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Be politically neutral - Apostle Adotey urges religious leaders
Accra, Sept. 12, GNA - Apostle John Annan Adotey, President of the Apostolic Church-Ghana, has called on religious leaders to stay politically neutral so they could offer constructive criticism on the activities of government.
He said such a neutral stand would enable religious leaders, who had been appointed by God to serve as watchmen in society, to offer helpful suggestions to enable Ghana to realize her socio-economic development agenda.
Apostle Adotey was speaking to the Ghana News Agency on Saturday, at the launch of the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Church in Accra under the theme: "Great Is Thy Faithfulness".
"God has appointed us as watchmen in the society and we need to be the conscience of the nation so as to train the citizenry to be law-abiding and to pay their taxes to build a strong and unified society that we can be proud of," he said.
Apostle Adotey expressed worry over the upsurge of false prophets in the country, who solely preached about material prosperity and 'fleeced' their followers off their material possession saying the practice must be condemned by all.
"So many churches have come up these days and when you listen to their message, it is only about prosperity and how to make money. That is not the purpose for which God instituted the church," he said.
Apostle Adotey said God instituted the church in order to train the congregation to be holy, righteous and law-abiding and challenged religious leaders to instil in their members such spiritual and moral virtues.
He expressed dissatisfaction over corruption and deceptive practices which were on the increase and said it was the responsibility of churches and religious bodies to tackle the problem in order to nib the problem in the bud.
"A few years ago, when companies and institutions were looking for people to occupy positions such as accountants and the like, they went to the churches to hire such men because of the honesty that was prevalent in church members at the time".
He said the situation had changed due to the fact that churches had lowered their spiritual standards as far as such virtues were concerned.
Apostle Adotey said it was the responsibility of the church to rekindle its love for Christ and the examples He set for believers to follow to ensure a prosperous society.
He said Ghana was blessed with natural resources and had to harness this to the fullest through virtuous practices so that she could realize her socio-economic development agenda.
Apostle Adotey called on religious leaders to be irreprehensible so as to lead the way for the rest of the nations to follow.
"We are the light of the world and if we are honest and are shinning as bright lights, it would have a positive effect on the nation because the Bible says righteousness exalts a nation," he said.
He lauded the various contributions and accomplishments of early leaders and founders of the church who sold their material possessions to ensure the church was firmly established.
Apostle Adotey urged the congregation to imitate the example of such men in the way they contributed financially to support the work of the Lord.
He said failure to do so would result in a "spiritual leprosy," a sickness he explained affected those who did not contribute generously towards the Lord's work.
The Apostolic Church-Ghana, which was established in 1935, had seen a lot of challenges that include break offs of religious groups to form their own churches such as the Christ Apostolic Church in 1939 and the Church of Pentecost in 1953.
A website for the church was also launched with a call on the members to use the facility to access the "unadulterated word of God."
Launching the website, Apostle Kojo Baiden Denson, General Secretary of the Church, said the facility would enhance the image of the church, facilitate online registration to the Bible College and other church conferences and place it in the competitive business world.
"The church would have the opportunity to display its rich legacies, namely the spirit-filled messages, challenging historical facts, projects and events, to people around the globe," he said.
Apostle Denson urged the congregation to take advantage of the benefits associated with the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to sharpen their skills and to engage in economic activities in order to create wealth.
Activities slated for the 75th Anniversary celebration include free medical care, quiz competitions, a national thanksgiving service and an anniversary dinner and awards ceremony.
GNA
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