By Patrick Stephen Tokpah-Bong
The Bishop of the United Methodist Church of Liberia has threatened legal action against anyone falsely labeling the church as a “gay church.”
In his episcopal address at the 192nd session of the Liberia Annual Conference in Gbarnga on February 13, 2025, Bishop Samuel Quire, clarified that the United Methodist Church of Liberia does not condone same-sex marriage.
The United Methodist Church Bishop acknowledged that the 2024 General Conference had decided that “every pastor of the United Methodist Church is free to decline to perform homosexual marriages if they so choose.”
Bishop Quire emphasized that the church in Liberia upholds the biblical principle of marriage as a sacred, lifelong covenant between one man and one woman.
“It is a strong church of God, ministering to sinners in need of the saving knowledge and grace of God. It is a worldwide denomination making a significant impact on our world,” he declared.
Addressing the widely debated topic of regionalization, Bishop Quire announced the West African College of Bishops’ endorsement of the policy.
Bishop Quire reiterated that regionalization allows annual conferences worldwide to make ministry decisions suited to their local contexts, making them more effective and relevant.
He noted that for too long, the more powerful parts of the church have imposed their will on less powerful regions, particularly in Africa.
Quire strongly criticized the anti-regionalization group for their decision to establish a new denomination, warning of potential disciplinary action against those leading the movement.
Furthermore, regionalization is a vehicle that will enable The United Methodist Church in Liberia to make and enforce relevant policies to guide and direct our missional priorities going forward.
Regionalization, because it amends the church’s constitution, must be ratified by the annual conferences before going into effect.
Once the plan is ratified across all annual conferences around the world, the Council of Bishops will announce the results and the plan will go into effect.
Quire condemns those working for the Global Methodist Church while still claiming to be members of the United Methodist Church pointing out, “Our polity does not allow a person to be a member of two denominations, and we urge them to withdraw.”
The United Methodist Church Bishop lamented that “we will take disciplinary action on those working against the interests of the UMC. This means but is not limited to being disloyal to the UMC or undermining the ministry of the Church and its leaders.”
“We also castigate those who come from outside Africa to coerce and harass members of our churches. We chastise groups such as the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA), its related organizations, and its Africa Now Initiative for providing misinformation about the UMC. We do not consider WCA as a forum of the UMC in Africa, he emphasized.
Bishop Quire reiterated that the door for disaffiliation had been firmly closed and warned against any further attempts to revive the issue.
He continues: “A petition to bring disaffiliation to the floor was sponsored by some of our daughters from the Liberia Episcopal Area. Unfortunately for them, it was defeated, and as a result, the paragraph on disaffiliation is closed.”
Meanwhile, the internal wrangling in United Methodist Church led the presiding Judge of the 9th Judicial Circuit Court in Gbarnga, Bong County, J. Boima Kontoe to have issued an injunction to halt the ongoing annual conference of the United Methodist Church.
This action follows a petition filed by L. Olando Boyce, Sr., the Lay Leader of St. Paul River District.
Boyce claims that he was unjustly excluded from attending the 192nd annual conference in Gbarnga, asserting that the church’s decision contradicts the Book of Discipline, which governs the UMC.
The Lay Leader of St. Paul River District, Montserrado, was seeking a declaratory judgment from the court to compel the UMC to reverse its decision and allow his participation.
On the contrary, the Supreme Court Associate Justice Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay has over turned the court’s decision by issuing the Writ of injunction but complies with the parties to conference.
The highest document in the possession of the Inquirer Newspaper revealed that, “By directive of His Honor Yamie Quiqui Gbeisay, Sr., Associate Justice presiding in Chambers, you are hereby cited to a conference with his honor on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, at the hour of 10:00 AM , in connection with the above captioned case.
Henceforth, the legal document ordered the parties to status quo ante, and stays all further proceedings pending the outcome of the conference before the Justice.
Meanwhile, Justice Gbeisay said all activities of the United Methodist church, Liberia Annual conference will continue as normal as though nothing has been filed before any court in the country.
The United Methodist Church was officially established in 1968, and its history dates back to 1730 when John and Charles Wesley, two students at Oxford University in England, gathered a small group of students who sought to spread the Methodist movement.
The internal conflict in United Methodist Church has led a big division in the Christian denominations in Liberia.
The division continues to deepen as the Church hosts a separate conference in Gbarnga, Bong County.
A group under the banner Liberia United Methodists for Biblical Christianity (LUMBIC), who changed the entity name to Global Methodist Church hosted its consultative conference on the future of the church.
The Liberia United Methodists for Biblical Christianity/ Global Methodist Church conference was held under the theme: “Wake up to the dawning of a new day: Redeeming the church from scriptural compromise,” with text taken from the Holy Bible of Isaiah 60: 1-2 and Ephesians 5: 14-17, while, the United Methodist Church hosted its 192nd Annual Convention on the St. John United Methodist Church compound in Gbarnga, Bong County.