What was supposed to be a normal church service at PCEA Kiamwathi, Nyeri County, turned into chaos and mess after angry youths protested against the move by church elders to evict their pastor.

The young parishioners occupied the church premises as early as 7 a.m. on Sunday, August 18, 2024, and locked themselves inside while chanting and holding placards to protest against the dismissal of the pastor.

The service was suspended for nearly five hours as hundreds of worshipers from other churches in Nyeri Joy Parish camped outside, hoping that the situation could be resolved.

The hundreds had gathered at PCEA Kiamwathi to attend a community event to mark the retirement of one of their elders.

The youths, who carried placards with the names of church elders, claimed that they wanted to get rid of their pastor in order to gain unhindered access to church finances.

Peter Kinyua said they had to interrupt their normal worship service to make it clear that they were not prepared to lose their pastor.

“We want to tell the elders that they will not make decisions for us. We have faith in our pastor and a lot has changed since she was transferred here and that is why they are not comfortable with her,” Kinyua said.

Kinyua said her move was shameful because the church had never demonstrated, but it was the only way to make its voice heard.

“It is shameful to disrupt the service, but it is the only way to be heard. If we had stayed at home, they could have thought everything was fine,” he added.

The youths claimed that the elders wrote a letter to the presbytery demanding their removal from the congregation without informing them, a move that was not well received by the young congregants and the church as a whole.

Cecilia Waweru, a parishioner of Gitathi-ini parish, said they needed to address the challenge at hand before it escalated and they would not allow a few people to destroy their church.

Nyeri Presbytery Facilitator Patrick Kimathi and Nyeri Joy Parish Pastor Lucy Kiriungi had to address the youth for over three hours, convincing them to continue with the parish event that was taking place and to later address all the issues they raised.

“I want to assure the youth and the church that we have listened to all their complaints and that we will address them. We also want to assure you that your pastor is not going anywhere and no one will harass her,” she said.

The service began at noon after an agreement was reached between the youth and the moderator to resolve all their grievances amicably.

However, they threatened to continue blocking services in all congregations every Sunday until all elders involved were removed from office.