There is much talk about the decline of official Churches such as the Church of England. But the flip side to this phenomenon is the growth of "new" Churches. We have long known the Jehovah's Witnesses who have been predicting the end of the world for decades. They claim to be the "true Christians" applying the Word of God literally as it was written in the Bible. They usually prey on people who have suffered some personal tragedy, such as the death of a child or a spouse. They promise these people that one day we will all come back and live together in God's paradise. They play on the fact that the official Churches have become "corrupt".
In the recent period, however, we have seen the rise of another phenomenon, the "born-again" Christians, the Pentecostalists and so on. In countries like Nigeria this is particularly strong with all kinds of "pastors" springing up. These pastors are capable of incredible miracles, making the deaf hear and the blind see. Well… that is what they claim.
A typical example of this is what we witnessed in a poor neighbourhood in Lagos, Nigeria, a place known as Onipan. One Friday evening a few years ago what is known as a "Revival" was organised on a street junction. The whole area was filled with plastic chairs for the worshippers. At the front there was a raised platform for the pastor to speak from.
At a certain point the pastor, in his smart all-white suit, appeared on stage and started to lead the people in prayer. There was a lot of chanting such as "Satan, lower" (accompanied with everyone pointing downwards) and "Jesus, higher" (accompanied with everyone raising their hands to the sky. This went on for a while, building everyone up into a frenzy.
Then came the moment for the "miracle". The pastor called a "blind woman" to the front explaining that she has been blind since birth. Then he passed his hands over her, prayed to God and hey presto the woman could see. He pointed to a red cloth and asked her what colour it was. She looked carefully and then stated quite clearly "Red".
A few doctor friends who were observing the whole ceremony pointed out that she could not have known the names of colours if she had never seen them in her life and had never been told the name of each colour. But let us not allow any basic scientific thinking disturb our pastor!
After the miracle the pastor held up 12 envelopes, one "for each Apostle". He asked for 12 donations of 5000 Naira (at that time about £33 sterling) each (when a factory worker was earning 2000 Naira a month). He managed to get about eight such donations, then he proceeded to make discounts and lowered his request to around 2000 Naira. Then he went for the smaller donations of the poor people present, who willingly gave their few Naira. He must have made around £400 in just one evening. How he got this money to the 12 Apostles God only knows! Maybe he has a special direct link via the Vatican Bank which can also do miracles with money!
Now these "pastors" are also operating in Europe. One example of this new Church is the Pentecostal Kingsway International Christian Church (KICC) in Hackney, London. It claims 12,000 worshippers attend its services on a Sunday. Pentecostalism is one of the fastest growing Christian Churches in the world, claiming 120 million members worldwide, most of them in poor countries. In Britain they claim 1.7 million members.
What is also growing is the wallet of these pastors. The example above from Lagos shows us how they do it. These pastors claim they are true to Biblical teaching but "in a very compassionate way" (Bishop Wayne Malcolm, of Christian Life City in Hackney, London). Now what does he mean by "compassionate", and compassionate to who? Well, The Guardian (23.12.2006) explained that Bishop Wayne Malcolm has an "entrepreneurial church style", adding that, "The pastors drive big cars and wear smart, well-cut suits." So the compassion involves avoiding poverty for… the pastor!
Bishop Malcolm certainly knows something about poverty! We quote: " It is important for us that pastors do not give the impression that serving God equals a life of poverty, as has been the way in the traditional churches. Of course poor people can be very spiritual but so can rich people. The fact that we love the poor doesn't mean that we love poverty. Our people are already poor – they want role models and if the only ones they have are hip-hop artists and pimps what sort of message does that give?"
Much better to have the role model of these unscrupulous individuals who prey on poor people, thus helping to raise the pastor out of poverty!
