{"id":72067,"date":"2023-01-06T16:15:26","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T14:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/methodist-reverend-assaulted-during-church-service"},"modified":"2023-01-06T20:18:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T18:18:31","slug":"methodist-reverend-assaulted-during-church-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/methodist-reverend-assaulted-during-church-service","title":{"rendered":"Methodist Reverend Assaulted During Church Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. <\/strong><\/span>A United Methodist Church Reverend (pastor) escaped serious injury after congregants ushered him out of the church during a fracas involving his relatives.<\/p>\n

Reverend Blessing Saunyama (pictured), who is in charge of the United Methodist Church\u2019s Stream View Circuit in Chikanga, Mutare, was conducting a service when his relatives stormed the church.<\/p>\n

Eyewitnesses told The Manica Post that Saunyama\u2019s relatives arrived at the church around midday and demanded to be given a chance to air their grievances against the reverend.<\/p>\n

They accused the man of the cloth of causing mayhem in the family through ungodly acts, bordering on wizardry.<\/p>\n

Local church elders reportedly blocked Saunyama\u2019s relatives from reaching the pulpit and they responded by shouting obscenities and threatening to assault the reverend.<\/p>\n

The Reverend\u2019s relatives accused him of causing the death of several family members. Said a congregant:<\/p>\n

Rev Saunyama was whisked out of the church by congregants as the marauding group was baying for his blood.<\/p>\n

Some are alleging that he received a few blows from the angry men, but I did not see it.<\/p>\n

What I know is that church elders are the ones who ended up receiving beatings from the relatives who were angry that they (elders) had helped Rev Saunyama escape.<\/p>\n

Something serious would have happened if the group had managed to corner Rev Saunyama as they were seething with anger.<\/p>\n

Another church member said police had to be called in to quell the disturbances. She said:<\/p>\n

They said something about having come from Mutasa or Nyanga, I do not remember very well.<\/p>\n

They shouted obscenities and accused the reverend of causing deaths within their family.<\/p>\n

They were just livid. Police had to be called in to quell the disturbances.<\/p>\n

Reverend Saunyama, however, denied allegations that he was beaten up by his relatives. He said:<\/p>\n

I was never beaten up. Nobody touched me during the disturbances. I am okay emotionally and physically.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson in Manicaland Province, Inspector Nobert Muzondo, said the report about the incident had not yet reached his office.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zimbabwe<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. A United Methodist Church Reverend (pastor) escaped serious injury after congregants ushered him out of the church during a fracas involving his relatives. Reverend Blessing Saunyama (pictured), who is in charge of the United Methodist Church\u2019s Stream View Circuit in Chikanga, Mutare, was conducting a service when his relatives stormed the church. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":72066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[1493,2189,159,7639,3342,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-72067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"tag-africa-press","10":"tag-africa-press-zimbabwe-2","11":"tag-church","12":"tag-umc","13":"tag-united-methodist-church","14":"tag-zimbabwe"},"yoast_head":"\nMethodist Reverend Assaulted During Church Service - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A United Methodist Church Reverend (pastor) escaped serious injury after congregants ushered him out of the church durin ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/methodist-reverend-assaulted-during-church-service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Methodist Reverend Assaulted During Church Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A United Methodist Church Reverend (pastor) escaped serious injury after congregants ushered him out of the church durin ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/methodist-reverend-assaulted-during-church-service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"zimbabwe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-06T14:15:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-06T18:18:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/sites\/14\/2023\/01\/postQueueImg_1673011364.53.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"485\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/methodist-reverend-assaulted-during-church-service\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/methodist-reverend-assaulted-during-church-service\",\"name\":\"Methodist Reverend Assaulted During Church Service - 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