Bishop: AIPCA suffering from generational ‘curse’

A former Assistant Bishop at the troubled African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa (AIPCA) has offered to mediate between warring church leaders.

Bishop Samuel Ngacha Njiriri volunteered to mediate between Archbishop Amos Mathenge Kabuthu and AIPCA chairman Paul Watoro Gichu.

The two have been squabbling since last year in an ugly power struggle that recently turned nasty when the archbishop published the “ex-communication of the chairman and his supposed allies.”

President Uhuru Kenyatta has been unable to broker peace in the church after a meeting he called between the warring factions ended without concrete resolutions.

Dedicated believers

Last week AIPCA Women Council chair Bertha Nyambura Mwangi, the widow of  Archbishop Samson Gaitho, resigned, aiming salvos at Archbishop Mathenge.

Bishop Njiriri said although the problems in his former church were beyond a power struggle, he wants an end to the infighting that only pulls back a “church with sizeable number of dedicated believers.”

“As one of the closest assistants to the late Archbishop Gaitho, I was fought left, right and centre and even poisoned because some saw me as being groomed to be the future archbishop,” said Njiriri, the bishop, who heads Stewards Revival Pentecostal Church.

 The Bishop claimed AIPCA is reeling under a “generational “curse that is almost a century old. He said William Alexander, a Greek Orthodox archbishop who ordained the AIPCA’s first three bishops, was mistreated. Alexander had been invited to Kihumbu-ini in Murang’a County to ordain AIPCA’s pioneer bishops.

“In a short period, the church turned against the bishop and even sent him back without even minding his return fare,” said Bishop Njiriri.

He claimed that by rebelling against Alexander, AIPCA consigned itself to forever be embroidered in leadership wrangles that have followed every head of the church.

“All AIPCA leaders live under the culture of fear. They think everyone is after the other and start fights where there should be none,” said Njiriri.

He claimed that the infighting is in line with its church’s mission, which was basically to fight the colonial government through supporting such practices as polygamy and female circumcision.

Elaborate structures

Njiriri claimed that AIPCA also faces problems in balancing between its African nationalism roots and modern Christianity as well as lack of elaborate structures and liturgy and its own theological college to groom priests.

“This is a church which needs an operational overhaul, acceptance of the past and repentance to enable recovery to happen.”

Bishop Njiriri claimed that only the late Gaitho understood the challenges facing the church.

“Gaitho used to say that a knot tied by a fool could only be untied by a fool but we never paid attention to his wise counsel,” he said.

According to Njiriri, AIPCA continues to use the wrong oil for anointment, saying the church purchases its liquid oil from a “cheap” establishment in industrial area and used Arabic perfume to scent it.