Members of the First Bethany Church of Capitol Heights Inc. in Bacolod City filed a complaint against Pastor Reuben Macaya and a certain Daryl Delfin for alleged illegal and arbitrary closure of the church.
Led by newly-elected chairperson Wennie Sancho and corporate secretary Ma. Teresa Macalalag, the group brought their grievance before Rev. Howard Gico, regional arbiter of the Convention of the Philippine Baptist Churches on Jan. 19.
In a press statement, they said that on Jan. 16, they we were prevented from holding a general assembly membership meeting and election of the new set of Board of Trustees inside the church because it was padlocked.
They added that on Jan. 17, they were again prevented from holding the regular Sunday Worship service inside the church because it was padlocked upon the order of Macaya and Delfin, according to the security guards.
“We were compelled to hold our fellowship service outside the gate of the FBCCH Inc. in the middle of a pouring rain,” they said, adding that the church remained closed on Jan. 24 and 31, prompting them to still hold a fellowship service outside the gate.
The members said that the “order of Pastor Macaya and Mr. Delfin is a flagrant violation of the FBCCH Inc. By-Laws Article V Section 2 on Rights of Members”.
A portion stated that a member “shall have the right to avail of all the facilities of the corporation (church).”
“By ‘locking us out,’ who are bonafide members of this church, is a form of oppression inflicted upon us, when we were holding our fellowship services outside amid the pouring rain. How can Pastor Macaya, claiming to be a minister of God, allow us to undergo this humiliation?” they added.
The group said Macaya’s action is “conduct unbecoming of a pastor” as “(h)e is acting as if he owns the church and as if the church is his property to be opened and closed at his own discretion”.
They also said that their concern was already reported in the police plotter of Police Station 4 and to village chief Rommel Flores of Barangay Villamonte.
“He has no right to restrain us from entering the church by closing it and forbid us from performing our spiritual desire to worship God inside the church,” the group added. – NND
