Church members of Prophet Jacob Mackenzie of Empowerment City International Church have been criticized for allegedly worshipping the shoe of their pastor.
The church members seen struggling to touch Prophet's 'holy shoes'
Many people have reacted after photos emerged online showing congregants worshipping, kneeling and struggling to touch the 'holy shoes' of Prophet Jacob Mckenzie.
The photos were posted on the Facebook page of Prophet Jacob Mackenzie of Empowerment City International Church in Bloemfontein area of South Africa with many people slamming the congregants for allegedly worshipping the prophet.
The photos were posted last Sunday and were captioned: “Sunday service update. The Bezalel anointing. Raw power.”
Social media user Neziswa Mtwecu said people should read the word of God more carefully and obey his commandment that Christians must not idolise anything or anyone.
Sphiwe Nkosi said: “These people seem to be worshipping this man rather than God. Not acceptable at all.”
The SunTeam tried to contact the prophet, but church spokeswoman Sbongile Memani said she was the person to send queries to.
“The people were not worshipping the prophet. They were just receiving an anointing,” she said.
According to DailySun ZA, Memani explained why people ended up at the prophet’s feet, she said: “The prophet was on stage explaining the Bezalel anointing.
“We gave him a chair when he wanted to demonstrate. He did not call on anyone to come up to him. People just left their seats and came to touch him.”
Thoko Mkhwanazi-Xaluva, chairwoman of the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Religious Communities, said that until it was understood that churches should be regulated, pastors would continue to do whatever they wanted.
See more photos below: