Church romance turns nasty

Losing a job is one of the most heart-breaking experiences that one has to go through, especially in circumstances where they feel they were unfairly dismissed.

This might ring true for a single mother of two from Bulawayo who has been left devastated after she was fired from employment at Child Care Ministries Zimbabwe (CCM), a non-governmental organisation, for dating a pastor who was also employed in the organisation.

The woman, Faris Tembo, said she was in a relationship with Pastor Leonard Changara for 10 months and when she heard rumours that her lover was getting married to another woman, she confided in a senior pastor at their organisation and church.

"I was in a relationship with a pastor from our church, Changara from May 2022 up to February 2023. After dating this pastor for 10 months, I heard that he was getting married to another woman. I confronted him and he denied the allegations. I approached the Senior Pastor, Amos Ndlovu telling him about my relationship with Changara and I thought that as a senior pastor, he would advise us but little did I know that I was digging my own grave," said Tembo.

Tembo indicated that after confiding in the senior pastor she was suspended from work. Part of the letter dated 19 April 2023 and signed by Programme manager, Jeanel M Kugarakupiri reads:

"Following on the email that you did to Pastor Albert Ngalu on the 27th of March and in the email, you acknowledge that you approached Pastor Amos seeking advice about your relationship with Pastor Leonard Chingara. Further to the enquiry we had today on 19th of April 2023 with yourself in the presence of myself, Pastor Nomsa Saurosi and Mengezi Dube, wherein you did not give us any information, I then approached Pastor Amos for more information about this matter.

He alluded that you told him about your intimate/sexual relationship with Pastor Leonard. With the above, it is evident that you have acted in a manner which is not consistent with your employment standards. Hence, it is necessary to do some thorough investigations and you are suspended from your duties as a facilitator with effect from the 20th of April 2023 for three months without any salary or benefits and you will be called in for a hearing after the conclusion of the investigations.

Tembo added that she had a traumatic experience when she was interrogated by senior members of the organisation, who are pastors.

"I received a letter of suspension after informing the senior pastor about the challenges that I had with Changara. I was called for a meeting by three male pastors who asked me uncomfortable questions about my relationship. These pastors asked me about the number of times that I engaged in sexual intercourse with Changara and if we were using protection. I served my suspension for three months and Changara was also suspended. After serving my suspension, I was not reinstated but Changara went back to work and I believe that this is probably because he is related to the owner of the organisation," claimed Tembo.

Tembo indicated that she was then served with a letter of non-renewal of the job contract.

"In November 2023, I was called to the office and served with a letter stating that my contract was not going to be renewed. I asked why Changara was not punished, they indicated that he was going to serve his own punishment.

I sent the Church Bishop a message and aired my discontent and that is when I was summoned to a meeting and they asked me to choose between getting my five months' salary that was owed to me and getting my job back. I chose my salary and leaving as the working environment was toxic," said Tembo.

A letter addressed to Tembo by CCM on 24 April 2023, indicated that she was suspended for misconduct.

"We refer to the letter that we issued you on 24 April 2023, where we suspended you pending further investigation for three months, however, the investigations took a bit longer than expected. We observed from the investigations done, that as an employee of the organisation, you indeed breached the national code of conduct and your contract according to Article 18.

"The code states that if an employee commits a serious misconduct if he or she commits any of the following offences- any act of conduct or omission inconsistent with the fulfilment of the express or implied conditions of his or her contract," read the letter.