The Sunday Mail
Fatima Bulla
THE ugly head of rebellion which is consistently raising its head in today’s church could undermine the progress made since missionary work was established in Zimbabwe.
While conflict is bound to occur wherever there are two or more people, the rate at which it is taking place in institutions such as the Apostolic Faith Mission in Zimbabwe is becoming worrisome.
Over the years, several pastors have taken the church to court for various issues.
Recently, pastors from the Southlea Park Central Assembly, Budiriro North and El Shaddhai Assembly in Chitungwiza rebelled against the church’s provincial committees.
In April last year, some pastors took AFM president, Dr Aspher Madziyire to the High Court challenging his re-election.
At the end of the same year, there was suspicion of abuse of church funds and assets and Pastors Kefias Mujokeri and Paymore Murefu approached the High Court seeking an order compelling the national executive to engage external auditors to check on the church’s books of accounts.
These are just some of the recent conflicts.
Unfortunately, this trend is now threatening the legacy of AFM in Zimbabwe.
The church has been revered for channelling out some of the greatest evangelists in the history of Christian faith in Zimbabwe.
Secretary General of AFM in Zimbabwe, Reverend Amon Madawo lamented the emergence of a crop of pastors who are not committed to serving God and said that is the cause of the conflicts.
“The problem is that some people are manufacturing callings. They pretend to be who they are not and even deceive their assembly boards. They go through Bible College with an artificial character.
“Outwardly, you can believe that he is a man of God who has got character. But real character usually manifests when a person is under pressure when dealing with church leadership,” Rev Madawo said.
“You cannot deliver what you do not have. You can manufacture a calling.”
He went on to say that most pastors are now in those positions in search of employment.
“Industry is not doing very well and therefore the crop of pastors that we now have is giving us problems as they take ministry as a form of employment,” said Rev Madawo. His father was a pastor in the 1960s.
“Back in the day, most of our pastors feared God and took the call seriously. During our fathers’ years of ministry, they were content with serving God.
“The current pastors think that after getting ordained, they become employed,” Rev Madawo said.
When the church recruit pastors, the church’s provincial committees receive recommendations of suitable individuals from individual assembly boards. The individuals would have proven through their Christian walk and character that they have a calling from God.
There is no age limit to enrol for training.
The assemblies pay the training fees.
After three years of training, the pastor goes through a probation period.
If they pass the probation and they meet certain conditions, the pastor is recommended for ordination.
The pastor must be married and above the age of 25 years.
“The provincial committee has the right to oversee their preacher’s spiritual work. There are times when relationships between the pastor and his community can turn sour for various reasons, the provincial committee can transfer the pastor.
“There are also cases where congregants are not being blessed and encouraged, numbers aren’t growing, the provincial committee can also transfer the pastor.
“We want to see numerical and spiritual growth in a congregation.
“But if we miss it, the same with infrastructural development, then there is a problem,” added Rev Madawo.
Pastors in AFM are expected to oversee their church’s numerical growth, tithes and offering.
He said a pastor can also be transferred if their gift is doing well and the church wants it to improve elsewhere. The church’s constitution says a pastor can be transferred after 24 months.
Rev Madawo pointed out that the church does not have a clause to chuck out pastors who would have broken the rules. For this reason, those who have committed adultery, divorced their wives and married their girlfriends have found legal backing to remain in the church.
He however admitted that the various leadership committees are also prone to errors in dispatching their duties.
Rev Madawo bemoaned the church’s weakness if failing to raise more disciples of Jesus Christ.
“Our weakness is we have been an evangelistic church.
‘‘We are preaching, people are coming to church but we are not discipling them to be followers of Christ.
“We have a lot of AFM members and few disciples of Jesus Christ.”
