The Bermuda Government has rejected the Reverend Nicholas Tweed’s attempt to renew his work permit.

St Paul AME Church said the move showed “total disrespect and disregard” for the church and declared that the entire congregation stands united in support of Mr Tweed.

A government source claimed to know of a Bermudian pastor interested in filling the role occupied by Mr Tweed, who has commenced a second term at the church but may now be forced to leave the island.

Earlier yesterday, the Today in Bermuda website reported that the Government refused to renew Mr Tweed’s work permit because his position was not made available to Bermudians via advertising, as is legally mandated.

A representative of St Paul AME Church did not respond to a query as to whether the job was advertised, or if an appeal against the decision had been launched.

In a statement yesterday, the church accused the Government of rejecting “the longstanding custom and practice” over the appointment of AME Church pastors in Bermuda.

Chris Furbert, president of the Bermuda Industrial Union, has repeatedly charged Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, the Minister of Home Affairs, with interfering with the renewal of Mr Tweed’s documents.

He is yet to speak on this latest development, while Mr Tweed could not be reached for comment.

Mr Tweed leads the activist group the People’s Campaign, along with Mr Furbert and Jason Hayward, the Bermuda Public Services Union president. He was an instrumental figure in the immigration reform protests in March that brought Bermuda to a standstill for five days.

Yesterday afternoon, the stewards and trustees of St Paul AME Church released a written statement expressing their “profound disappointment”, chastising the Government and vowing to “support any necessary action to reverse this decision”.

It added: “Since 2013, the church has been well served by Reverend Tweed, and there has been no change in his circumstances since his initial appointment that would justify this action by the Minister of Home Affairs, herself a former member of the church.

“This action amounts to a total disrespect and disregard for the doctrine and discipline of the AME Church, and the rejection of the longstanding custom and practice surrounding appointments of pastors in the AME Church in Bermuda.”

However, the Government source refuted the letter as “wrong” in its assertions.

“Work-permit policy does not exclude the AME Church from immigration policy,” the source said. “That may have happened under the previous government. However, the new work-permit policy, introduced in 2014, requires all clergy positions across all denominations to be subject to the policy. No church group is exempt from this.”

The source added that there were “qualified Bermudians” who could fill Mr Tweed’s post, listing one interested candidate by name.

“The church was told to advertise,” the source said. “They were also asked for clarity on a number of inconsistencies in his application. They refused.”

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Home Affairs said: “It should be noted that the Department of Immigration does not respond to individual cases, but all matters that come before the department are dealt with in accordance with established rules, in order to provide consistency.

“When a work permit is required for clergy, there are established procedures and all denominations are treated equally.”

• To see the St Paul AME Church statement in full, click on the PDF link under “Related Media”