INC minister steps down amid church expulsions

Iglesia ni Cristo church in Los Angeles, California (Photo from Wikipedia/DLAexplorer)

Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) minister Louie Cayabyab of Fremont, California resigned from his post, unable to bear the ongoing expulsions in their Church.

Cayabyab stated that he could not read the circulars expelling several INC members as he did not want to ‘betray his heart.’

“The first circular is about the expulsion, from the Church, of the wife and children of Bro. Eraño G. Manalo. And another circular is the expulsion, from the Church of Bro. Isaias T. Samson Jr., the editor-in-chief – former editor-in-chief of The Pasugo. I decided, brethren, that I won’t read those circulars. You might be asking, ‘Why?’ Because in my heart, in my heart of hearts, I can’t take it. It is, it is just so difficult to betray one’s heart,” he said.

Cayabyab also stressed that he knew the consequence of his action but was willing to accept it.

“I know the repercussion of this and I know what will be the consequence. I know that I will be stripped out of my duty. From now on, I will no longer be a minister, probably I will be expelled from the Church, but I will take it brothers and sisters,” he added.

Among the expelled INC members were Samson, Cristina “Tenny” Villanueva Manalo, Felix Nathaniel “Angel” Villanueva, Marco Eraño and Lolita “Lottie” Manalo Hemedez for inciting divisions in INC.

It can be recalled that Samson earlier called on the Church to ‘be brave and tell the truth’ after the public unraveling of the congregation’s mishandled finances and questionable practices.

INC leaders have then conducted loyalty checks among its ministers and members, resulting to the several expulsions. They have also been considering filing charges against those who spread the ‘false accusations.’

Samson has since hid, fearing for his life; but he continued to call on other Church members to expose what they knew about the issues.

Manalo and Villanueva, for their part, have also hid for the same reason. They earlier shared a video of themselves in YouTube, asking for help and revealing that some ministers were kidnapped.