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More than 500 faithful of Milimani Seventh Day Adventist church in Oyugis, Kasipul constituency, on Saturday failed to hold services because of disruptions linked to leadership wrangles.
The faithful made several attempts to conduct services, but they were often disrupted by a section of church members who blocked the gate and demanded the return of Pastor Ken Maena.
Maena was suspended in May over alleged misconduct.
The rowdy members had blocked the gate to prevent Pastor Benson Ogayo of the Kenya Lake Conference from accessing the premises.
Ogayo is in charge of pastors in the region and they suspected he was going to introduce a new pastor to replace Maena.
They went to the church very early in the morning and locked the gate. They also wrote two notices telling members to return home, saying there were no services in the church that day.
“Polite notice. No church services today,” the notices read.
Sources said the gate was locked to prevent violence.
At about mid-morning, Ogayo arrived in the church. He found a group of faithful who demanded he address them, but outside the church compound.
He declined to address them. He did not even alight from his vehicle.
Officers from Oyugis police station had to rush to the scene to quell the tension.
Some leaders of the church said they locked the gate to prevent the entry of the new pastor.
The church’s music director Mary Mboya said they rejected the new pastor because Maena’s case had not been concluded in court.
They said the church compound will be a no-go zone until the matter is addressed.
“We treated what was going to happen as an illegality. Let no pastor come here until the case is determined and the church leadership should know that we are comfortable the way we are with our church elders,” Mboya said.
Other leaders who sought anonymity attributed the wrangles to politics, which has marred the SDA church across the country.
“They want to neutralise Maena so that he is barred technically from participating in the election by denying him a church to represent,” an elder said.
The election is to be held next year.
The elder said those pushing for Maena's ouster fear he will win the election because he supports reforms in the church.
Edited by P.O
