Johnston church opens after suing the town
By Bianca Buono
@BBuonoABC6
King’s Tabernacle Church held its first service Sunday in Johnston after accusing the town of racism. The reverend of the church had filed a lawsuit against the town to make this happen. The reverend was initially denied use of the building but settled with the town Friday.
"It’s really so tough to put a word on it because we’ve done so much and our congregation has gone through so much headache and have been so traumatized,” Reverend Chris Abhulime said.
He’s talking about a recording taken by Johnston’s director of public works where you can clearly hear a building official refer to the reverend as the “expletive black owner.”
This came out after a zoning board denied the church a permit to open, but Abhulime says he has forgiven him.
"I have done my best to put that behind me and right now my goal is to look forward and not look backward. What has happened has happened. We are humans and we do make mistakes,” Abhulime said.
The building official was suspended for thirty days without pay and the man apologized to the reverend.
There wasn’t an empty seat in sight at the church’s inaugural service and many in the congregation used the same word to describe how they feel…victory.
"I believe we all won but to be having the service here which actually seems daunting it’s so wonderful,” said Charles Ainabe.
"It was difficult at the beginning when we bought the building we were all so excited but all the resistance we got we believe it wasn’t just against us it was against the kingdom of God but God ,” said Yemi Abhulime.
Now that the church is up and running, it’s time to get to work. The building on Greenville Avenue is 124 years old and needs maintenance.
"Our plan is to renovate it. Bring it to where it should be. There are repairs that need to be done,” Abhulime said.
© WLNE-TV 2016
