The Founder/Leader of the New Jerusalem Chapel located at Sokoban-Ampayoo in the Ashanti Region, Bishop Dr. John Yaw Adu has called on the Government to establish a Ministry of Religious Affairs separate from the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs to steer the affairs of the religious sector in the country.
This is because Christianity is losing its image at a greater proportion through fraudsters and infiltrators and therefore if his humble request is granted would help regulate the activities of pastors in the country.
Speaking to the Public Agenda on phone to react to religious pollution and fraudulent activities in the Christianity of late and whether it is lawful for pastors to pay tax, Bishop Dr. Adu said as every institution has a leader, Jesus Christ is the leader of Christianity of whose core responsibility was to save mankind from their sins. He said this on the basis that, pastors have been ordained to formulate the people towards heaven, but we have lost the ways of God, miss the mark of Christian values and are focused to get rich quickly overnight, adding manipulations in religious body is too much and disgraceful to the priesthood.
According to the Bishop, if independent body like the Ministry of Religious Affairs is established, it would go a long way to scrap those mushroom pastors who use the Holy Bible as a cover to dupe the unsuspecting members of the public and ensure sanity in the priesthood through the Bye-laws which the supposed Ministry of Religious Affairs would come out with and serve as a code of ethics for pastors to avoid continuous disrupting the image of God.
Bishop John Yaw Adu said those who have “lost confidence in God because of the dubious activities of these charlatans would be relieved and come nearer to God, worship to contribute their quota towards the peace and unity for a sustainable economy.” Dr. J.Y. Adu used the occasion to call on his colleague pastors and stakeholders to stay united in prayers and support government to realize its mission and visions especially in the area of good policies to bring the nation into the spotlight of success.
Touching on taxation, Bishop Adu lauded pastors over their cooperate responsibilities in the country and said through the activities of the churches, the country has maintained its freedom and peace.
Bishop Adu said the government needs to recognize churches as a special body that serve special purposes not only to save the country but also through their prayers they reduce cases of burden in our lawsuits. “Besides many reputable churches have established schools and other institutions for job creation and therefore as men of God, representing the Creator and playing a noble role to transform the economy,” Bishop Adu said, in his own opinion taxation on churches by government could only be described as a “religious coup or suicide” if government heeds to some frivolous suggestions or advises from certain quarters to impose tax on churches.
By King Amoah – Kumasi.
