Contemporary African pastors have recently hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons for their weird methods in ministering to their followers.
The antics they have used in ‘curing’ medical conditions and exorcising demons have been incredulous, toxic and sometimes comical.
South African and West African pastors lead the pack in all that jazz, from spraying congregants with insecticides to touching derrieres of naked women seeking miracle husbands.
Latest to hit the tabloid is a South African pastor with the little-known Hill Ministries Church who reportedly has been giving alcohol to people in search of healing.
The church is based in Katlehong, Ekurhuleni and is led by Pastor Uriah Maseko.
According to unconfirmed reports, Pastor Maseko said he used Russian Bear vodka;
“to minister healing and deliverance to the sick and those who needed deliverance”.
Reports further established that Pastor Maseko invites people with HIV/AIDS to drink the vodka and be healed as he said the Holy Spirit told him to give his church members alcohol.
“God uses different methods to perform miracles. Nothing, including healing, is impossible for God. I’m not the one who heals. I was led by the spirit to use alcohol,” the Hill Ministries Church cleric was quoted saying.
Images of members drinking alcohol during a church service have already gone viral, leaving tongues wagging.
Many Christian advocates of drinking alcoholic wine have, however, pointed out that Pastor Maseko’s latest trend might have been inspired by Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy in which he instructed Timothy to take “a little wine” for thy stomach’s sake.
Wrote the apostle;
“Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities” (1 Tim 5:23).
Meanwhile, SA Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities chairwoman Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva has warned religious leaders to urgently find a way to stop pastors’ bad behaviour.
She was speaking at Rhema Bible Church in Randburg, north of Joburg during a religious summit.
The summit aimed to find a framework for good governance in the religious sector to ensure leaders were held accountable for malpractice.
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