Auckland’s EFKS church in Māngere Bridge built 200-seat unconsented building, cops $80k fine

Palala said he accepted the court’s decision and wanted to move on, while an EFKS elder said the matter would be investigated by the wider church’s leadership.

However, three Māngere churchgoers, who didn’t want to be named, said their congregation was “shocked and divided” by the “scandal”.

They’ve called for Palala’s removal.

“We are all paying because of what he did by himself,” one parishioner said.

“This is not just a legal issue – it’s a spiritual crisis that touches the heart of the EFKS identity in Aotearoa. The community deserves answers.”

The Māngere Bridge branch at 59 McKenzie Rd is one of the more than 80 Ekalesia Fa’apotopotoga Kerisiano Samoa – which translates to Congregational Christian Church of Samoa - churches across New Zealand.

Palala had served as the church pastor and as trustee and chairman of its charitable trust.

The legal troubles that came from building the church without planning approval were among the reasons why the trust fell into millions of dollars of debt, the parishioners said.

In a bid to pay off the debts, the church last year put its buildings and 5419sq m of land up for sale, where it eventually sold at auction for $6.3m in November.

However, days later the church was left high and dry, the parishioners said.

That’s because the deal fell through after the buyers went into liquidation without paying their deposit, they said.

Blame rests on Palala, parishioners claim

The three parishioners claimed that throughout the church’s troubles dating back to at least 2019, Palala had largely made decisions on his own.

He was able to do that because the other trustees and congregation showed too much deference out of cultural respect for elders and church leaders, they claimed.

“People sitting within the board were not asking questions of him because of all this traditional authority he holds,” one parishioner said.

Another parishioner claimed Palala “abused his authority” because people would trust him, saying, “Oh, he’s a man of God”.

They conceded, however, that they shared blame for not being firmer in questioning him, they said.

Palala didn’t comment on the allegations, except to say he accepted the district court’s decisions.

He said the matter had been resolved through the court, and now the church was trying to move on.

He expected the church land to go back on sale so the parish could move to a new location and building.

How it happened

According to court documents, the church first set up a charitable trust in 1992.

It was then renamed the Samoan Congregational Christian Church of New Zealand Māngere Trust in 2012.

Between 2008 and 2015, church services were held at the McKenzie Rd site using a temporary council permit.

Then in 2018, the trust lodged a land use application for a new church, house and community centre on the site.

However, the trust failed to pay about $25,000 in fees, and the Auckland Council put the application on hold in November 2019.

Yet just over a year later, in January 2021, a complaint was sent to the council saying major building works were being done on the church property.

Council officers found two new buildings – including a partially constructed church – had been built without resource or building consent, court documents show.

Over the next months, the council ordered all construction halted and put a dangerous building notice on the church because of its lack of fire safety, potable water and sanitary works.

Despite orders to cease new construction and comply with orders to seek proper planning approval, members of the church continued doing unconsented building work, court documents said.

That included significant earthworks, and new flooring, brickwork and lighting, among other works.

Palala also met with council staff, saying he took full responsibility as project manager and trustee chairman.

He said he hadn’t known he needed planning approvals, court documents state.

He then continued building works despite being ordered to stop by the council because he felt pressure to open the church on its official opening weekend, when 200-300 people were expected.

Palala and the church trust were formally charged, and two years later, an Auckland District Court judge found them guilty on two charges of failing to remove or fix unauthorised buildings and another of failing to cease construction work.

Just weeks after the church was found guilty in mid-2023 and while awaiting sentencing, council staff found more offending.

On five separate Sundays they visited the church, where they saw elderly people and children going in and out of the unconsented building and heard singing, indicative of church services taking place.

That led to both Palala and the church being found guilty of six additional charges each.

They were sentenced last week.

John Kang, the prosecutor representing the Auckland Council, told the court the offending was “highly deliberate”.

The congregation continued holding services in the buildings despite a dangerous building notice being posted next to the main door, he said.

The parishioners claimed Palala had misled them into thinking everything was being taken care of.

They said they didn’t even know the court cases were taking place until the sentencing hearing last week, because Palala didn’t tell them.

They said this denied them the chance to hire lawyers to defend the church trust and reduce the size of the more than $80,000 fine.

Sentencing Judge J. Smith said he had no reason to disbelieve that other church trustees had not known about the court cases.

However, he called them “naive” for not having systems to check on Palala’s actions.

On Palala, Judge Smith said he did not understand why the pastor didn’t get council consent, as it had left his other trustees and church community in a “terrible” position.

However, it was clear Palala didn’t do it for personal gain and that he got himself in a position where it was difficult to “fess up” and seek help.

“I do not believe you had anything but the best intentions for the congregation,” Judge Smith said.

Church elders respond

Reverend elder Victor Pouesi, who oversees the EFKS district covering the Māngere Bridge branch, said he and three other elders would investigate and decide Palala’s fate.

Palala is no longer a trustee of the church because his criminal conviction bars him from holding that role.

However, that did not automatically disqualify him from being a pastor, Pouesi said.

Palala’s actions would be judged against the church’s rules and systems, he said.

For instance, Palala may have held services in an unconsented building because he felt a greater duty to tend to his flock’s needs, Pouesi said.

There were two sides to every story, and he doubted that Palala was the only person responsible for what happened.

Pouesi and the other elders would hear from everyone at the church and make a considered decision, he said.

“I am just asking people to give us time to do that because we can’t do that overnight,” he said.

Ben Leahy is an Auckland-based senior journalist. He has worked as a journalist for more than a decade in India, Australia and New Zealand.