“Ei, Mr. Sylvester Addo-Fynn! It’s been ages!”

Sly laughed as he embraced the elderly man standing before him at the door.

Elder Tackie. A man who had once served as his Sunday school teacher. It had been ages since they last met; the elderly man was an active elder of the Church of Pentecost, and did not move about as often as he used to, nearing his sixties.

Humble, amiable and welcoming, he was the kind of man anyone would love to be around. He had strong knowledge of the word of God as well, and was a man of fervent prayer. If there was anyone Sly could trust to give him good counsel, it was certainly this great man of valour.

It was only while Jubilee gave he and the other pastors-in-training an impassioned speech to get with the vision of ‘the set man of God over the church’ after their training session was over that this beloved man came to mind. Yeah, he was still quite irritated by her ‘postkaya’ attitude in trying to rally the troops to be loyal to the leadership, but at least, her mention of Sunday school triggered a needed memory, so there was that to be thankful for.

“Yes oo, Elder. It’s been so long. Me too, I’ve not been checking up on you. Forgive me ooo.”

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine. How are you doing?”

“Oh, by God’s grace, all is well with me. And I can see you’re doing well too.”

“Oh yes, by the mercies of God, all is well with me. Come in, have a seat. Let me get you something to drink.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Elder. I can get it myself.”

“Please, please, you’re a visitor. Sit down and let me serve you.”

Sly smiled and shook his head as he went to sit in the living room. Vintage Elder Tackie. He was the embodiment of the word ‘hospitality’, always ensuring visitors were properly catered to.

Elder Tackie appeared from the kitchen, handed Sly a bottle of Voltic mineral water, and took his seat, waiting patiently as Sly opened the bottle and took a few gulps.

“Yes, so, what brings you here, my dear Sylvester?”

Sly cleared his throat.

“So Elder, ummm, this visit is long overdue, but better late than never, they say. Ummm, there’s an issue with church that’s been bugging me for a while now, and I needed someone who is mature in the faith to talk to.”

Elder Tackie nodded. “I’m listening, Sylvester.”

“So, like I said, I’m with the Youth Wing of the House of Mekadesh, and I’m currently training to become a pastor. In the beginning, I was really excited to begin this journey. I was looking forward to it, anticipating becoming like you, being able to have an impact on young people and all that. But now, I’m not as enthused. Coz the kind of culture developing there is… rather unsettling, to say the least.”

Elder Tackie frowned. “Why, what’s wrong?”

Sly took a deep breath, then continued.

“Elder, it feels like the leadership exalts Bishop Ario to deity levels, and they pretty much impose it on us to do the same. It’s not like I don’t dislike the bishop at all; I have the greatest respect for him and it’s no doubt that he is one authentic, genuine man of God. But I see him as that: a ‘man’ of God. Yet, it’s not really like that in the church. They give him the biggest adulations, they tell us to scream and shout and make noise when they mention his name, sometimes they make us chant his name… all sorts of things. They tell us not to listen to other pastors because Bishop Ario’s messages are enough, and they say it in a way that’ll make you feel like the others are just some heretics that will lead you astray. Elder, it’s honestly troubling.”

Elder Tackie shook his head. “That’s worrying. I mean, yes, Bishop Ario is a great man of God, so he deserves a lot of respect, but… this sounds like idolatry, from what you’re saying.”

“Yes. And it’s really deep. I mean, the sermons throughout the week mostly focus on how we must be totally loyal to the bishop, the choir has been made to prepare some songs about him, the chant for us pastors-in-training has his name in it: ‘we are Ario’s children’, we must stand up whenever the bishop’s name is mentioned… and woe betides you if you don’t, or you genuinely voice out any concern. They’ll immediately tag you as a disloyal person and treat you like you love Lucifer.”

Elder Tackie was still shaking his head. “Nope, nope, nope, this is too much. This is just too much. We go to church to worship God, not a man.”

“Hmmm, that’s the truth, Elder. So now I’m really wondering if this is what I want. Because I wake up on a Sunday, and I feel this pit of discomfort and anxiety in my stomach. Like, I’m almost always nervous now. Church suddenly feels like a chore, and I hate it. If this is how I feel as a normal member, it’ll be worse as a pastor.”

The disapproval on Elder Tackie’s face was as tangible as could be. “Who is the head pastor of this Youth Church?”

“His name is Reverend Randy Ameyaw. One of Bishop Ario’s sons in the ministry.”

“And he is the one who sanctions all of this?”

Sly nodded. “Very, very passionately. If anything annoys him, he’ll most likely link it to the bishop not being satisfied. Some time back, the media department had a little hitch during service, and he blasted them, saying they should get their act together, because Bishop Ario doesn’t deserve such poor effort. A friend of mine who does cell fellowship told me somewhere last week how they must grow their cells quickly because Bishop must not preach to small crowds. And today, he was seriously lambasting them in front of the whole church, repeating that same thing. The man is very passionate about the bishop, that’s for sure. I don’t know what the bishop’s done for him, but it seems it’s a lot…”

Elder Tackie leaned back and crossed his arms. “No, but no matter what, the bishop is a conduit used by God. Respect and admire him, that’s fine and important, but this is just over the top. The real glory belongs to God and God alone. This is virtually deifying Bishop Ario, and I don’t think that’s what he wants.”

Sly sat up. “Hmm, Elder. Recently, I was listening to one of his messages, and he talked about how pastors should not be leading people to depend on them. Yet, that’s what they more or less encourage in church. There was this one time, in one of our training sessions, that the pastor teaching us blatantly told us that we should pray to God to reveal our purpose through our pastor.”

Elder Tackie sat up. “Ah! Are you serious?”

“Extremely serious. It was so shocking. I mean, I know God can choose to do that if He deems it best, but the way he said it made me wonder if we’re serious about getting people to hear from God themselves.”

“Ohhh, no, no, no, no, this is bad. What sort of grandfather theology is this? God is Father of all believers. He’s nobody’s Grandfather! This isn’t biblical at all!”

“Hmmm, Elder. I’m just at my wits’ end at this point. I sit there and I have to put on a smiling face and act like I fully agree, yet I don’t. It’s just torture right now. Last week too, at midweek service, they used Exodus chapter 2 verse 1 to try and justify forcing people to marry from only our church.”

“Seriously? I mean, I know many churches prefer their members to marry from within their churches, but that’s a personal preference. There’s nothing in scripture that demands such a thing. Where did they pull that from?”

“Elder, I… I-I just don’t know what to do anymore. I really don’t. if I tell you the kind of things that are said, eh…”

“But, Sylvester, haven’t you tried to talk to them or something? You know, voice out concerns? Have a conversation about what is taught?”

“Elder, we’re not allowed to bring forward such concerns ooo! It doesn’t matter whether it’s done rudely or you’re respectful; if you disagree with the culture in the slightest way, they’ll mark you as a disloyal person, and the way the leadership will treat you… as if you’re a demon in human form. Elder, we’ve done what we could. We don’t want to be rebels; we want the church to grow as much as they do, but in accordance with proper biblical principles. But with this leadership, it’s their way and their way alone, and you’re an enemy if you dissent in any way.”

Elder Tackie shook his head. “Hmmmm. Some of these pastors. They’re building up their own empires instead of the Church. This is sad, very, very sad. So you’re not comfortable there?”

Sly vigorously shook his head. “Not at all. Every Sunday now fills me with dread. I’m no longer excited to go to the house of God. It’s that bad.”

Elder Tackie sighed, closed his eyes and sat back for a few moments. Sly quietly waited for him to reflect.

A few moments later, the elderly man’s eyes popped open. “You know what? On the basis of all you’ve told me, it would be best for you to leave that church. Because it looks like there’s no joy, and everything that happens just leads to complaints galore. That is not good. It’s not proper to be at a church and constantly stay complaining about how things are going. You’re better off just going to another church.”

Sly nodded, definitely pleased with what he was hearing.

“But… I’ll advise that you seek the face of God first. Just go before Him and ask Him what to do. Because you never know, even though things are not being run well in the church, He may just want you to stay there for a reason. It’s possible. Maybe He’ll bring change to all this faulty and unhealthy thinking, and it could be through you. But it could also be that He definitely wants you to leave, and even in that case, you need His guidance on where to go next. One thing is for sure, you need to be at a church where you’re joyfully serving, the pure, unadulterated word of God is preached, and there is harmony in fellowship. So, Sylvester, that’s what I can tell you. Personally, I think you should just get up and leave, but I’m not the author of your story. Let the true Author be the One to tell you.”

Sly nodded, slightly edgy at the possibility of having to hear God tell him to stay. He so did not want to hear that. But of course, he had to first seek God’s face and know what His will was.

“Thank you so much, Elder. I’m extremely grateful. God richly bless you.”

“God bless you too, my son. How are your parents, by the way?”

“Oh, they’re doing great ooo, by God’s grace. They’re now living in Adukrom. The old man got tired of Accra and its stressfulness, so yeah, he and Mama are cooling off over there…”

It’s been pretty obvious Sly needs to get out of there, hasn’t it? But yeah, the elder has a point. Let’s see what comes out of this period of seeking God’s face…