the PCC that makes her a vibrant and viable Church. It may be a weakness in some sense, but that's the strength and uniqueness of the PCC.”

 On the dismissal of PCC Pastors in the USA the Synod Delegate reacted in the following manner. “Firstly, these were Pastors who had been relieved of their services with the PCC years ago. They were merely contracted to fill a gap, but unfortunately they and their families wanted to convert the PCC congregations in the USA as their private Estates. As we were duly informed, the decision dismissing these recalcitrant Pastors for the second time was validated by EXCO, the Synod Committee and the general Synod, made up of Elders of independent minds, intellectual honesty, faith and fear of the LORD, coming from the 30 Presbyteries of the PCC.”
On tinkering the Constitution he said “the present PCC Constitution was adopted before the election of the present regime. No one raised any objection from the levels of the congregation, presbytery and synod. Nothing has changed there. It remains the same and the proper interpretation has been given. Anyone who wants to verify can meet any Pastor who was in the field in 2013 and 2014 and verify from the draft. However, Article 86 (i) was discovered to have been tampered with by the Constitution Secretary singlehandedly, and also that he underlined certain words of Article 120 (ii). These warranted a reprint of the Constitution as sanctioned by the responsible Committees and Boards.”

As if this streak of publicity wasn’t enough, Dr. Dorothy Njeuma Pro-Chancellor of the Cameroon Christian University came lurking with a resignation letter stating that she was of the opinion that PCC was not putting in enough to push this Higher Institution of Learning towards the direction she had envisaged when she took the job.

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