Vituperative
emails, threats of violence and a fist fight accompanied an attempted takeover
of west Auckland presbyterian church St Ninians by a discontented group within
its Samoan congregation. The High Court
upheld a parish council ruling banning them from the premises.
St Ninians in Avondale has been a place
of worship since the late 1800s.
Together with neighbouring protestant churches it now forms part of the
Avondale United Parish.
The High Court was told St Ninians
adapted to increasing Pacific Island membership in the 1970s by holding two
services each Sunday: one in English; the other in Samoan. Problems arose from 2013 when a ten year term
as officiating minister ended for the Reverend Asora Amosa. There had been some dislike within the
congregation of what was described as his “personality-driven leadership style.”
By accident or design, some parishioners were led to believe that his tenure
had been terminated by the Auckland presbytery.
In fact, church rules did not allow ministers to officiate in one parish
for more than ten years. Evidence was
given of Reverend Amosa continuing to hold services in Samoan at St Ninians
after the end of his ten year term and soliciting contributions for a new
church, supported by his own donation of $10,000. The Samoan congregation was split: the
majority remained with a new minister at the traditional Samoan service; others
joined Reverend Amosa at an unapproved afternoon service. Attempts to have St Ninians join a new
Pacific Islands’ synod within the Presbyterian Church failed, twice, when put
to parishioners for a vote. Evidence was
given that the Amosa faction then gained control of St Ninians’ bank accounts
and stopped contributing to presbytery expenses, engineering a de facto schism. Attempts at reconciliation failed. At one meeting of the separate factions a
fight almost broke out; at a second a fist fight ensued. One email sent by a member of the Amosa
faction warned the presbytery not to “dip [its] nose in areas [it knows]
nothing about.” Court orders froze
church bank accounts and allowed the renegade afternoon service to continue
pending a full court hearing.
Justice Moore later ruled the Amosa
faction’s behaviour demonstrated these members were not to be bound by rules
governing St Ninians. They had
repudiated their membership. Faction members were no longer members of the
Avondale United Parish and were no longer eligible to serve on the parish council. A council ruling banning the Amosa faction
from using church premises was valid.
Matamu
v. Si’itia – High Court (21.10.16)
16.149