Prophet Shepherd Bushiri of Enlighten Christian Gathering (ECG) church has threatened to drag to court other men of God using his pictures and name illegally to gain fame.
The warning has been issued in a statement released on Thursday signed by Bushiri’s Public Relations Officer Ephraim Nyondo made available to Faceofmalawi reporter.
In the statement, the church said it is deeply concerned men and women of God who continue to, illegally, use Prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s pictures and name to promote and market themselves and their ministries without a formal accreditation and certification from the church.
“The combined effect, deliberate or otherwise, is that these people are then identified as being endorsed by the Prophet and the church, working with the Prophet and the church or in some ways aligned to the Prophet and the church.
“Further, we even know of Vloggers and Bloggers who are repeatedly creating content aimed at attacking other men of God while simultaneously claiming to be Sons and Daughters of Major 1,” reads part of the statement.
Nyondo added: “It is disheartening to learn that despite our continuous and repeated call against the malpractice, we are shocked to note the escalation—something that is bearing negative consequences not just in the person of Prophet Bushiri, but also the ECG church in general.”
Below is the statement;
MPORTANT MESSAGE FROM MAJOR 1
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SPECIAL MESSAGE TO MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD WHO USES PROPHET BUSHIRI’S PICTURES AND NAME TO MARKET THEIR MINISTRIES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
16.01.20
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Pretoria: The Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) church would like to register a serious concern and displeasure to men and women of God who continue to, illegally, use Prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s pictures and name to promote and market themselves and their ministries without a formal accreditation and certification from the church.
The combined effect, deliberate or otherwise, is that these people are then identified as being endorsed by the Prophet and the church, working with the Prophet and the church or in some ways aligned to the Prophet and the church.
Further, we even know of Vloggers and Bloggers who are repeatedly creating content aimed at attacking other men of God while simultaneously claiming to be Sons and Daughters of Major 1.
It is disheartening to learn that despite our continuous and repeated call against the malpractice, we are shocked to note the escalation—something that is bearing negative consequences not just in the person of Prophet Bushiri, but also the ECG church in general.
To that effect, the church, hence, wants to make the following points clear for all and sundry.
• Branches of ECG church, which are led by Prophet Bushiri, go by the name—Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) Church. We do not have any ECG Church that goes by any other name except this one.
• Trained, certified, ordained and assigned ECG pastors are ONLY allowed to use the church logo in their promotion fliers; NOT the name or picture of our leader, Prophet Bushiri.
• At the beginning of each and every year, the Prophet announces exhaustive list of leaders, pastors and the branches they lead all over the world. Any person(s) not included on that list and purporting to be a part of ECG or children of ECG are not a part of us and we cannot protect anyone from whatever they may consume or be served in those establishments.
• For someone, outside ECG, to become aligned, affiliated, associated and accredited with the prophet and the church, that person must undergo discipleship training, stewardship training, submit and accept the church’s strict code of conduct, GBV policy and adhere to the biblical values, principles and ethos of ECG Church. The church has an exhaustive register of all Associates and Affiliates of the church.
The church and the Prophet would like to reiterate that whilst we welcome any ministry and people that preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, we do not condone any efforts to mislead people into believing that these ministries are a part of ECG. We would also like to mention that we appreciate that there are other people out there who love the prophet and submit to his teachings but have not been accredited.
We would like to urge these people to register interest, attended courses, and get official affiliation before using the Prophet’s name or that of the church.
Otherwise, the church has taken a position of commencing legal action against any individual or an organization using the name of the church and that of the Prophet without approval.
Issued by ECG Communications Department.
