CHURCH LEADERSHIP AND CHURCH FINANCES.
Mankind by nature is a Social animal hence humans belong to a group ,be it Religious or Secular. In Ghana the majority of the populace belong to the Christian Religion whislt others belong to the Islamic Religion and the rest to Traditional African System of Worship.
There is no denying the historical fact that even though Colonization has unleashed a lot of terrible misery and suffering on the Colonized Countries,one of the few good things that came out of the brutalization of the African Countries was the spread of the Christian Religion,though some can argue to the contrary. These Christian Religious Bodies,be they Anglican,Presbyterian, Catholic,Methodist or A.M.E Zion Church were instrumental in building up Schools,Hospitals and many worthy social infra-structures These Pioneer Pastors or Priests were people of Integrity and honesty and totally committed to the propagating of the Gospel with no personal ulterior motives as we are witnessing today.
Almost all these pioneers would be turning in their graves if they were to see what is happening in some of our Orthodox Churches today. They have turned the Churches into a Gold Mine ,milking the System ,right ,left and centre.
This morning (17-05-2010) Ghana Television—GTV) on their Breakfast Show did a good job in high-lighting the Poor Leadership Quality of our Churches and the Churches Finances. I pray that the authorities of GTV should repeat this programme at peak time so that many ,many Ghanaians can watch it and get to know how some of the Churches are robbing them blind,all in the name of God. At the moment there is a big scandal brewing in one of the Churches in Accra but it appears the authorities are hell bent on “killing the messengers” instead of honestly and properly addressing the issues at stake and are engaged in subterfuge and intimidating the messengers. A wise person once said that “If you find yourself in a HOLE ,you stop digging,because the more you dig ,the more you sink.
Christ did not bring Christianity on earth to be a Gold –Mine for just few people but for the total emancipation of all.
Unfortunately.in Ghana when we talk of TRANASPARENCY,ACCOUNTABILIT & PROBITY.we only think of the Politicians forgetting that our Church Leaders,Elders and Pastors are equally guilty of the same charge.
I am using this medium to appeal to all God-Loving and Honest People no matter what Church you belong to,to do the decent thing and INSIST that all Church Collections are accounted for on monthly basis. If you are NOT PART OF THE SOLUTION.THEN YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
We should not sit down unconcerned believing that any monies we give will be or are being used judiciously for the work of God. Let’s trust but let’s monitor as well.The Bible tells us that no human being is perfect,therefore it is imperative that we put in place systems and procedures which can drastically reduce,if not entirely eliminate the diversion of Church Monies into private pockets. I believe this is our Christian duty,if we do not do so then we are not worthy of claiming to be Christians.
Truly has it been said that the people deserve the type of Leadership they get. As Christians we should get involved in the Election Process and make sure that we elect leaders of Probity and proven abilities and not on Patronage and how long they have been members of the Church and what have you.
As the Catholic Pope said just last week in addressing the sexual scandal which has engulfed the Catholic Church lately “The Church is being persecuted from within and not from the outside. “ He further went on to aver that “Forgiveness is no Substitute to Justice” He couldn’t have put in a stronger and unambiguous language than that.
Let us all join forces to bring our Churches back to the Principles of the Founding Fathers.If we are sitting under the tree today,we should remember that someone has planted the trees many,many years ago.
KWAKU.KELE.ASHIAGBOR
