THE USUALLY solemn appearance exhibited by churchgoers before the Lord was thrown to the dogs last Sunday when members of the Tema Community Two branch of the Assemblies of God Church revolted against their head pastor, Gilbert Semenyo, switched off electricity supply to the chapel, and locked a few of the faithful up with him in it.

Some members of the congregation who foresaw a very tensed moment rushed for police assistance.

Chronicle investigations have it that Pastor Semenyo and his associate, Pastor Sarpong Mensah-Bonsu used to be close pals.

This was when the latter was an interpreter at the Revival Assemblies of God, Tema Comm. 5.

Later, he graduated from the pastoral school and became associate pastor and then the problem started.

The investigations revealed that some concerned members of the church, unhappy with the bad blood existing between the two men of God, wrote a letter to the regional superintendent of the church in Accra to intervene.

Pastor Semenyo had earlier suspended his associate pastor and wanted him to be removed from the church.

The concerned members' letter dated Tuesday, September 10, 2002, and signed by 13 of them was headlined "Crisis at Revival Assembly".

It wanted the executive committee to intervene on or before Sunday, September 15, 2002, that is last Sunday.

The correspondence stated "We made reference to the unhealthy relation that existed between Rev. Semenyo and Pastor Mensah Bonsu for sometime".

The uneasy calm that prevailed had now degenerated into an acrimonious state, following the decision of the executive committee, Greater Accra to accede to Rev. Semenyo's demand to have Mensah-Bonsu removed from the church, the report noted.

In the light of this development the group proposed to sit with the two pastors but Rev. Semenyo rejected this initiative outright.

The current situation is so volatile that it could result in open and physical confrontation, hence this distress call.

It further stated that the real situation on the ground to have Mensah-Bonsu removed is an unfortunate evasion of the real issue, since Rev. Semenyo was the obstacle.

The administration of the church had broken down completely, the group added, stating that the absence of a church board and the fact that virtually all its departments and committees had collapsed, are worrisome.

For over a year now, there had not been any executive and business meetings, no financial accountability, and the head pastor had been accused of recruiting some church members as "spies" on other members.

The letter demanded the executive committee not only to intervene but also rescind its decision to accede to the head pastor's demand in order to restore peace and harmony in the church.

Based on the request for the presence of the executive committee from Accra to ensure harmony, the congregation sat and was waiting for their arrival Rev. Gilbert Semenyo reportedly mounted the pulpit but some elders of the church approached him to suspend preaching because of the volatile situation.

This the man of God would not listen, so power supply to the building was switched off and microphones removed.

The flock rather congregated outside the chapel, locked the doors and windows as he remained in with a few members of the congregation who later joined their colleagues outside the chapel.

As tension was mounting from nowhere emerged the police who persuaded the head pastor to suspend all activities in order for peace to prevail.

When the executive members from Accra were not coming, the flock instead of being filled with the word of God, was rather fed with the tense moment and they departed to their various homes.

Rev. Semenyo and his sympathisers moved from the church premises and when a reporter went to his Community Five residence, a lady who refused to disclose her relationship with Semenyo told him that he could not see the man of God because he was not feeling well, apparently from the turn of events at the church.

Associate Pastor Mensah-Bonsu, when contacted at his Community Three residence said that the constitution of the church did not allow him to talk to the press.

The executive committee members from Accra were not available for comment at the time of going to press.