The fundamental changes announced by the Church of Pentecost have
irritated some conservatives in the church and earned applause from
others.
One of the key changes announced in a communiqué by the apostles,
prophets and evangelists of the church is the one that allows female
members, as well as visitors, to dress freely but decently and modestly
to church.
The communiqué, which was issued at the end of the church’s annual
prayer meeting, also granted women the option of not covering their
heads and opened its services to dreadlocks Rastafarians and women in
trousers.
It explained that there was no Biblical foundation for the use of head
covering, which it said had been a source of embarrassment to female
visitors as a requirement for salvation and should, therefore, not be
imposed on church members or visitors.
Among those who have objected to the reforms is the Presiding Elder of
the Bethel Assembly of the Church of Pentecost at Nii Boi Town, Elder
Amos Amankwah.
He said the church had always depended on the direction of the Holy Spirit over such issues after a year-long prayer session.
“I will advise it to take its time, since allowing such practices will have dire consequences for the church,” he said.
A member of the church, Mr Ebenezer Boadi, also disagreed with the
leaders on the new directives, saying they were not the best and very
“un-pentecostal”.
He said it was that Church of Pentecost culture which differentiated
members of the church from those of other churches and entreated the
leadership to reconsider that position.
Mr Boadi said the infiltration of immoral practices into the church was
even affecting the choice of its leaders and warned that if it was not
checked, “it will destroy our church”.
He claimed that it was now common practice to appoint persons as elders
of the church because of their wealth when such persons did not know
much about the church, its teachings and the Bible.
He contended that neither the dropping of head covers nor trousers would entice new members into the church.
Another member, Mrs Comfort Baidoo, however, welcomed the new directives, saying that “it is better late than never”.
She commended the leadership of the church for that bold move and
indicated that it was the beginning of a great reformation in the
church.
In their communiqué, the leaders said the decision to abolish some of
the age-long church traditions was to retain the church’s growing youth
and adult membership, as well as open its doors to people of different
socio-economic and cultural backgrounds to have unhindered access to
the total Gospel in its churches world-wide, especially when the
practice defied theological and hermeneutic agreement.
It also directed that female visitors in decent trousers, as well as
Rastafarians or persons in dreadlocks, be accepted in fellowship in the
spirit of Christian love, while couples or families desiring to sit
together at church be allowed to sit under the feet of Jesus to learn.
The communiqué, which was signed by its Chairman, Apostle Dr Opoku
Onyinah, said after fully examining 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 on the issue
of women head covering, it became obvious that what Paul wanted to put
across was not clear.
It said a critical examination of the historical records, such as
circulars of successive chairmen of the church from 1953 to 2007,
revealed that the forefathers of the church, particularly the Founder,
Rev James McKeown, did not discourage or encourage the covering of the
head by women but that he had rather admonished the church, through a
circular of August 7, 1967, that the leaders should not meddle in the
private affairs of church members by prescribing dress codes for them
and taught that church members dress decently and modestly.
It noted that the practice of head covering might have crept into the
church’s practices from the fact that it was traditionally required of
women in Ghana to cover their head before speaking to their kings and
that might have led foundational women of the church to insist on
appearing before the Lord, the King of kings, with their head covered.
Accra, March 2, GNA - The Ghana Pentecostal Council (GPC) on Tuesday=
called on the National Media Commission (NMC) to be proactive with the
monitoring and sanctioning of media houses that publish or telecast
immor= al scenes. It said those responsible for enforcing the law
against the sale of indecent and viewing of such materials must live up
to expectation. In a communiqu=E9 issued by the National Executive
Council of GPC at= the end of their Annual Retreat at Peduase and
signed by Apostle John Annan Adotey, President of GPC said: "We note
the increased immoral scene on ou= r televisions screens even
during.family viewing times."
The six-point communiqu=E9 noted that Ministers of the Gospel had le=
ft their core function of preaching and teaching their congregations
about righteousness and fruitful living to engage in selling of
anointing oil a= nd blessed water.
"Whilst counselling is a core pastoral function, some types of
consultation being practiced currently, are totally unchristian. It is
highly immoral for people to be charged for. consultation," it said.
"We call on all Ministers of the Gospel to bring the needed balance
into preaching of the Word of God, obeying the rules of interpretation
of=
Scripture and lead the congregants' attention to Jesus Christ".
"We caution the public to be wary of charlatans in the cloak of
Ministers of the Gospel," it said. The GPC expressed concern about the
systematic failure of institutio= ns of State that had led to
indiscipline in all aspects of national life and=
being manifested in building on waterways and indiscriminate dumping of
refuse. It therefore called on Metropolitan, Municipal and District
assembli= es to live up to expectation in their social responsibilities
in the country= .. The communiqu=E9 said the delay in restoring
Religious and Moral Education as an examinable subject in basic schools
should not be a deliberate act to erode spiritual values from the
educational system. It called on the Ministry of Education to ensure
that the issue was=
addressed without further delay adding "any nation that plays down on building the moral fibre of its youth is doomed to fail".
"The claim that religious values would be woven into the teaching o= f
the various subjects is impracticable and will be subject to the
dictates= of various teachers," it added. The communiqu=E9 called on
the Confederation of African Football (C= AF) to rescind its decision
and review the ban on Togo for two successive tournaments because "it
is in bad taste and unfair to a nation traumatise= d by the loss of two
members of its delegation through no fault of theirs".
"We call on CAF to rescind the decision and render an unqualified
apology to the Government and the people of Togo." It called on members
of the National Team, the Black Stars to dedic= ate themselves to the
national cause when preparing for the FIFA World Cup in= South Africa
this year.
The communiqu=E9 reassured the Black Stars that they would be spurre= d
on by their recent show of bravery, resilience and hard work in the
2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola.
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17th February 2010 05:52:34 by Albert K. Salia
Pentecost's New Dress Code Causes Stir
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