Chief Justice Mrs Georgina Wood, has called on Churches to teach their members the need to fulfil their civic responsibility by voting in the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7. “More importantly is that you must teach your church members that it is not sinful to vote on Sunday but rather a fulfilling duty as Christians to partake in national exercises” she stressed. Mrs Georgina Wood was addressing the opening of the 24th Biennial General Council Meeting of the Assemblies of God, Ghana in Koforidua. She said she found it strange that some people were using that day as an excuse to shirk their responsibility. She therefore called on the leadership of the various churches to conduct their church activities on Sunday, December 7, in a manner that would not undermine the exercise. The Chief Justice who was not happy with the violence that has chracterised the on-going registration exercise asked the church to rise up and speak against those unacceptable incidents to fulfil their mandate as the “salt and light of the world”. She said: “Those of you God’s servants who have access to the radio and television have teeming young men and women flocking your churches on Sundays and other days, teach them to be discerning and reject treachery and violence in events leading to the elections”. The Reverend William Dontoh, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Ghana, in his address said as a sign of their commitment towards a credible election, he had directed all the 3,000 branches of the church to hold very brief services on that day to allow members to go and vote. The Eastern Regional Superintendent of the Church, Rev Alex Ofori Amankwa expressed the hope that the meeting would witness a more unified church with spirituality taking precedence to be able to contribute towards a free and peaceful election. The Biennial Council Meeting is the highest decision making body attended by pastors and delegates from all the branches to take stock of the church’s activities in the past two years and adopt policies for the years ahead. GNA