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Clergyman bemoans decline in the
growth of orthodox churches
Accra, July 13,
Ghanadot/GNA - The Moderator of the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Right Reverend Dr Yaw
Frimpong-Manso on Friday bemoaned the downward trend in the
population within the orthodox churches, saying there was
the need for members to develop strategies that would
encourage church growth.
"We should not be complacent with biological growth within
the church, but go out and win more souls to help the church
grow," he told the National Ministers' Spouses conference
which opened in Accra on Friday.
"Missionaries in the olden days travelled outside their
countries to preach the Gospel to us and ensure that a lot
of people accepted the message of salvation of the Christian
faith, but the rate of growth of the church has slackened
when they handed over to us," he said.
The three-day conference on the theme: "You Have Come to
Mount Zion", attracted over 420 members who are discussing
aside the general business, talks on health care and
vocational skills.
Citing the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, as an example, the
Moderator said its community was still below 600,000, while
the Church of Pentecost had 1.2 million and the Assemblies
of God 800,000.
"We need to embark on a serious evangelism programme, bring
back majority of Christians into our fold and also bring
back the old Presbyterian discipline, within society," he
said.
Rt. Rev Dr Frimpong-Manso said the turn around could only
start from the homes of the ministers who had often focused
on their congregations to the neglect of their immediate
families and close associates.
"We should not continue to neglect out immediate flock,
which are our own children who have become wayward and
criminals within society,' he said, adding that most parents
had little or no time for their own children right from
their childhood.
"As spouses we should not continue to abandon our babies to
the care of house-helps, grandmothers and other relative, in
our desire to prove how serviceable we are as spouses of the
ministers.
"Let us instead provide our children with the motherly and
fatherly love first, have time for both their physical and
spiritual growth and train them the way we desire to see
them grow and behave within society," he told the spousal
group.
The Moderator said the lack of parental care and attention
had been the root cause of increased moral decadence among
students with the children of ministers not being
exceptions.
The Moderator said the church's focus was for the spouses to
embrace the evangelism drive especially among the youth.
"If we are able to attract the youth into the church's fold
at an early age, they will not depart in line with the word
of God that says 'train up a child in the way he should go
and if he is old he would not depart from it".
Admitting that the spousal job was a none paying one, the
moderator said the time had come for the church to take
services provided by the spouses of the ministers serious
and provide them with some allowances 'to keep them going'.
He urged both ministers and their spouses to ensure that
they provided the basic needs of their wards so that they
would not go out of their homes in search of basic items,
such as panties, braziers, sanitary pads and the like that
made them fall prey to rich men and women who often
introduced them to vices that were unacceptable to the
Christian faith.
The Moderator also cautioned parents who put too much money
in the pockets of their children saying such acts were
equally damaging.
Mrs Rebecca Nkrumah Appiah, National President the group
urged members to celebrate their 30th anniversary, which
falls this year with the same euphoria as they celebrated
Ghana's 50th anniversary.
She urged the church to support widows and widowers "because
these people are often the forgotten group" who were left to
shoulder the upbringing of their wards alone.
Mrs Appiah also called on the church to institute
scholarship scheme for children of ministers who died,
adding that the Ministers' Spouses Conference was
instituting its own funds to support less endowed spouses
and their children" who might find themselves in such
unfortunate situation".
She said she was convinced that if such measures were in
place, the young ministers of the Church would devote their
energies and time to the service of the Lord with the hope
that their needs would be properly catered for in cases of
crisis.
GNA
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