Concerns have been raised about tougher laws to protect the faithful when the proverbial shepherd leads his flock astray.
THE COMMERCIALISATION of churches has been thrust into the spotlight as the founder and global senior pastor of scandal-plagued megachurch Hillsong, Brian Houston, revealed that he is transitioning into a “support role”.
Houston announced the move at the Australia-based church’s annual Vision Sunday event last weekend.
The announcement comes amid the church’s barrage of multimillion-dollar international lawsuits, his wife Bobbie’s apology for body-shaming slurs and celebrity pastor Carl Lentz’s extramarital affair in November 2020.
In August, the 67-year-old Houston was charged with concealing child sex abuse by his late father, Frank Houston, an allegation he strenuously denied.
“These allegations came as a shock to me, and it is my intention to vigorously defend them,” Houston said in a statement on Hillsong’s website.
The church currently has 17 branches in South Africa operating in-person services on Sundays, with its main church housed in a multi-level prime property in Century City in Cape Town.
Hillsong’s Cape Town branch declined to comment.
In light of recent events at Hillsong and ongoing investigations and court cases involving churches across the country, concerns have been raised about tougher laws to protect the faithful when the proverbial shepherd leads his flock astray.
In 2017, the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Rights Commission) submitted a report titled “Commercialisation of Religion and Abuse of People’s Belief Systems”, which made recommendations on various topics including tax evasion, action against false advertising and amending legislation.
But since then there has been little movement regarding the law and exploiting people’s faith.
Richard Mlolo, of the CRL Rights Commission, said they continued to advocate for vulnerable people who fall prey to churches and religious organisations operating under false pretences.
“People who are on the receiving end would like to see justice for the abuse they suffered at the hands of people who are supposed to be their leaders,” Mlolo said.
He added: “Anyone who goes to a religious institution with the hope of finding solutions for their problems and gets abused – they are the ones who want their plight to be heard and dealt with.
“We want the plight of the vulnerable to be taken seriously. The perpetrators need to be dealt with and held accountable.”
Mlolo said the commission had started conducting investigations relating to KwaSizabantu Mission.
The 50-year-old Christian mission in KwaZulu-Natal stands accused of gross violations of human rights, turning a blind eye to sexual abuse, and alleged money laundering spanning four decades.
Another investigation taken up by the commission was into the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and its pastors. To date, witnesses have shared harrowing experiences, including forced marriages at a young age.
Mlolo said the commission wants structures to be established within religious sectors.
“This way they can hold their peers accountable and minimise the abuse. The sooner churches take responsibility for self-regulation, the better.”
Another case that made headlines is that of televangelist Timothy Omotoso.
Omotoso and his co-accused face 97 charges, including rape, human trafficking and racketeering.
Other cases before the court include fraud and embezzlement.
South Africa is still waiting on the Malawi court to rule on self-proclaimed prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s extradition. He and his wife, Mary, fled the country in 2020 after being charged with serious financial crimes to the tune of R200 million.
Late last year, Pastor Seth Malefetsane Radebe of Sanctuary Haven in the Free State was accused of defrauding his congregation of more than R3 million. He was released on R10,000 bail.
The victims alleged that the pastor convinced them to invest in his business, Sanctuary Haven Properties.
In 2020, Tumelo Christopher Mukheti allegedly swindled R2 million from his congregation in Soweto through an investment scam. The 29-year-old Lesotho man lured his members into investing a non-refundable R1,500 each into his investment scheme, Yahwe.
Bishop Malusi Mpumlwana, from the South African Council of Churches (SACC), said that while many people believe that the SACC was responsible to assist in these situations, they were not.
“We are not a regulatory body; we are only an association of like-minded churches that want to work together. The SACC has no authority over anyone,” he said.
“A crime is still a crime. We can acknowledge that certain acts are terrible, but we cannot act on them because we don’t have authority.
“Laws exist and issues relating to the church are to be dealt with by law. This is why legal structures are in place.
“If rights are abused, the human rights commission exists. If you are violated, the police are available,” he added.
“We can take a stand against issues and address them, but we can’t do anything about it or hold anyone accountable,” said Mpumlwana.
The bishop emphasised that the SACC’s primary objective as a social justice organisation of churches was to advance the mission of Jesus Christ.
He said when it comes to regulating churches, having an association meant establishing a standard of what is acceptable and what is not.
“When it comes to religion, this gets in the way of religious freedom. If the problem is a crime, it must be dealt with as a crime. If they are abusing or extorting people – there are laws for that and there is no need for a regulation for that.”
Unisa’s professor of Christian spirituality, church history and theology, Solomon Kgatle, said that churches like these were often driven and led by what is called, “the prosperity message”.
“This is informed by holistic salvation among pentecostal churches. In that, they include the prosperity message.This means they are preaching that to accept Jesus, you must not only leave your sins, but also be healthy and prosperous,” he said.
Kgatle said this message had become commercialised because of so-called celebrity pastors in these churches.
“They want to be popular and look like celebrities, so the pressure is on them to include the selling of products in their gospel message.”
Kgatle said often pastors were seen driving flashy cars, living in mansions and owning private jets.
“They want to be more wealthy to be more popular. We see a marriage between pentecostalism and popular culture.”
Kgatle said he believed that while churches as an institution should not be taxed, the people earning salaries from it should be.
“A church is an NPO. From that point of view, it can be exempted from tax. However, a pastor as an employee is earning a salary and they should be taxed,” he said.
“SARS should be careful because even the church as an institution has subsidiaries under the church which often make more money than tithes received on a Sunday.”
He said that tax exemption thus needed to be carefully considered and looked at under a microscope.
Kgatle said in a South African context, many people had lost hope.
“We have had many challenges since apartheid. There is a lot of frustration and people want to make more money. When a prophet comes and says you will get more money and you will come out of poverty, they know the message will sell, because people are vulnerable,” he said.
