CMFI Pastors Resign Rather Than Vaccinate

A group of senior pastors from the Christian Mission Fellowship International (CMFI) Churches in Fiji have resigned from their pastoral duties for choosing not to be vaccinated.

While addressing the congregation through a livestream service on Sunday, CMFI Founder and President Reverend Suliasi Kurulo, said the resigning pastors included ones from Lautoka, Labasa, Rakiraki and Nadi.

Reverend Kurulo said the group had made known their interest to resign during a meeting with all the pastors of the church as they prepared for the reopening of churches from October 4.

“In these challenging times, it is a requirement for all workplaces to be vaccinated and this has included the church too,” he said.

“When we had our first meeting with all pastors there was a group that had revealed that they did not agree with the vaccination. They have told us that if this is where the church would stand, then they would resign. It was a lengthy discussion, but they had already set their minds on resigning.”

Reverend Kurulo had mentioned that among those that had resigned was Pastor Josaia Tokea of the Westfield Harvest Centre in Lautoka. It is also believed that among the group who had resigned was Gateway Harvest Centre Nadi senior pastor Tuiono Tuitaru. The first letter of resignation was said to have come from Pastor Tokea, then some others followed suit.

Pastor Tuitaru and Pastor Tokea declined to comment when contacted yesterday.