The Rt Rev Emmanuel Kwesi Ansah, a Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, has encouraged societies under the diocese to put in place pragmatic social intervention initiatives for positive impact on the vulnerable in the church.
He said, the welfare and financial well-being of members in these perilous times must be tackled holistically to give Christ-like hope to the believer and the new convert.
“This would be against the creeping, ‘No contribution no chop welfare systems’ gradually gaining roots in the body of Christ,” the cleric said.
Bishop Ansah, who oversees the Sekondi Diocese said: “We need to support our members particularly the poor. I wonder why we should spend over GHC10, 000 on a funeral of a member who may only need a few cedis to turn things around.
“Our current welfare schemes must be revisited and paupers and those requiring help properly counselled and supported in line with the mandate to do good to the brethren in the household of faith.
The Bishop made the call at the 62nd Annual Synod of the Sekondi Diocese on the theme: “Discipleship: Living a Transformed Life in Jesus.”
He said: “When a poor person dies of hunger, it has happened because God did not take care of him or her, because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed…and that is why we need to do away with the ‘no contribution no chop’ syndrome in the church.”
He said Christians also needed to move from sentimental Sunday worship to living the true Christian lives to ensure that the church did not lose touch with the generality of people in years to come.
“We are reminded of our roles as salt in society…we should not make our religion a sentimental Sunday affair or else we will have our churches empty,” the bishop said
The bishop said the lukewarm and ineffective attitude must thus be removed from the mist of Christians through repentance and self-examination.
The bishop, reported of Comprehensive Leadership Training for schools to develop all round personnel who would contribute positively to the development of Society.
He said the church would continue to support schools with intentional chaplaincy services to shape the moral lives of the Ghanaian child.
The bishop thus called on all societies to support education delivery as well as the Methodist Education Week celebration aimed at enhancing the image of Methodist schools.
The diocese, though it had fair share of the economic crunch in 2022, managed to stock its William De-Graft Retreat Centre with 250 chairs, tables, fridges, television to make waiting on the Lord a great moment of spiritual revival and renewal.
The registration of the Centre was also on course, he added.
He reported that the Methodist Development Fund was also doing well with no circuit owing while a Wesleyan Cooperative Union to help create financial empowerment among members had been instituted.
The bishop added that the Methodist Club 120 had been revived under the tagline, The Methodist Macedonia Mission Club to raise resources for special projects in the church.
The diocese, he said, would embark on outreaches, crusades and revivals in line with the vision of revival, transformation and church growth.
Bishop Ansah encouraged the church to prioritize true worship, service to God and Humanity …”we should aim at positively changing our attitude to bring about transformation wherever we find ourselves.”
Mr. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister urged Christians to be true ambassadors in changing the current falling standards in values, morality and ethics in society.
The Regional Minister said some people had begun questioning the basis of Christianity, which must be a matter of great concern to the body of Christ to begin to live the transformed life as real testimony.
He prayed that the providence of God Almighty would sustain the church in the years ahead.