In life, the late Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, founder of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN, was considered controversial and even rejected by many in Christendom.
In the eyes of many, TB Joshua, as he was famously called, was a wolf in sheep’s skin.
Even his miracles, which drew many to his church, were considered fake.
Despite his exploits and popularity around the world, he was never accepted by most of his brethren in the vineyard of God on the grounds that he was an exorcist or a charmer.
Indeed, he faced attacks from fellow pastors who never saw anything good in him.
Strangely, even in death, controversy has not ceased from his church, as the elders of the church are up against his wife, Evelyn.
The crisis is about the leadership of the church since the late founder died without chosen a successor.
The woman, last week, was announced as the successor to her husband, a development that did not go down well with the elders in the church.
According to the elders, TB Joshua’s successor should have been appointed from among the pastors in the Church whom he had anointed rather than his widow, whom they claimed unilaterally announced herself as the new leader of the church.
They reportedly faulted her claim that the congregation of 2000 church members appointed her.
In a chat with Society Watch, a source who craved anonymity said: “Mrs. Evelyn Joshua is not a pastor. She was never anointed by Pastor Joshua. She was not part of the founding members of the church. So, there is no basis of her emergence as the person now parading herself as the new leader.”
However, another group that threw its weight behind her described the elders as “unscrupulous elements who have appointed within themselves a new General Overseer. They also established the Governing Council for the church in which all positions were shared among themselves, with no member of TB Joshua’s family or any church member on board.”
The group further said: “These are mere TB Joshua workers who are not even qualified to be called church members because by the Church’s Constitution, for you to be recognized as a church member, you must also be a financial member. This is a critical factor for membership, which none of them has.
”Right from the moment of TB Joshua’s death, they have made themselves an uncontrollable authority. They wield enormous power.
“They are so worldly; they conduct themselves with total disrespect to their late mentor and his widow.”
Already, many are of the opinion that the war may take time to end, as the warring factions are not ready to sheathe their swords any time soon.
