There have been a lot of controversial things done by men of God in the year 2017. TimesLIVE put together some of these moments which left South Africans speechless.
The biggest revelation was the opening of Gabola Church in Orange Farm‚ southern Johannesburg.
This church is hardly six months old but is already making headlines. Founded by Archbishop Tsietsi Makiti‚ the church allows its members to drink alcohol during the service.
Actually‚ Makiti himself takes a sip of beer while preaching. While other churches have candles and incense at the altar of worship‚ Makiti has bottles of the best whisky and nice cold beers for his congregants.
The archbishop said his church was growing at such a great pace that in just two months it grew to 500 members.
“Everyday we receive new members joining our church‚ about 10 a day.”
He explained that people who drink alcohol face a lot of struggles in life.
“They are given names and names by churches. They don’t have jobs and some get involved in crime. But Gabola Church removes them from crime. It welcomes them…Everyone who raises their glass of booze is a member of Gabola Church‚ but to be a proper member of the church they must come to the church so we can baptise them.
“We need to baptise them with what they drink. If you drink ciders we baptise you with cider. If you drink Black Label‚ we baptise you with Black Label. If you drink Hansa‚ we baptise you with Hansa. If you drink Castle Lite‚ we baptise you with Castle Lite. If you drink whiskey‚ we baptise you with whiskey‚” said Makiti in an interview.
He then surprised the journalists doing the interview when he invited them to join the service: “We are about to start‚ if media is here we invite you when we pray for the pastors and welcome new members they must be here to show our enemies that are we not ashamed we drink in public.”
But there’s no church news without the one and only Paseka Motsoeneng‚ famously known as Pastor Mboro.
Mboro of Incredible Happenings Ministries leader Paseka "Mboro" Motsoeneng took divine intervention to another level. He watched in shock as a Joburg couple he prayed for to regain its libido bonked in front of him and his camera crew at their home in Zonke‚ Ekurhuleni.
Mboro said Joseph Chabangu and his wife Thabisile shocked him and his crew when they made love in front of them after he helped them regain their libido.
He added that Thabisile suspected that jealous people might have conjured up an evil spirit or cast a bad spell in their bedroom. The couple had spent four months without having sex‚ Mboro said.
Another big story was the ‘Dinner With Major 1’‚ Prophet Shepherd Bushiri. Bushiri was criticised for charging his congregants up to R25‚000 to sit next to him at a gala dinner scheduled for December 23.
CRL Commission chairperson Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva slammed Bushiri’s move and described it as divisive.
"We believe that every congregant should be allowed to attend fellowship in the name of God. Your socio-economic status should not exclude you from any participation in any religious programme. Church should be an equaliser and not a divider where the poor feel marginalised‚" she said.
A year among prophets – how pastors made headlines in 2017
The biggest revelation was the opening of Gabola Church in Orange Farm‚ southern Johannesburg.
This church is hardly six months old but is already making headlines. Founded by Archbishop Tsietsi Makiti‚ the church allows its members to drink alcohol during the service.
Actually‚ Makiti himself takes a sip of beer while preaching. While other churches have candles and incense at the altar of worship‚ Makiti has bottles of the best whisky and nice cold beers for his congregants.
The archbishop said his church was growing at such a great pace that in just two months it grew to 500 members.
“Everyday we receive new members joining our church‚ about 10 a day.”
He explained that people who drink alcohol face a lot of struggles in life.
“They are given names and names by churches. They don’t have jobs and some get involved in crime. But Gabola Church removes them from crime. It welcomes them…Everyone who raises their glass of booze is a member of Gabola Church‚ but to be a proper member of the church they must come to the church so we can baptise them.
“We need to baptise them with what they drink. If you drink ciders we baptise you with cider. If you drink Black Label‚ we baptise you with Black Label. If you drink Hansa‚ we baptise you with Hansa. If you drink Castle Lite‚ we baptise you with Castle Lite. If you drink whiskey‚ we baptise you with whiskey‚” said Makiti in an interview.
He then surprised the journalists doing the interview when he invited them to join the service: “We are about to start‚ if media is here we invite you when we pray for the pastors and welcome new members they must be here to show our enemies that are we not ashamed we drink in public.”
But there’s no church news without the one and only Paseka Motsoeneng‚ famously known as Pastor Mboro.
Mboro of Incredible Happenings Ministries leader Paseka "Mboro" Motsoeneng took divine intervention to another level. He watched in shock as a Joburg couple he prayed for to regain its libido bonked in front of him and his camera crew at their home in Zonke‚ Ekurhuleni.
Mboro said Joseph Chabangu and his wife Thabisile shocked him and his crew when they made love in front of them after he helped them regain their libido.
He added that Thabisile suspected that jealous people might have conjured up an evil spirit or cast a bad spell in their bedroom. The couple had spent four months without having sex‚ Mboro said.
Another big story was the ‘Dinner With Major 1’‚ Prophet Shepherd Bushiri. Bushiri was criticised for charging his congregants up to R25‚000 to sit next to him at a gala dinner scheduled for December 23.
CRL Commission chairperson Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva slammed Bushiri’s move and described it as divisive.
"We believe that every congregant should be allowed to attend fellowship in the name of God. Your socio-economic status should not exclude you from any participation in any religious programme. Church should be an equaliser and not a divider where the poor feel marginalised‚" she said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos