(Ashley Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Eva Kamitoni protests with her children and several others from the Tongan United Methodist Church on Sunday September 23, 2012. Members of the West Valley City church protested the temporary removal of their pastor, Rev. Havili Mone. The members are upset that they were not given an explanation for the move and that the replacement pastor locked members out of the church last week.
West Valley City ? Congregation say they have not been told why Rev. Mone was removed.
West Valley City ? About 150 members of the Tongan United Methodist Church held a demonstration Sunday to protest the removal of Rev. Havili Mone from his post, an action they say was taken last month without explanation.
Also fueling the protest was an order by the replacement pastor, Rev. Eddie Kelemeni, forbidding congregation members from entering the church at 1553 W. Crystal Ave. (2590 South) on Friday night, according to lay leader Viliami Hosea.
The Tongan community is upset by the turn of events and wants Mone reinstated, Hosea said, adding that attendance at services by the nearly 600 members is down.
"We need Havili back," he said.
The congregation was told Aug. 13 by Sione Tukutau, a Methodist Church district superintendent for the Utah/Western Colorado District, that Mone had been suspended for up to 90 days but had done nothing wrong, Hosea said. Kelemeni, who lives in Hawaii, was called out of retirement to fill in at the West Valley City church.
Both Hosea and another member of the Tongan community, Taniela Lavulo, said Tukutau and Kelemeni have not responded to questions from the congregation about the suspension.
"I think it is an arbitrary decision," member Daunibau Lotaki said at Sunday?s protest. "The temporary pastor is preventing us from coming into our church that we built for years."
In addition, there was no explanation of why members were blocked by police from entering the church on Friday, they said. Hosea said police told the members ? who had come to make donations for church bills, enjoy some light refreshments and dance ? that Kelemeni had asked that they be kept off the property.
And Lavulo said the congregation also is upset about an announcement Wednesday by Kelemeni that Hosea is no longer a lay leader.
Lavulo ? who is not a member of the Methodist church but is actively involved in its community projects ? said Mone?s performance of his duties, both ecclesiastical and administrative, is "unequaled."
story continues below
He noted that the pastor oversaw the rebuilding of the church in 2002 after its original building on Salt Lake City?s west side had burned down a few years earlier in an accidental fire.
"We want our reverend back. He?s the one who built the church," said Valu Haunga.
The congregation celebrated paying off the mortgage on the new church in 2011, an event attended by Tongan Queen Mother Halaevalu Mata?aho.
"We believe he?s a great man of God, he?s a great leader," Lavulo said of Mone.
pmanson@sltrib.com
Twitter: @PamelaMansonSLC
Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54949237-78/church-congregation-hosea-members.html.csp
cesar chavez day raspberry ketone ron burgundy millennial media nit championship transcendentalism bells palsy
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.