Pastor and the church elders were seated before I was invited to meet them. Immediately I entered there, I become jittery. I had been steeling myself against this moment but beholding the stern faces of the church elders greatly destabilized me. Their presence was overwhelming and I wished for a means to disappear or better still run away but my legs could not carry me. Gratefully Pastor offered me a seat, a gesture I noticed did not go down well with majority of the elders but they had no choice than to keep calm.

“Goo—–d evening sirs,” I greeted them with a shaky voice.

Pastor and some of the elders responded to my greeting but elder Paul barked at me.

“Kelvin, when did you become a stammerer?”

“That is one of the wages of sin,” Elder Don chipped in.

However, Pastor quickly rescued me.

“Elders please, we have to face this issue with carefulness and maturity. Kelvin you know what brought you here. I will not want us to waste one another’s time. Tell us what you know about the pregnancy.”

Some minutes passed yet I could not utter any word. I was just opening and closing my mouth in quick succession without making any audible sound.

“Have you turned deaf and dumb?” Elder Paul roared.

“He is trying to remember the particular pregnancy you are talking about because he may have impregnated more than one person; unrepentant fornicator.” Elder Don mocked.

At that point, tears welled up in my eyes. I fought to hold it back but it betrayed me streamed down my cheeks.

“Pretender, he is shedding crocodile tears to cover his evil deeds,” Elder Paul accused me.

Pastor rescued me once again.

“Elders, I don’t like the way we are handling this issue. This is a sensitive matter and should be handled with caution.”

“I am so sorry daddy. It is just that this boy is getting on my nerves,” Elder Paul pleaded.

“Kelvin, are you ready to talk?” Pastor asked.

“Daddy, I … I am responsible for the pregnancy,” I spluttered in tears.

There was silence everywhere until Elder Don broke the silence by asking me to explain how everything happened.

“What kind of question is that?” Elder Okeh who has been silent since I entered rebuked him.

“I asked the question because few months after he joined this church, he testified that God has helped him to be living a holy life. How come this…?

“Can we maintain decorum please?” That was Pastor’s voice and that made everyone to keep quiet.

“Kelvin, I am so disappointed in you. You are one of the young men I so much love and trusted. You are always in the church service and other weekly activities. What happened to all the word of God you’ve been hearing? Anyway, the deed has been done. Any disobedience to the word of God attracts punishment. You know the doctrine of the church. Please excuse us for now.”

The next day in church, I was not myself. My heart beat became faster. Though I managed to be giving some fake smiles when members greeted me, deep down in me, I felt so ashamed.

“After service today, Pastor will excuse the visitors to go home and he will announce my shameful deed to the entire church members” The thought of that nearly choked me to death.
“Can I handle this without going insane” I thought to myself.
Pastor however, took me unawares and did the announcement in the morning. From that day till date, I remember that day with a cold shiver.
There was a worried expression on Pastor’s face as he climbed the altar armed with his bible. He placed the bible on the pulpit and announced; “1 Corinthians 5 from verse 1 to 5. I read:
1. It is reported commonly that
there is fornication among
you, and such fornication as is
not so much as named
among the Gentiles, that one
should have his father’s wife.

2. And ye are puffed up, and
have not rather mourned, that
he that hath done this deed
might be taken away from
among you.

3. For I verily, as absent in
body, but present in Spirit,
has judged already , as
though I were present,
concerning him that hath so
done this deed,

4. In the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ , when you are
gathered together, and my
Spirit, with the power of our
Lord Jesus Christ,

5. To deliver such an one unto
Satan for the destruction of
the flesh, that the Spirit may
be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus.”

“Bro Kelvin Nnaka, come out,” Pastor ordered.

I stood up and walked towards the altar with shaky legs. As I got to the front of the church, Pastor continued.

“Bro Kelvin impregnated a lady.”

The congregation erupted in shouts of exclamation.

“Even when he knew that the lady was pregnant, he came to me for a wedding date. He tried to convince me that he wanted the wedding as soon as possible to avoid long courtship.”

“Abomination!” One of the young men screamed out.

“Bro Kelvin, this is quite unfortunate. However, we have to carry out corrective steps according to our doctrine. We hand you over to the devil to torment you. But we pray that this will lead you to genuine repentance. You are hereby suspended.”

“Why will Pastor involve Satan in this matter? Anyway, if he thinks that I am one of those naive members he can cajole with words, he is in for an unpleasant surprise. As far as I am concerned, it is bye to this church,” I concluded.

As I was leaving, I spotted Mummy weeping, which deepened the animosity I suddenly developed against Pastor.

I could not understand why Pastor said that he was handing me over to the devil to torment me. I concluded that Pastor hated me. If not, why would he instruct that pregnancy test should be conducted on Jane even when wedding date had not been fixed? That was not the norm. Another was the way he handled my suspension; he read scripture and even involved Satan in the issue. That was not the way our former pastor does. I was surprised that Pastor could treat me like that upon all the gifts I was showering on him. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my name. I turned and it was one of our members named Jude. I waited for him to catch up with me, though I could look at his face because of shame.

“Kel, don’t mind what happened there now. Forget about those elders, they are hypocrites. I don’t want to talk about Pastor because he is a man of God,” Jude told me.

“Jude, you saw what Pastor did to me. Was it fair?”

“It is not fair, that is why I came to meet you. They protect only people that give them gifts.”

“If it is a matter of gift, I do give Pastor gifts. I am so confused because Pastor used to act as if he loved me,” I told him.

“Hmmm, how does what happen in the church this morning signify love? Anyway, I want you to be strong. Forget about what happened and move on with your life. I promised to always be there for you.”