Pulpits not for concerts — Presiding Bishop of Methodist Church
The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, Most Rev. Professor Johnson Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, has advised its ministers to avoid the temptation of using the pulpit as a box for concerts but use it for its intended purpose, instead of using it for concerts.
He stated that increasingly in the country, some people who went by all sorts of religious titles were using the pulpit in very deceptive ways, such as delivering false prophecies sometimes with political undertones that could naturally cause confusion in the country, communities, homes and personal lives.
Most Rev. Prof. Asamoah-Gyadu said the church was one of the oldest religious denominations in the country with members who included civil servants, public servants, politicians, judges and lawyers; therefore, it was expected that the pulpit would be a place where the word was preached so that people would be comforted, strengthened and edified.
"So my admonishment to the ministers of The Methodist Church Ghana is that it is not how we train them. I've been a professor at the seminary for more than 30 years.
We teach them that when you are preaching the Word of God, be serious about it. I'm not suggesting that a person should not give illustrations, but don't turn the whole pulpit and the preaching into a concert.
“We don’t want our ministers to emulate that.
They should be serious with the preaching of the scriptures and make sure that they themselves are abiding by what they preach," he admonished.
Most Rev Prof. Asamoah-Gyadu said that when he addressed the Biennial General Meeting of the Connexional Lay Movement Council of the church in Accra.
The general meeting, which was on the theme: 'Discipleship: Growing into Christian Maturity', is a forum for taking stock, reflecting on the journey and making resolutions concerning the ministry of the church.
Present at this year’s meeting were the President and Chairman of ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development, Dr George Agyekum Donkor, past and serving bishops of the church, including the host Bishop, Right Rev Samuel Ofori-Akyea.
Lay Movement
In the Methodist Church of Ghana, all those who are not ministers belong to the laity, and to have the laity organised, the church has the Lay Movement, which was established about 75 years ago to, among others, support the ministers.
The Lay Movement holds a biennial general meeting that brings together delegates from all the dioceses of the church.
On the offertory, he directed its churches that no service in the church should take more than two offerings, explaining that members were suffocating under financial demands from its church organisations to pay for projects and make contributions for all kinds of activities that put people off from the church.
Most Rev Prof. Asamoah-Gyadu charged the Lay Movement Council to pay attention to the physical and spiritual needs of young people and children, adding that they should erect places of worship for them and also support the number of unemployed young people in the church.
He said the church had set up a Methodist Entrepreneur and Development Fund to assist young people who wanted to start small-scale businesses.
The Lay President of the Church, Kwasi Attah-Antwi, mentioned the achievements of the Lay Movement to include supporting the church with infrastructure, resources and ensuring that the church's policies were being implemented.
