Pastors must speak against ills in society - Presby boss

Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, the Chairman of the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG) has charged church leaders to boldly and constructively speak against the ills in our society. According to him, church leaders should actively engage in public advocacy and education on national issues that affects the livelihoods of Ghanaians.

Rev. Martey, who is also the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, made the call at the 2015 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Christian Council of Ghana which took on April 15, 2015 at the Rev. Peter Kwei Dagadu Memorial Methodist in Osu, Accra.

“In the Bible, great people like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Nehemiah, Esther and above all, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, were all advocates for change.

“So, if our Master Jesus engaged in constructive advocacy, even at the peril of His life, why have some Christian leaders decided to keep quiet and be passive about issues that affect the livelihoods of the people we serve.”

Yes, some people will insult you, call you all sorts of names and tag you to some of the political parties when you criticize constructively or speak on an issue. However, do not be afraid of such things, just be sure you are objective and well informed about the issues you are talking about” he admonished the church leaders.

Rev. Martey said churches and their leaders should take keen interest in researching on national issues and offer alternative policy options and guidance in the management of our nation.

Quoting Proverbs 31:8-9 to support his call, he stated that, church leaders should show interest in the development of our dear nation and influence the change Ghanaians want to see. He also used the occasion to call on bigger and healthier churches within the Council to support small and struggling churches to thrive.

According to him, strong and well established churches have an obligation to offer support and mentorship to churches which are challenged and are at the verge of collapse.

“Many of our member churches are going through challenges, and if we do not go to their aid, they will cease to exist. As we speak now, some of our member churches are at the point of collapse, because they are in distress and we have over the years neglected them to their fate,” he lamented.

He continued that, churches such as the Presbyterian Church of Ghana; Methodist Church Ghana; E.P. Church, Ghana; Anglican Church; Ghana Baptist Convention, A.M.E. Zion and others should position themselves to offer mentorship and support to the weaker ones.

“Stronger churches can support weaker ones by giving them opportunity to study at their Seminaries and also second some of their ministers, pastors and priests to those churches. We should also be able to provide them with financial support when need be. Let us not forget the Biblical truism that ‘there is more blessing in giving than in receiving’” he stated.

The CCG Chairman further tasked the General Secretary and his team to request for situational reports from member churches and develop a system to facilitate the strengthening of weaker members by the stronger ones.

The 2015 AGM of the Council renewed the tenure of Prof. Martey for an additional one year and also appointed Rev. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Executive President of Ghana Baptist Convention and Mr. Christian Sottie, Vice President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana as Vice Chairman and Honorary Treasurer respectively.