Use campaign to address problems, Tuesday July 31, 2012 (page 19)

Use Campaign To Address Problems

The Moderator of the Global Evangelical Church, Rt Rev Dr Edem Tettey, is urging the country’s politicians to use their campaign messages to address problems confronting the country rather than attack opposing parties.

“When they mount the platform, we want to know what they want to do for us and how they will solve our problems. That will help us decide if we would vote for them,” he said

Rev Dr Tettey, who spoke to graphic.com.gh on the sidelines of the commissioning and ordination of pastors of the Church, said, “we want to appeal to them to not insult one another. This ends up in retaliation and sometimes avoidable violence.”

“Party supporters should not see each other as enemies. We are all partners in the development of Ghana; we should see ourselves as working towards a common goal and not to destroy one another.”

“These days, a lot of lies and half-truths are peddled around just to score cheap political scores. It is not healthy for our politics and unity.”

In all, while 16 pastors were commissioned, five others were ordained for the work of the vineyard.

According to the church’s doctrine, a pastor qualifies for ordination after graduating from the Global Theological Seminary (GTS) and serving and pasturing a congregation for two years, while candidates for commissioning are fresh graduates of the Global Theological Seminary, the church’s training school.

The occasion attracted church leaders including Rev Prince Y. Tefe, the Synod Clerk, who joined the Moderator to do the commissioning and ordination.

Former leaders of the church including Very Rev Dr E.K Gbordzoe, the immediate past Moderator were also present at the ceremony which drew a crowd of families and relatives of the newly ordained and commissioned pastors.

Rt Rev Dr Tettey observed that the country’s democracy was young; therefore, party supporters must exercise a lot of restraint and maturity in the way they looked at their counterparts in opposing parties.

Earlier in a sermon on the theme: “The Help You Need to Serve the Lord,” the Moderator bemoaned the increasing spate of moral decadence. He said it was regrettable that messages in churches these days were not having the desired effect.

He said the increasing teenage pregnancy and abortion, indecent dressing and lies by young people could be attributed to parenting challenges.

“The economic situation is forcing parents not to spend time with children at home. Sometimes the environment in which these young people live also affect their upbringing,” he said.

To the pastors, he said, it was important that they sought the face of God in their attempt to deal with problems brought before them by members of their congregation.

“You have been educated to read and have read books but when it comes to solving people’s problems, it is always important to seek God's face and not rely on your own judgement,” he advised.