A gifted junior pastor who has been performing ‘miracles’ at a church in Kirinyaga is at loggerheads with his envious boss. The senior pastor is unhappy because he suspects his junior has been performing ‘miracles’ to spite and overshadow him, and consequently overthrow him.
“The senior pastor is jealous of his junior’s ability to perform ‘miracles’, and he fears the young man might overthrow him,” said one worshiper.
The supremacy battle between the two men of God surfaced recently after the junior pastor — who is more charismatic — was transferred from Mombasa to the Kirinyaga parish.
The young man has baffled the worshippers with his moving sermons and ‘miracles’. On top of this, his two-year stay in Mombasa gifted him with a smooth Coastal accent, which the villagers love. They are thoroughly entertained whenever he speaks, and they say he is more enthusiastic than the senior pastor. The young preacher has rejuvenated the spiritual chutzpah of the church through bemusing Kiswahili laced with a poetic twang.
Trouble seems to have started a couple of weeks ago, following the youthful pastor’s inspirational sermon punctuated with ‘miracles’, which irked the elder man of the cloth.
Holding the microphone in one hand and a Bible in the other, the pastor prophesied a good life and big bucks for the worshippers. The congregation describes his prosperity and hope messages as ‘moving’.
His sermons are conducted in Kiswahili, and translated to Kikuyu for easier ingestion. He has introduced a segment in his fiery sermons, during which people with ‘special needs’ that ‘urgently needed God’s attention’ are asked to step forward and be prayed for.
Convinced that the youthful pastor is a prophetic fortune-teller, the villagers always flock the pulpit for prayers.
Fervent prayers
At the start of these prayers, the pastor dramatically whips outs a handkerchief from his pocket and waves it in the air. As soon as he does this, the congregates — mostly women — start speaking in tongues as they fall on the floor and writhe as if a scorpion has stung them.
After minutes of fervent prayers, the women rise and give testimonies of how their chronic headaches, ulcers and other medical complications have been healed.
The young pastor has become a darling of many, who believe he has special powers. Since he was posted to the parish, every Sunday, the church has been full to capacity with people desperate for his ‘miracles’.
This development is said to have angered the senior pastor, who feels the young man is orchestrating a ‘coup’ to oust him from the leadership of the church.
Charisma
Two weeks ago, after the Sunday service, the pastor sent a delegation of church elders to talk to the junior pastor and urge him to ‘go slow’.
But instead of toning down his ‘showmanship’, the junior is said to have gone public about how “some people — obviously referring to the senior pastor — are envious of his charisma”.
“Even Jesus said a prophet is never accepted in his hometown, and you people can see this biblical analogy play out in this parish. But people have the right to spiritual nourishment,” he proclaimed.
Since then, tension has been simmering between the two men of God. It has now emerged that the junior pastor plans to open his own church, and migrate with the entire congregation.