Drama as church refuses to pay pastor who engaged in sex before marriage

The Methodist Church has moved to court challenging a decision that ordered them to pay a pastor who was fired for having engaged in sex before marriage.

Through lawyer Wabandi Gacheru, the church asked Justice Nzioki wa Makau to suspend orders to pay a 31-year-old female pastor damages to the tune of Sh214,000.

"The case proceeded undefended and the judgement was entered against the church on October 9, 2018.

"We want the same court be pleased to review, vary and set aside that ex-parte [one side only] judgment," the lawyer said.

Court Papers were never served

The lawyer argued that the church was never supplied with the summons to appear in court.

He noted that the complainant told the court that papers were received by a church chairman who was never named during the suit.

"The name of the chairman who is said to have been served with the summons is not provided.

"If at all the said summons were effected as alleged without prejudice, the said process server having introduced himself to the alleged chairman could not have failed to indicate his name in the affidavit of service," the lawyer stated.

He further noted that a denial of a hearing would result in the church suffering irreparable damage, prejudice, hardships and be condemned unheard.

The female pastor was fired in 2017 by Reverend Wilson Njagi who accused her of not behaving like an evangelist.

"As noted, you did a church wedding on May 27, 2017 and you gave birth in the month of October the same year. That is five months instead of expected nine months.

"After investigations, it was noted the pregnancy had gone full cycle of nine months, showing you involved yourself in sex before marriage far much before your wedding, thus compromising the moral standards of the church which you are supposed to uphold and lead as an example to those you were preaching to as an evangelist," the dismissal letter read in part.