A document from the national headquarters of the Church of Pentecost intercepted by Onuaonline has sent shivers down the spine of many who thought tithes and offering given by Christians were based on one’s earning and a free will from the heart respectively.
However, the letter signed by the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, urging the Area Head of Ofaakor Downtown to up their game in meeting their budget seems to defy the very logic behind financial contributions of Christians in the church, backed by scriptures.
In the said letter, the Ofaakor Downtown Area is expected to contribute some GH₵3,188,529.00 as its tithe and offering for the 1st half of 2022. But the Area managed a GH₵2,780,537.00 with a deficit of GH₵407,992.00 representing 12.80%.
Despite singing the song of the Akufo-Addo government in accepting that the shortfall might have resulted from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, without sparing Putin’s invasion in Ukraine, the headquarters still implored the Area to “work hard” at meeting up the target as they would back them with prayers.
The question that lingers on the minds of many is how the leadership of the church would ‘work hard’ to make the congregants give more than 10% of their earnings as the scriptures have specified, and provide beyond their strength as freewill offering.
Maybe yet to be known, it is part of the startling of many if similar letters are sent to admonish the church on the number of souls won in a year and its entire growth in size.
Also amongst the surprises of many is whether the leadership concern would be based on building on the faith and other tenets of the Kingdom as is being made to believe in church, or how to raise money to meet its budget to the headquarters.
If meeting budgets is prioritised at the expense of the salvation of the congregants, then one wouldn’t be far from right to say the ‘one-man’ churches selling oil, water and other merchandise are justified in meeting their targets.
Even though it wouldn’t be far fetched to say setting up a budget for tithe and offering does not mean the core mandate of Christianity –soul winning and salvation –would be compromised, what boggles the mind is whether same attention is given to the manifest mandate of Christianity.
Gone were the days when punctuality, commitment and other traits were the scorecards for leadership positions in the church. Nonetheless, the recent development takes away the shock that leadership positions are somehow reserved for the well to do in the church, sometimes without recourse to the earlier traits outlined.
Nobody can take away the contributions of the church towards national development especially with the Church of Pentecost’s infrastructural donations, even though such things such as the construction of the prison ward among other things is a responsibility of the government, it is also of much concern to ask how serious the church factors the welfare of its members in their plans.
Despite taking some through education, others through artisanship and establishing others in so many ways, there are still many poor people in the church who struggle to make daily ends meet. Or maybe the church cannot bear the entire burden of the needy congregants.
The question that requires urgent answers is that, if citizens demand accountability from government after a budget is presented, then the church must account to the congregation after setting a target for the members. Or, probably, this is not the days of Ananias and Saphira and the church needs not to render any account to anybody.
Attached below is the letter.
By Felix Anim-Appau|Onuaonline.com
