President Mills unhappy with immoral acts of so-called pastors
President John Atta Mills at the weekend expressed regret about the alarming reports about so-called pastors engaging in despicable acts and called on the clergy to nib the problem in the bud.
He said government has the responsibility to protect the citizenry from persons the false prophets who are seeking victims to devour either through extortion, sexual escapades or other wild criminal adventures that has brought the otherwise noble calling into contempt.
President Mills made this known in a speech read on his behalf at the State of the Church Symposium 2011 in Accra, where he was presented with the Defender of the Faith Award.
He impressed on the clergy to continue to be the conscience of the nation and let their voices be heard on national issues.
The Defender of the faith award seeks to encourage Christian public officials to be bold in the defense of their faith in Jesus Christ.
The seminar was organised by the Benny Wood Ministries International, a ministry that promotes unity and restoration of the image of the church to create a platform for frank and honest assessment of the church and its future.
President Mills asked the clergy to take steps at self-regulation and ensure that the charlatans amongst them are weeded out by teaching their members how to identify these false prophets and tricksters, as Jesus Christ warned of the rise of this phenomenon in the last days.
He expressed concern about indecent dressing especially in the house of God and called on the clergy to address the issue.
Deputy Local Government Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah called on Ghanaians to have faith in the President.
Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood said the church, since post -independence era have contributed to the socio-economic development of the country through building of schools, hospitals, universities.
She said the church was fraught with challenges such as the inability of people to learn the word of God to transform their lives.
Mrs Wood suggested the need for the church to put in place some regulatory structures to order the conduct members, stressing: “No church is above the law, therefore any church that flouts the laws of the country shall be dealt with accordingly without reference to religion or colour.”
“The church should therefore rise up to stamp out all evil among its ranks”, she said.
Bishop Prince Benny Wood, Founder of Benny Wood Ministries International noted that it was pertinent for the church to unite to be able to deal effectively with the forces of evil that is coming against it.
“The church must show force to be able to influence policies for the nation and must not allow denominational barriers to divide us,” he said.
The symposium which was a maiden event awarded three churches for their service to God and country.
They are the Methodist Church for their 176 years of church work in Ghana and 50 years autonomy, 76 years of The Apostolic Church and 80 years of Assemblies of God church in Ghana.
Source: GNA