A criminologist and Nigerian Pastor based in the UK; Pastor James Fafunso has explained why some churches owned by Nigerians in the United Kingdom run into trouble with the British government.
He gave the explanation shortly after the former leader of Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, Tobi Adegboyega lost his legal battle against deportation despite asserting that the move would infringe upon his human rights.
His church was shut down after allegations of a £1.87 million fraud about two years ago. The subsequent legal battle culminated in the decision of the court.
Commenting on the matter, Pastor Fafunso who had taught criminology at a UK university before he veered into pastoring said many churches especially Nigerian-owned churches in the UK have issues because of the charity funds the UK government makes available to them.
He said any church collecting charity funds from the government must account for how the money is spent. “This is where the challenge comes in because you have to account for the funds based on how the government wants you to spend it. If you spend the money on your ministry and not on charity, they will come after you.”
He said that is why some churches can’t preach against gay marriage.
“They have now agreed that you are not compelled to do what you don’t want to do talking about joining gay couples for instance. But you can’t preach against gay marriage if you collect gift aid. They will accuse you of being xenophobic. Also, your building can be used for any government purpose. They can come and use it to create awareness for their ideologies,” said Fafunso who is Senior Pastor of King of Glory Christian Assembly in the UK
He said many pastors feign ignorance of the UK law because of the temptation of the gift aid. “It’s not that they don’t know how the law operates. It’s just that they chose to be indifferent. They are only interested in the money they get back from the UK government.”
Giving a personal example, he said, “Our church is registered as a charity. But we do not collect the gift aid. That decision is what has helped us. But even at that we still get phone calls from people who want to find out if we can do gay marriage and all that. But we tell them no. And they ask, is it not a charity? We say it’s a charity but we are not bound by the rules because we don’t get government funds.”
While stating his church still reports its finances and publishes records of how money is spent he said, “But you are not obliged to do what they ask you to do if you don’t collect their money.”
Ashimolowo and Adegboyega case
He said it was the gift aid that first put Ashimolowo into trouble. “Only God helped him to get out of the trouble because the gift aid means a tax that somebody is supposed to have paid to the government for the development of the state but it is given back to the church. If for instance, somebody gives 100 pounds to the church, the tax that person has paid on that money is refunded to the church. So, the state is not benefitting from that money. And they expect the church to spend the money according to the dictate of charity.”
The Ashimolowo case with the UK government according to him is not fraudulent as we understand fraud in Nigeria. “His case was not fraudulent. But there are accusations of fraudulent practices in the case of Adegboyega. He was accused of setting people up to milk the system.
“But in the case of Ashimolowo, he was accused of using a church funded by charity for personal use. All the books that he wrote were his books. But he was accused of selling them on church property. You would not believe that is a crime in the UK government. In Nigeria, you are the everything of your church. But under the charity law in the UK, it is not like that.
He said “The way to escape such a trap is to register as a charity company. But you have to stay away from their money. A lot of people have collected it thinking it’s free money but when it comes to accounting for it, they run into trouble. There are a lot of dos and don’ts when it comes to charity funds.”
Fafunso explains further, “For instance if your church makes 10,000 pounds a year and the government gives you another 2,000 pounds you now have 12,000 pounds. As a church, you cannot spend the 12000 pounds on your vision. Charity law wants you to spend the money on charity. So, if your vision is not for Charity you are in trouble.”
He said, “Ashimolowo was quizzed for bringing preachers from the US and giving them huge honorarium from charity money. For the UK government, it is not proper. Even the PM can’t spend government money like that.”
Moral laxity
Fafunso noted that despite the government support for charity, there is a lot of moral laxity in the UK which has affected the faith of many believers.
“Many Christians are fighting their conscience. The curriculum of the school promotes gay. The government has even made a law that those who are four years old can change their sex if they so wish. My daughter once came to me and said they were taught in school that examples of homosexuals were Naomi and Ruth in the Bible. I told her you can’t give that example because it is not true.
“It is not true that Barnabas and Paul were homosexuals as they are being made to believe. These things are now in their school curriculum. So, the best way not to be trapped is to stay away from their funds. Because why the government usually reacts is when somebody goes to complain that a church that is using charity money is saying things that don’t align with their philosophy”
Fafunso noted that moral laxity in the UK is a daily struggle for believers. “Just recently the parliament in the UK passed a bill to give consent to assisted dying. A majority agreed on the bill. The society has become so lass. Some people struggle against some of these things. But if you are a lone voice, it is difficult to stand against the trend. You will be accused of being xenophobic, islamophobic, and all kinds of phobic.
“And if you are a public figure, they will bring you down. Even parents who make their children cry may be asked to face the law. There are instances of teachers who have been sacked because they use the pronoun he or she instead of they. They are trying to just manipulate people and get them to agree to whatever they are doing.”
