Churches need closer monitoring

By Online Editor
Zambia Daily Mail
July 28, 2014

http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/index.php/editorial/comments/item/6886-churches-need-closer-monitoring

THE calls by many sections of the Zambian society for the government to apply stricter controls on the proliferation of churches are justified.
It will help curb the sexual abuse of unsuspecting female members by immoral clergymen.

In the last two years the country has seen an increase in the number of pastors and ‘prophets’ involved in criminal and immoral activities.
The men of the cloak are using their influential and privileged positions to prey on desperate women and girls under the guise of the so-called deliverance.
The rate at which churches are emerging, especially in densely populated communities and rural areas, is alarming.
As members of these communities grapple with various personal and social challenges, they are seeking help from the men of God.
But the ministers and self-styled ‘prophets’ are betraying the trust of their flocks by sexually abusing them or exploiting them financially.
We urge the church mother bodies and the government to form a task force that can come up with recommendations on how to curb the escalating cases of misconduct among the men of the collar.
The task force could collect views from members of the Christian community from the member organisations that make up the mother bodies.
The recommendations could then be presented to the Ministry of Home Affairs and later Cabinet for action.
If necessary a new law could be enacted to create an independent monitoring body that could also have a presence at district and ward levels.
The calls for closer monitoring and regulation of churches should be treated as a matter of urgency.
Some of these churches and individual pastors and ‘prophets’ have been purveying teachings and engaging in practices that are not supported by the Bible, which is the moral compass for all Christians.
And because of the low literacy levels in the country, ordinary members are unable to recognise the weird teachings and practices as unbiblical.
One of the worrying practices is the conducting of prayers in the mountains and homes, outside the safer church premises.
Desperate girls and women are being deceived that they can only be delivered through special prayers and rituals performed in secluded places, especially in the bush.
And because of the respect and trust they have in the fake pastors and ‘prophets’, the victims obey every instruction they are given without question like sheep to the altar.
This has rendered them vulnerable to abuse.
Besides the sexual scandals, the media has been awash with reports of pastors engaging in the manufacturing and circulation of counterfeit currency, armed robberies and fraud.
It is for this reason people are urging the government to use its constitutional powers to protect vulnerable Christians from these predators masquerading as ministers of the Gospel.
We also urge members of the public to be more careful when seeking ‘help’ from the pastors.
It is safer to seek such help through the existing structures of the church.
Any prayers aimed at addressing spiritual, social or health concerns should be conducted in the open church during the day.
If they are to be conducted at home other people, especially members of the household, must be present.
Women and girls should refuse to attend prayers which the pastor insists to be between only the two of them.
Any pastor making such a demand should be reported to the police or a non-governmental organisation immediately.
Unfortunately, most of these churches are run as personal businesses.
But let there be sanity.