Presbyterian Church begins its fifth general assembly in Kumasi

Kumasi, July 30, GNA - Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo, the Ashanti Regional Minister, on Saturday appealed to the church to ensure that there is absolute peace and unity in all aspects of life in the Ghanaian society. He said Christian churches needed to stand up and break the chains of ethnicity, tribal politics and other divisions that had characterised the Ghanaian society in recent times.

Mr Boafo made the call at the opening of the fifth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in Kumasi. The one-week assembly is under the theme, "That All Shall Be One". Mr Boafo expressed regret that after 43 years of independence Ghana is still crying for unity and that the country's democratic dispensation could only be sustained through the unity of purpose of the people. ''Unity is the key that opens doors. Ghana needs peace and unity among its people to woo investors, develop its infrastructure and propel it to a middle-income status.''

The Regional Minister said the church and the state were partners in development and there was the need for effective co-operation to achieve the aspirations of the people. He urged the church not to hesitate to point out the faults and weaknesses of the government so that the government could be put back on the right path.

The Right Reverend Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the church, spoke against ethnocentrisms, tribal politics and other social divisions that were creeping into Ghanaian society. He said the church and the country could be sustained only when the people maintained the unity.

Rt Rev Frimpong-Manso called on members of the church to rise above their differences and build a more united church. He said the church was instituting vigorous measures to pursue and improve its evangelism and church growth, financial investment and infrastructure development, education, health, agriculture, state-church relationship as well as its public relations. Rt Rev Frimpong-Manso said there was the need for the church to step up its efforts towards evangelism in order to increase its membership that is estimated at 600,000. He said the General Assembly Council had also proposed the contraction of a loan from ECOBANK to develop its guesthouse at Kuuku Hill in Accra into a three-star hotel to generate income for the church.

The Presbyterian Bookshop would also be revamped with assistance from the church. Rt Rev Frimpong-Manso said the church would continue to collaborate with the government to initiate policies and programmes that would help alleviate the plight of the poor, vulnerable and the marginalized in the society. He said the church would continue to play its advocacy role and point out to the government, legislature and the judiciary their flaws and the need to ensure justice, equity and fairness in the society. Rt Rev Frimpong-Manso also expressed concern about indiscipline in the Ghanaian society and said the church was planning to prepare its own special code of discipline for members, schools and agents of the church.