Friday, January 15, 2010 

By G. Sarwah Stewart, Jr.                                                

I was surprised to have read an article published on The Liberian Dialogue web site, www.theliberiandialogue.org written by one “Kartrina G. Innis” dated December 28, 2009, in which she claims to be the niece of United Methodist Bishop, Rev. Dr. John G. Innis, and a sophomore business administration student at The United Methodist University (UMU) in Monrovia. She raised a lot of imbalanced, biased, bogus and outdated issues against the person of Bishop John G. Innis and The United Methodist Church in Liberia.

While I accept the creative writing of “Katrina G. Innis,” for the purpose of freedom of expression and the context in which The Liberian Dialogue might have allowed the publication, it is necessary to authenticate the true identity of the author, Kartrina G. Innis. 

Is Kartrina G. Innis A Former or Current Student of The Prestigious United Methodist University? 

So interested in the article, I first and foremost charged myself with the responsibility to see Kartrina in person: first, to commend her for her creativity - attracting attention to such fallacy, and most importantly, to call her attention to the workings of the Liberia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church under the leadership of energetic, loving and caring Bishop, Dr. John G. Innis. I need Kartrina and others to open their eyes to the massive development efforts unfolding within The United Methodist Church in Liberia. The illiterates are now literate, health centers are built in remote parts of Liberia, and water wells are producing safe drinking water to combat water-borne diseases in rural communities, are among other developmental initiatives by The United Methodist Church in Liberia. With that said, it takes only the devil to blind the eyes of God’s children not to see positive things.  

Investigations conducted at The United Methodist University revealed that Kartrina G. Innis was and is not the name of any of the university’s many students.  An official position statement sent to The Liberian Dialogue (Letters To The Editor) by the UMU  was emphatic and succinct on the issue of Katrina not being a former or current student of the university.

Is Katrina G. Innis a Niece of UMC Bishop John G. Innis?

Similarly, the Innis’ Family has said no member of the family is named Katrina. This then brings me to the conclusion that Katrina is a ghost’s name, and that the author is not brave enough to let the public to know her identity. It is now clear that Kartrina G. Innis is not a relative of Bishop Innis, and also does not have any attachment to The United Methodist University.

Another misleading point the ghost author penned is the alleged isolation of Rev. Dr. Julius Sarwolo Nelson, Jr., the current Chairperson of the Conference Working Committee on Reconciliation, Unity, Healing and Sustainable Peace.  For heaven's sake, how could Bishop Innis sideline Dr. Nelson when he heads such vital working committee of the Church? Let’s set the record straight, Rev. Dr. Nelson himself declares, ”Bishop Innis is my friend and no one can divide us.”  This directly goes to you, detractors; no one can divide our Church Leaders!  My suggestion to Katrina and any interested persons is to urge Dr. Nelson and his committee members to inform the public of their achievements, because division of the Liberia Conference will never be the remedy to any difference except to satisfy the power-greed fanatic of our Church.

Least do I intend to say much about the person referred to as Rev. P. K. Early; for there are reports that this man does not belong to The United Methodist Church, neither is he in Liberia.  What control does any Liberian UMC bishop have over such a person? Needless to mention in this writing Rev. Cletus Sieh, because in the first place there is no Rev. Cletus Sieh in the ministerial roster of the Liberia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church.

I am glad to note that the author, Kartrina and her mentors realized that our conference lags behind among the younger conferences in Africa.  Nothing else is responsible for such delay in development, but us.  We are hauling and pulling while our Bishop is striving to have the conference survived.

I have also come to comprehend that the more time spent on Kartrina’s article; the more you discover the demonic influence engulfing the author. It is quit abnormal in our United Methodist circle to call for the split of a conference that has the membership of less than 200 thousand people. Hi, let’s recollect ourselves; we are talking about The United Methodist Church with globally unique principles enshrined in the Book of Discipline. The governing principle of our Church leaves room for conflict resolution far before conflicts emerges.  

Because time is expensive, I do not care to react to insignificant statements that claim the Bishop and his pastors are involved with witchcraft, and the other rumor that concerns the Bishop’s wife.  They are nothing but baseless, malicious and crafty initiative to tear down God’s given son like Bishop Innis. They are meant to get the Bishop distracted from serving his God dutifully.

 G. Sarwah Stewart, Jr. is the station Manager of The United Methodist Radio, ELUM98.7FM in Monrovia. The article reflects the views of the author and not the LAC/UMC.