By MOFFAT CHAZINGWA
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THE African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC) has said there is need to seriously scrutinise churches being formed, to help control vices such as immorality being witnessed in the country.
AMEC Copperbelt central region presiding elder Leonard Chola said Christianity had of late been brought into disrepute because of the infiltration, in the Church circles, of people masquerading as pastors, prophets and men of God.
Rev Chola said the rise in vices such as immorality within the Church circles was a result of people pretending to be prophets, pastors and other men of God. 
He said this in an interview after the AMEC’s Copperbelt Central region Fathers Day celebration held at the Church’s St Peters’ congregation in Ndeke Township in Kitwe recently.
Rev Chola said in view of the rising cases of immorality among the clergy, there was need to ensure churches being formed were seriously scrutinised to help control vices.
The clergyman called on the Church mother-bodies in the country to jack up and begin to play the role of scrutinising new churches for purposes of regulation.
“We are having vices such as immorality among the clergy and this is to a large extent because of the many pretenders who infiltrated the Church as pastors and prophets.
“To help control this, we need the Church mother-bodies to seriously scrutinise all denominations being formed so that we have genuine churches in the country,” he said.
Rev Chola called fellow clergymen to be prayerful if they were to avoid falling prey to vices such as immorality.
“As clergymen, we are supposed to be custodians of morality because it is our obligation to impact good morals and not engage in vices that tarnish our reputation as men of God,” Rev Chola said.