Chaos at Masvingo Church of Christ
MASVINGO’s Church of Christ in Zimbabwe congregants have demanded the ouster of their resident pastor over allegations of misusing church property and renting out a church house without the church’s approval.
Pastor Joseph Mafa is also accused of refusing with the keys to the church, yet he was relieved of his duties by the church board.
Congregants claimed Pastor Mafa was long served with dismissal letter but has vowed to stay put at the church house. The sources also said that there was pandemonium at the City church in Rhodene last Sunday when Pastor Mafa reportedly attempted to hijack the church service, only for his efforts to be thwarted by some elders.
“Pastor Mafa came with his own programme yet we had our own for the whole month. We had already selected the leader for the Sunday service after Pastor Mafa was served with a dismissal letter. He is refusing to go,” said a source.
Efforts to get a comment from Pastor Mafa proved fruitless.
“You said you are calling from the (newspaper?) I am sorry, this is a wrong number,” he said before hanging up.
Repeated efforts to contact him late afternoon were not successful as the phone was switched off. However, church board chairman Mr Newton Nzviyo confirmed the raging rift between congregants and Pastor Mafa over a number of allegations.
“While Pastor Mafa is the right person to answer your questions, I can confirm that there is conflict between the church and him. The fact that he is refusing to talk to you shows that something is amiss,” said Mr Nzviyo.
He however, said as elders they seek to bring normalcy to the church.
“As a church leader and senior elder, my desire is to create a united congregation. We should find each other as Christians. We are however, surprised by Pastor Mafa’s behaviour because he reported us to the police for disrupting a church service last Sunday yet the service went on well,” he said.