| Kingsway International Christian Centre | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Clergy | |
| Senior pastor(s) | Matthew Ashimolowo |
Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) is based in London, England and was established in 1992 with 200 adults and 100 children. It currently has up to 12,000 people in attendance at the main church every Sunday.[1] The Church was located for nine years on a 9.5-acre (38,000 m2) site in Hackney, London, close to the site of the new 2012 Olympics Village. The church is pastored by Matthew Ashimolowo. The majority of the membership is under 50 years of age and is predominantly of West African origin, but it is claimed that worshippers come from 46 nations.[2]
KICC had to vacate the site by November 2006 in order to make way for proposed developments for the 2012 London Olympics[3] but did so only in late 2007. The last programme held at the old site was IGOC 2007, with many international guest speakers. The church has now relocated to Hoe Street, Walthamstow, awaiting planning consent and the development of a large new site in Rainham, Essex, near the A13. However, the government has been reluctant to give the required development planning consent.[4]
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The charity behind Kingsway International Christian Centre (The King's Ministries Trust) was investigated by the Charity Commission of England and Wales between 2002 and 2005. A report of the inquiry was released in October 2005, but the manner in which the investigation was conducted was subsequently seriously criticised by the House of Lords. The report of the Charity Commission concluded that there had been serious misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity. At an early stage in the investigation, it was considered that the charity's assets were at risk, and control was removed from the existing trustees and placed in the hands of an independent external company (the accountancy and management consultancy practice KPMG), who regularised the charity's affairs.
The report alleged that Matthew Ashimolowo acted as both a trustee and a paid employee of the charity, contrary to charity law and was responsible for approving payments and benefits to himself and his wife, Yemisi, totalling more than £384,000. Benefits received included free accommodation for himself and family, including an £80,000 car and purchase of a timeshare in Florida for £13,000 using a charity credit card, and over half a million pounds paid out to Ashimolowo's private companies, which were operated from church property and had unclear business relationships with the charity.
In a subsequent debate in the House of Lords, Lord Swinfen questioned the Charity Commission's running of this investigation. He acknowledged the technical breach, but highlighted its openness, "This unincorporated trust has for some years been remunerating its trustees for various services and doing so quite openly. It made the mistake of not realising that it should have altered its constitution explicitly to allow that to be done." He then questioned the cost of the investigation "With some advice from the commission and the use of the charity lawyer, the trustees of this charity could have affected these changes for some £12,000... one-hundredth of the sum the commission has already spent [i.e. £1.2 million]." He added "The commission believes, understandably, that the future success of this charity is assured by the charity having new trustees".[5]
KICC have bought a site in Crystal Palace that was originally designed as a cinema, but planning permission to use it as a church has not been granted. The intention is to use it for their South West branch based in Wimbledon London SW19.[6][7][8]