A South African cleric, Pastor Christ Penelope is being accused of sitting on his members and farting the Holy Spirit into them.

The General Overseer of SevenFold Holy Spirit Ministries in Siyandani Village in Giyani, Limpopo, has stirred up controversy on social media over the bizzare act on the altar.

But, according to The Daily Sun, the pastor has defended his actions by saying:

According to him, what he does is ‘not by flesh but by faith’, noting that when he sits or stands on top of his followers, they do not feel any pain as the Holy Spirit is in charge.

On Facebook he shared: “This is to tell the doubters that we did not to it by mistake, and we’re not repenting. We’re not going to be intimidated. The body is the church and the head is Christ. You expect me to go and sit on the church? I must come directly to the head and sit on it.”

According to two unspecified sources from the church, many people didn’t find the pastor’s actions disturbing, but they didn’t feel happy afterward.

One man told The Daily Sun: “When we come to church it’s because we need prayers, not to be farted on. What the pastor has been doing isn’t right.”

The man called on the pastor to ask God for ‘another way of healing people’.

A woman also said she has stopped going to church, adding:

“That’s not what I signed for. I needed prayers not fart.”

Other pastors have also stood against the actions of Penelope, saying that even if he was not farting on people, he should not be sitting on them.

According to The Daily Sun, Pastor Jacob Sibiya from Kagiso said:

“This is wrong. Nowhere does God say sit on people and they will be healed.

“Pastors should practice what’s in the Bible, not what they think is in there.”