bishopneilellis

After Bishop Neil Ellis rescinded New Orleans pastor Dario Carey, he is installing Rickeno Moncur as Senior Pastor of Mt Tabor.

The young pastor of Word of Life Kingdom Ministries is expected to assume the position at the mega-church when Ellis steps down in three months.

This comes after Mt Tabor unanimously ratified Carey for the position who moved from the US to pastor the church. But controversy followed when reports circulated that Ellis wavered in his decision to make him the senior pastor, attributing his uncertainty to God.

Ellis’ about-face negatively affected Carey’s financial situation, who in a social media post stated that he had already sold his belongings, house furniture and vehicle, to relocate to the Bahamas.

Carey was in the process of moving his wife and two children to the Bahamas, since Ellis, 61 who is the presiding Bishop of the Global United Fellowship of Churches, promised to step down from the church after 34 years of preaching.

Carey’s appointment was publicized but Ellis never publicly stated that he retook the position from Carey, but he only removed billboards that once announced Carey’s appointment.

Now that Moncur replaces Carey, he will be expected to charter a new course for the larger congregation. Moncur has pastored a smaller congregation for many years but was well known in religious circles.

Many took to social media to congratulate him.

His mother Nadine Moncur said, “…Now is the time for my Joshua to come forth and lead my people to the Promise land. It’s a new day.”

Pastor and Former Senator Jasmin Dareus said, “Look at what the Lord has done. Glory…”

Deno Cartwright, another pastor joined the chorus. “Built and bred for this moment—embrace the call, serve his people [and] run the race.”

It remains to be seen if Moncur will disband his church and how many of his members will crossover.

Following weeks of speculations, Pastor Dario Carey indicated that he is no longer the incoming pastor of Mt Tabor though he was promised the position by Senior Pastor Neil Ellis.

Pastor Carey took to social media in a video post titled, The Transition and the Truth About It, addressing the lingering speculations while revealing that the position was rescinded through verbal communication, but he was not given a letter to confirm the revocation as pastor.

Carey revealed that he was advised not to speak on the matter using his social media platform, but he took to Facebook anyway, in a live post to shed light on the situation as God directed him to do so.

“I have a right to speak because I’m a servant of God. I decree as God declares and I decree according to the word of God. So, I don’t need consensus just for those people who are asking tonight, ‘who gave you the authority to speak?’ God gives the authority for me to speak tonight.”

He continued, “I’m not a weak man. I’m very strong in the Lord and in the power of his might…”

Carey moved from New Orleans to be appointed to Mt Tabor’s top spot in the Bahamas, with his wife and two children, since Ellis, 61 who is the presiding Bishop of the Global United Fellowship of Churches, promised to step down from the church.

Though no official statement from the church, reports cited that Ellis was wavering in his decision to make Carey the senior pastor, attributing his uncertainty to God.

But Carey said, “God is not psych phrenic. God is not a God of confusion. God is not a God that lies.”

The road to Carey’s appointment began three years ago. He was ratified on October 5th and joined the staff at Mt Tabor in January of this year, in preparation to take charge in January 2023.

Carey said Ellis met with his immediate and extended family and the company where he worked as the general manager. “He did a character assessment and came up with none. I went through the scrutiny..No skeletons in my closet. No scandals,” he passionately expressed.

The young pastor said he paid for everything he needed for the transition to the Bahamas and sold his belongings which included house furniture and his vehicle, having shipped his belongings to the Bahamas.

Carey and his wife Dionne recently enrolled their children at St John’s College in Nassau.

“I may have been gutted but I trust God. You may push me to the side but the hand of the Lord caught me….God is my source.”

Carey said despite the situation, he will remain in the Bahamas.

“I’m here to stay.”

It remains to be seen who Mt Tabor will appoint to replace Carey.

Following the relocation of Mt Tabor’s incoming senior pastor from the United States, rumors are swirling that Bishop Neil Ellis has reneged on his promises to give Dario Carey the top spot.

Pastor Carey, with his wife and two children, moved from New Orleans this year to lead the megachurch as Ellis, 61 promised to step down from the post. But reports are that Ellis, who served 34 years as senior pastor, has since refused to give up the office, citing that God told him not to do so, anymore.

Ellis told the Nassau Guardian last year that while on ‘sabbatical’ in 2012, God told him to serve ten more years as a pastor and then retire from the post.  He was expected to retire at the end of this year to allow Carey to assume the post. Carey was expected to lead the congregation in January 2023. He already joined the staff six months ago, in preparation to take charge.

“So he (Carey) will work for me for the full year. He will take over in January 2023,” Ellis said last year. Ellis was expected to remain the head of the Global United Fellowship of churches, stating that he would serve Carey.

“I am still sought after for conferences and special church events. I am stepping down from the top spot of the church, but I am not retiring from active duty. A lot of this would have to do and depend upon what the new pastor would require of me once in place – how much of me he would need or want. I want to make myself available to him.”

Ellis recently introduced Carey’s wife, Dionne and children to the church, announcing that they had recently been enrolled as students at St John’s College as their father prepared to take the leadership of Mt Tabor. He prided that the process to make Carey the senior pastor was “slow, intentional, careful and prayerful, and it paid off” after a three-year search.

Signs, announcing the transition, were strategically placed on street corners. Carey was celebrated as Ellis’ successor, who was Bahamian-born and served seven years as the pastor of Solid Rock Missionary Baptist Church in New Orleans, Louisiana.

“He [Carey] met the Lord in Mount Tabor,” said Ellis. “When he first visited us as a teenager, he was living in the Ranfurly Homes [for children]. He met the Lord at Mount Tabor and was among a group of people that we sent to seminary. Four of the six came back. All worked at the church, but [Carey] and one more person never returned to The Bahamas to stay. He met his wife there – they built a family and he landed two wonderful jobs that led him to managerial positions. Eight years ago, he was called to a church in New Orleans,” Ellis said.

Some congregants of the Church of God denomination in the Bahamas have died and others remain in the hospital after being infected with COVID-19 at a superspreader event.

Reports say the pentecostal denomination held a Youth Conclave at its William Johnson Auditorium earlier in the month, where all of its church branches attended.

The event became a hotspot for the infectious disease, which resulted in the spread among its congregants, which ultimately caused the closure of its branches for two weeks.

Vision of Hope Church of God in Yamacraw bore the brunt of infections. Reports say the church has since seen five deaths in its church as others are hospitalized at the Princess Margaret Hospital.

Other infections remain among its varied branches.

Its Administrative Bishop Moses Johnson has said nothing publicly on the matter, except to post to social media stating “The Church of God Bahamas is praying for COVID-19 patients, covering the Church of God family and all health care workers.”

Prime Minister Hubert Minnis has since limited worship service times in the country to one hour with 33% occupancy.

President of the Bahamas Christian Council Bishop Delton Fernander and Pastor of Mount Tabor Neil Ellis have criticized the measure stating that government should not dictate to the church the number of hours spent at a facility.

Health officials reported 132 new cases on Thursday, and 88 new cases were reported on Wednesday. There are presently 1723 active cases in the country.

Photo credit: Taken from social media, showing the congregation at its 66th Annual Youth Conclave

The spotlight has shone on Pastor of Mt Tabor Bishop Neil Ellis who lambasted Prime Minister Hubert Minnis from his church’s pulpit on Sunday, railing against his handling of the COVID-19 while accusing him of “acting like a god” and one who “does not believe in God.”

Ellis spoke up against the continued lockdowns and restrictive measures implemented to prevent the spread of the virus.

But the part of Ellis’ speech that caught the most heat was accusations that Minnis was not a follower of Jesus, which he later denied that he referenced the prime minister.

Ellis said in his sermon on Sunday, “You (PM Minnis) are insulting our intellect and parading on our democracy and sidelining our right of movement and humiliating our business owners and entrepreneurs. Your one-man stand is killing our economy and it sure doesn’t help when the one in the chair does not believe in God.”

But on Monday morning, Ellis told ZNS in an interview, “I will never seek to say who believes or who does not believe in God because only God knows the secret of a man’s heart. So this was definitely not attributed to the prime minister.”

Who is Bishop Neil Ellis?

Ellis is the senior pastor of a megachurch, reported having nearly 7000 members in 2011. He affiliates with renowned preachers and mega international churches, once connected to the Full Gospel Church in New Orleans, then forming an organization of his own called the Global United Fellowship, which boasts of nearly 1400 churches in 42 Countries.

Ellis has since transitioned from the title of “Bishop” to “His Grace.”

He was referred to as Former Prime Minister Perry Christie’s spiritual adviser, during the PLP’s 2012-2017 reign in power. His influence runs deep within the PLP claiming to be a protege of the PLP’s founding father the late Sir Lynden Pindling and a close friend of PLP’s campaign financier Frankie Wilson.

Bishop Ellis made similar spirituality claims of Hubert Ingraham and Perry Christie but denied it too

A 2011 Wikileaks cable shows that Ellis told US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Witajewksi in 2003 in a meeting that Hubert Ingraham is “not a man of God,”  even if he does attend church, nor is Perry Christie a “true man of God,” although he was trying to be religious.

When the Nassau Guardian confronted Ellis with the statements in 2011, Ellis denied the statements attributed to him, saying, “I don’t qualify to determine who is a man of God and who is not a man of God.

“…For me to say I think Christie is a pretender would be very hypocritical of me because I’ve always said publicly and I would say again, I believe Perry Christie is one of the greatest humanitarians I’ve ever met.”

Bishop Ellis further rejects claims he told members to ‘vote PLP or leave the church’

Ellis further denied a controversial statement made in 2002 when reports claimed that he told his congregants to vote for the PLP, and if they did not, they should leave his church.

But according to Wikileaks reports, Former US Ambassador Richard Blankenship said Ellis told him that the tape — “which he claims contains selectively edited portions of three different sermons — could easily lead you to believe he had instructed his church how to vote.”

Blankenship continues, “According to Ellis, his comments were taken out of context, and that while he did officially endorse Christie and the PLP from the pulpit on several occasions (doing as he says the Holy Spirit moved him to do), he never tried to tell others how to vote or threatened anyone if they didn’t vote for the PLP.”

Despite his particular political opinions, Ellis says he has respect for all leaders.

Featured picture: The Christian Post