Tempo (Lagos)

Emeka Ibemere

On Tuesday 16 July, 2002, a sizeable number of worshippers took their seats at Berachah Church of God, 57, Marine Road, Apapa, Lagos. The church throbbed with excitement.

Pastor Ashammah Godwin Immanuel, the founder and pastor of the Church, and his wife purred like cats which have just stumbled on a pot of milk. It had to be that way. In fact, it was another celebration ofAscension, widely regarded by Christians as the day Jesus Christ went into heaven.

But Berachah Church of God's celebration of Ascension is at variance with the popular Christian calendar which fixed Ascension for March or April every year.

In the books of Berachah Church, the popular Christian calendar is what is at variance with the correct date for Good Friday. The day, in Berachah's doctrines, is called the atonement day.

On 6 June, four days after Good Friday, came Berachah's Easter, the day Jesus resurrected from the grave. But Jesus Christ, Berachah doctrines say, did not immediately take a trip to heaven. He hung around, opting to make the journey a month and 16 days after resurrection. Ascension, therefore, is celebrated by Berachah on 16 July of every year.

Still, Berachah's disagreement with the popular Christian calendar did not end with the dates for Good Friday and Easter. It also extends to the date for Christmas celebrations. Berachah celebrates Christmas on 9 September. According to Pastor Immanuel, it was the Holy Spirit that told him on 25 December, 1994, that Jesus was not born on his widely assumed date of birth and the same spirit gave the correct date as 9 September.

But Berachah's doctrines are still loaded with more dissent. There is a dietary code for members. The code prescribes abstinence from pepper and food cooked with palm oil for worshippers who are undergoing deliverance from afflictions. This code, Pastor Immanuel told TEMPO, is to ensure that the worshipper establishes a covenant with God and gets His blessings. Immanuel said that God creates pepper and oil but the devil polluted them and gave them, particularly pepper, a spirit of anger.

"For you to be blessed, God may ask you to put them aside for a while, but it does not mean that we forbid pepper and oil. They are things God created but Satan polluted them," explained the pastor.

Also, the Church frowns at members seeking medical attention in hospitals when they are infirm. The Church places a big accent on faith in God as the basic requirement for healing. Thus, it is considered a lack of faith for a member to seek orthodox medical attention when ill. A member told TEMPO that any member who goes against this directive is penalized when discovered.

As part of the process of deliverance from afflictions, members seeking deliverance are required to shave their heads and pubic hairs. This requirement is gender-blind. A church member told TEMPO that the hair on the head are shaved in the open while the pubic hair is shaved in secret. However, it is members of the same sex that shave each other. The member, however, added that the removed hairs are not used for any kind of ritual.

Marriage by members must also have the Berachah stamp on it. Members who are ready to marry are required to bring the names of their prospective spouses to the Church. The prospective spouses are required to become members of the Church. A former member of the Church told this magazine that if a member was married to a non-member before joining the church, he or she must divorce the spouse and marry from within. According to the former member, he divorced his wife in 1996, when he became a member of the Church.

However, Berachah's founder, Pastor Immanuel, declined comments on this, saying he would not react to what former members said. He also declined comment on the shaving of pubic hair.

Yet, there is more. Berachah also prescribes that male members drop their surnames once they have joined the Church. One of the youngest pastors in the Church, changed his name. According to him, the spirit of God directed him to drop his surname and adopt Abraham.

More than 21 members of the Church now have Abraham as their surname. Also, about half of the male members, including the founder, have Immanuel as their first name.

Membership of the Church is also a full-time thing.

Members are expected to quit their jobs and fully devote themselves to the service of God. Mr. Innocent Eze, a former journalist with the Daily Times, said he resigned from his private business to give full attention to the church.

The church's former Public Relations Officer once told this magazine that "we have quite a good number of accountants, doctors, nurses, engineers and bankers who have abandoned their jobs".

So, how do they manage to feed their families by just working for the Church? Innocent Eze told this magazine that it is the Holy Spirit that takes care of everything.

The congregation of Berachah Church of God is divided into seven tribes - apparently an allusion to the seven tribes of Israel. Berachah's seven tribes are Adasi, which according to the Holy Spirit is made up of people from Akwa Ibom State; Saaye tribe - Igbo; Ghanaians; Ashamah tribe (Ijaw and Nembe); Sellina tribe (Yoruba); Rhumani tribe (Edo) and Sabitona tribe (Isoko and Urhobo) Church services are characterised by the usual singing and praying as they are done in other Churches. There are daily prayer sessions punctuated by shouts of God!

Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. Prayer sessions are divided into three segments: intercession, supplication and warfare.

During warfare, members say, prayers are at their most frenzied because it is believed that Satan's strongholds can only be broken by frenzied praying.

This is then accompanied by frantic nodding of heads and quaking of bodies. Hands later curl into fists and made to punch Satan, who is assumed to be in the air around the members.

Such sessions last for about half an hour. During these periods, ushers move around the Church to see if anyone collapsed.

Berachah's bewildering doctrines came into existence in 1991, with a pocket of worshippers. The Church, also known as The Beginning of the Glorious Church, a former member named Paul said, promised each member between N450,000 and N500,000 and a car. According to Paul, this attracted many people who had attended churches where their money was taken via offerings and tithes. Berachah does not accept offerings. However, Paul claimed he quit the church when the goodies did not materialise after one month.

But Pastor Immanuel denies promising money to anyone.

He, however, confirmed that the church does not take offerings because, it is not "a spiritual beggar".

Pastor Ashammah Godwin Immanuel, called "Daddy" by his followers, is an Isoko man from Delta State. An engineer by training, 'Daddy' Immanuel said he founded the church after being roused by the Holy Spirit.

Aside from engineering, Immanuel was also into a chain of businesses. He describes himself as a big fish merchant. He was in the process of establishing another cold store and asked God for a business name.

God gave him Berachah but told him that it was not to be used for business.

Instead, God, he claims, wanted him to be a fisher of men. Since then, he has not looked back. Immanuel is married to 'Mummy' Seria Abyssinia Sasia. Both the husband and wife are highly respected by the followers, who apparently are not bewildered by the church's queer doctrines.

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