8TH PRESBY GENERAL ASSEMBLY HELD IN SUNYANI (NSEMPA, PAGE 4)

By Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah, Sunyani.

THE Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG), last Saturday, held its 8th General Assembly at the Auditorium of the Sunyani Polytechnic (S-POLY) on the theme, Put On The Whole Armour Of God.
The six-day meeting was attended by delegates from Germany, the Netherlands, United States of America (USA) and Sierra Leone as well as representatives of local churches who all delivered fraternal messages.
Advice
Addressing the opening ceremony, Rt. Rev. Dr Yaw Frimpong-Manso, the Moderator of the General Assembly, urged all the flag bearers of the various political parties to continuously advise their supporters to carry out their campaigns without abusive languages that could degenerate into violence.
The Moderator also appealed to politicians to put to productive use, the youth of the country instead of engaging them in conflicts and acts of vandalism, hooliganism and violence as the country prepared for the December elections.
Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso declared, “Let us pray for God’s guidance as we use our thumbprints to decide who the Lord will choose to rule the nation for the next four years.”
He urged agents of the church to allow officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) to come into the Sunday worship meetings and to educate church members on the electoral processes, especially how to use the ballot papers so that the invalid votes would be reduced to the barest minimum this year.
Theme
The Moderator explained that the theme of the general assembly required Ghanaians to counteract acts that could cause conflicts with prayers, sound Christian lives and the power of God, adding, “I urge all our members to cast their votes on Sunday, December 7, for us to elect credible people to represent us as our leaders.”
He also stressed the need for Ghanaians to guard against anything that would derail the gains of the current church growth and the democratic dispensation.
The Moderator said, “It is in the light of this that we appeal to all the parties and their members to exercise restraint in the event of any extreme provocations during the electioneering campaigns, as well as during and after the elections,”
Rev. Dr Frimpong-Manso further appealed to the traditional rulers to avoid disputes and conflicts that tend to tear the nation apart and also not to prevent their people from voting, particularly in Bawku, Buipe and other areas in the country, where there were ethnic conflicts and chieftaincy disputes.
He noted that recently, there had been stories of revived ritual murders in some parts of the country, which he said, had been a matter of concern to all well-meaning Ghanaians.
Serious prayers
That, he observed, was an indication that the forces of darkness and the old obnoxious cultural values of human sacrifices were still prevalent among some people in certain parts of the country, which he said, called for serious prayers and a national crusade against such practices.
Apart from praying about this, the Moderator emphasised that the church should “Put on the whole armour of God” in order to bring about effective evangelisation and the understanding that Jesus Christ had paid the last price for mankind, through his death on the cross, adding, “So we don’t need any human sacrifice to atone for our sins,”
He declared, “This is our belief and this is what we must proclaim loud and clear as we put on the whole armour of God.”
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, in a speech read for him, gave the assurance that the government was ever prepared to deepen its partnership with the church, especially in the area of education, agriculture and health.
He also appealed to the church to continue to pray for the success of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections so that they would be trouble-free, adding that the church should also educate its congregation on their civic responsibilities so as to help them exercise their franchise wisely.