Nj: Christ Anglican Church Victorious In Court Battle

CoN Archbishop Henry Ndukuba supported the non-members in their attempt to take over the church building and insert a CoN priest. Several Christ Anglican Church members, along with the Rector, Canon Kingsley Obiorah, and Bishop Ken Ross (Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of the Rocky Mountains) were assaulted when a group of the dissenters, led by CoN Bishop Augustine Unuigbe, entered the church during a regularly scheduled service. (Videos of the assaults went viral on social media and the event was reported by VOL.)

Bishop Ross enlisted the assistance of Bishop Derek Jones of the Anglican Office for Government and International Affairs (AOGIA.org) to handle the matter. Justin Murff, Executive Director of the AOGIA, told VOL, “Over the past two years, the AOGIA team and attorneys have been successful in defending the constitutional and civil rights of this ACNA parish and its parishioners.

We are committed to protecting, defending, and equipping biblically faithful Anglicans so they can continue to be effective witnesses for Christ.”

While protecting the church and its right to self-determination, Bishop Jones, Bishop Ross, and Canon Obioriah all received death threats. Bishop Jones thwarted an assault attempt during a visit to the church in October of 2023.

In the midst of the violence and threats, the dissenters filed a lawsuit against the Christ Anglican vestry and priest to further their aim of seizing the church building.

“I am very thankful for the work of our attorneys and the AOGIA,” Bishop Ross said following Judge Alper’s favorable decision. “They had confidence that the law would not allow them [the plaintiffs] to be successful — I’m rejoicing that they were right!”

Bishop Jones and his AOGIA team are well-versed and experienced in religious liberty and religious freedom, which is what the court case eventually boiled down to. Bishop Jones was present for the ruling by Judge Alper.

“The judge was explicitly clear that Christ Anglican Church has the right to self-determination and cited case law supporting that,” he said. “What is unfortunate is that this happened at all — the physical and emotional damage done to the church and the stress this has had on Fr. Kingsley and church members have been immense.”

Earlier, the judge had permitted the dissident group (the plaintiffs) to use the church building for a few hours every Sunday. They abused that order, overstaying the time allowed, destroying and trashing church property, breaking into secure areas, stealing the priest’s personal effects, and impermissibly changing the locks, installing cameras, and placing signage on the building.

The Venerable Job Serebrov, General Counsel for the AOGIA, served as legal counsel to Bishop Ross and Bishop Derek and as managing attorney for the several New Jersey attorneys defending Fr. Obiorah and the church vestry, the defendants in the case. “It is important to remember that we are a nation of laws. Things that you might be able to get away with in Nigeria you can’t do here!” he remarked. “Now comes the more difficult task of helping Fr. Kingsley and the church recover from the injustices they’ve suffered.”

ACNA Archbishop Steve Wood is in Nigeria and was not available for comment. AOGIA officials would not discuss when or if remediation would be sought for the damage to the church caused by the group, which is reported to be in excess of $150,000.

END

NJ: CHRIST ANGLICAN CHURCH VICTORIOUS IN COURT BATTLE

A VOL EXCLUSIVE

By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
December 13, 2024

In a long-awaited decision, Essex County, N.J., Superior Court Judge Jody Lee Alper ruled Dec. 10 in favor of Christ Anglican Church of Irvington, N.J., and the Diocese of the Rocky Mountains (ACNA).

Readers may remember that the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) sought to take over Christ Anglican Church through intimidation and violence just over two years ago after the church voted to leave the now-defunct Diocese of the West (CoN) to join the ACNA and the Diocese of the Rocky Mountains.

The entire debacle began with a simple vote for a new vestry. The CoN group, who were not communicant members of the church at the time, became enraged when the church elected a new vestry and that vestry subsequently recommended that the church leave the CoN for the ACNA. The church ratified the recommendation in an 84-1 vote. Consequently, the dissenting group threatened, intimidated, and acted violently against the church members and leaders.