THE Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) – once revered for maintaining its “fiercely independent sectarian isolationism” to keep its Western Province’s adherents intact – appears to be coming undone.
Allegations of violence against young girls, gun-running, drug-trafficking and unexplained closure of schools for thousands of children over the last 20 years are hovering over the Movement in the same way a gathering storm is threatening those in its path.
There are also serious allegations of people disappearing without trace. In some cases, relatives are said to be aware of where the bodies of their loved ones are kept, but they are not even allowed to recover them for a decent burial for fear of retribution.
So much so that of late the CFC, it is claimed, has become the source of dissent, dividing and separating families into opposing camps known as Group A and Group B.
Disillusioned members or former followers are now calling for a full police investigation, claiming political expediency has turned the Movement into something totally different.
“The CFC is a cult. Unless authorities intervene, the CFC as a Movement has the potential to turn Western Province into a keg of community violence and a breakaway force,” one former follower warned in an exclusive interview with Solomon Star.
Many say the uniting force of the Movement has lost its grips with reality.
Young people in particular have begun imposing their own ideas and man-made rules on communities and their leaders. For example, those who once kept a tight rein on the conduct of their leaders have become disillusioned to the point they could not care less and are imposing their own rules on the community and its leadership,” informers said.
It is a frightening scenario which must be addressed with urgency, they said.
Former CFC members who have been isolated from biological family members say they are hurting inside.
“We cannot even visit our relatives in the Marovo and Roviana lagoon of Western Province. This is why we are calling for a full and independent police investigation before the movement spins out of control.
“All we can say is that the Movement has the potential to tear the country apart,” they said.
Influence of active CFC members has allegedly infiltrated the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) to the extent police simply refused to investigate alleged illegal dealings by some of their leaders.
“Police simply turned the other way,” one former member told Solomon Star, after earlier calls for an investigation fell on deaf ears.
According to insiders, the Movement has access to vast amounts of money, which members raised by setting targets. One former security officer said leaders’ life style is financed by CFC Group A villagers.
Each villager has a target to meet. For example, villagers in Roviana such as:
- Nusa hope/Olive/Putagita Area monthly target is $150, 000 or $1.8 million a year;
- Bara ulu, Nusa banga and Sasavele gave 30k each month or $360, 000 a year;
- Other villagers have their own targets.
Followers give away money while they live in poverty all year round.
It is important to investigate whether the Movement’s wealth has any influence on law enforcement agencies such as police, insiders said.
Entries in the Solomon Islands Historical Encyclopedia 1893-1978 show the Christian Fellowship Church (CFC) is an independent indigenous church in the pre-independence Western Solomons.
“It began in the 1950s as a movement of separatism from the Methodist Mission, and in 1960 became a separate church. Its founder was Silas Eto (c. 1905-1984) (q.v.), also known as the Holy Mama, from the Kolumbaghea area of New Georgia.
“The Holy Mama preached strong doctrines of communalism, to the degree that the Church has overall control over the customary lands and natural resources of several dozen adherent villages. The CFC has maintained sectarian isolationism and is fiercely independent,” the entries show.
Eto was trained as a pastor (1927-1932) at Kokeqolo Mission under Rev. J. F. Goldie (q.v.). During his years in the Methodist church, he fostered a distinct liturgical and theological style, particularly among his own Kusaghe people on New Georgia.
In 1956, after incidents of possession (Tataru by F. Harwood), Eto believed the Holy Spirit had visited his congregation and he led his followers out of Methodism to form the new church, with Milton Talasasa (q.v.) as its first chairman. Services concentrated on hymn singing in Roviana language and sermons from Eto.
Ultimate authority resided with Eto, according to published reports.
“He styled himself as the vehicle of the Holy Spirit and claimed healing powers. The Church recruited a number of former Methodist pastors, and in the mid-1970s there were twenty-two adherent villages and five schools, mainly in west New Georgia.
“The CFC reorganized village life completely, developed new agricultural and commercial enterprises, and built a Bible Training School in a model village renamed from Menakasapa to ‘Paradise’.
“The CFC continued to operate its own primary schools after the other Christian denominations had transferred responsibility for primary education to the government. Paradise contains what is probably the most beautiful traditional-style church building in the Solomon Islands, forty-two metres long and twelve wide, constructed on high wooden piles and with wonderful decorations,” earlier publications show.
“The CFC is notably practical and is known for being able to raise large groups for community projects. It has been involved in large reforestation projects.
In the 1970s, multinational giant Unilever extended logging operations into CFC-controlled areas, while at the same time Australian conservationists campaigned there.
Strong opposition to logging arose, which ultimately involved CFC leaders and villages, and in 1986 Unilever logging had to leave the Solomons. After the death of Holy Mama, his sons attained key roles in national politics and in the CFC spiritual continuity. Both conservationists and loggers found them unpredictable.
Eto was succeeded by his son Ikan Rove, born around the1930’s, who is now known by the title Spiritual Authority. In 2005, he was made a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.).
Another son, Job Dudley Tausinga, was in 1986 elected to the National Parliament for the area in a block-vote by Church members.
The CFC today fuses Melanesian custom, old-style Methodism, political autonomy and modernist approaches to development.
“It enters the twenty-first century as a major power in the Western Solomon Islands. CFC today fuses Melanesian custom, old-style Methodism, political autonomy and modernist approaches to development.
“It enters the twenty-first century as a major power in the Western Solomon Islands.”
Its entry also marks what is described by some as “the emergence of an aggressive “mob” culture within the Movement.
“Their most popular weapon of destruction is the burning down of entire villages and banishing of people away to start their new lives.
“Secondly, the leaders of CFC A, … have very strong influence and command on the political leadership and often demanded a greater share of the development grants in both the South New Georgia and North New Georgia constituencies.
“This is revealed by some insiders and residents of the two constituencies.”
When the immediate former MP for South New Georgia was contacted, he declined to comment.
“There is also another aspect about the alleged disappearance of a number of people under strange circumstances and relatives were not allowed to inspect the body of the deceased so they could be taken away and be buried at the victim’s place of domicile.
“Depending on further revelations or testimonials by young female students at the Eucalyptus Secondary school of abuse and harassments will lead to more intense police investigations.
According to some, the greatest tragedy in all this, is the apparent suppression of the church leadership on the socio-economic and daily livelihoods of thousands of the CFC people.
“Every single day, the people, fathers and mothers, young and old toil and labour to raise funds for village “targets” – monies to be sent to the CFC leaders in North New Georgia,” according to one claim.
One other simmering issue is the closure of the CFC Education Authority for almost 20 years, denying thousands of girls and boys their rights to an education. For some reason, the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development has kept quiet about this.
“The new MP needs to work with the Western Provincial Government to revive and rebuild the schools in the three constituencies. The Solomon Islands Christian Association [SICA] must be tasked to investigate the CFC Constitution to verify whether or not the Movement has in practice followed fundamental tenets of Christianity.
“If the Movement fails the test the logo of the Christian Fellowship Church should be changed. The word “Christian” should be omitted from the Movement’s logo,” is one suggestion from a concerned individual.
By Alfred Sasako
