Christian Council Week launched in Tema

Tema, July 18, GNA - The Christian Council Week was on Sunday launched in Tema with a call on churches to support the under privileged in society to enable them to live comfortable lives. Launching the week, the Reverend Dr Fred Deegbe, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, noted that poor people were Church members, who went to church often and contributed their widow's mite in terms of offering and tithe.

Therefore, there was the need for them to be supported since they contributed in their small way to the development of the Church and society.

The week was launched under the theme: "Poverty Reduction in Ghana: The Role of the Church".

Rev. Dr Deegbe said the Council had set up a desk on Development and Environment Unit at the Headquarters in Accra to deal with poverty issues.

He said as part of activities marking the week, there would be a lecture on reaching out to the poor and this would not be limited to the church but the public, for them to contribute their quota towards achieving better results.

Mr Michael Ansa, Senior Co-ordinator of the Development/Environment Unit of the Council; said the poor in society had dignity worthy of protection but because of their unfortunate situation, they were ignored. He described the situation as an affront to God that needed to be addressed.

He said the Council would actively get involved in the preparation of the paper two of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) document and expressed the hope that it would not be done in haste. He said the document should encourage grassroots participation to achieve better results, since poverty was found mainly in the rural areas.

The Christian Council of Ghana was founded in 1929 by a union of five churches, namely, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, English Church Mission (Anglican), Ewe Presbyterian, Presbyterian and Wesleyan Methodist Churches.

It was aimed at strengthening the capacity of the members to contribute to achieving justice, unity, reconciliation and integrity of creation among various sectors of the Ghanaian society.