The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Right Reverend Dr. Yaw Frimpong-Manso, has asked the church to move away from dependence on "offerings" and "tithes" to sustain God's work. "I wish to restate that we move away from our over dependence on offerings and tithes in the light of current fatigue in giving and the poverty of most of our members," he said. Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Manso expressed this view when he addressed the opening ceremony of the 10th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana here on Saturday, under the theme, ‘Empowered by the Holy Spirit.' The week-long event, which ends on August 12, is being attended by delegates from all the presbyteries and pastors from home and abroad. The assembly will elect a new moderator to succeed Dr. Frimpong-Manso whose tenure ends on December, 1. The Moderator said the church must chart a new path by exploring innovations in resource and revenue generation to promote the church's agenda of expanding infrastructure, improving education and evangelization. He said "we must-put in every effort and resource with the help of God to execute our resolve for viable investments and projects to sustain the financial base of this church. Rt. Rev. Frimpong-Mans0 continued: "We must do away with apathy, particularly when it comes to the implementation of decisions of the General Assembly and Presbytery Councils and the payment of assessments, statutory contribution and the Millennium Development Fund and others.” He therefore supported proposal by the Investments and Projects Committee for the church to form a Presbyterian Church of Ghana Estates company and float shares and funds to execute its project portfolios. The church, the moderator said, must intensify evangelism, discipleship and church growth methods and called on ministers to mobilise the members to fulfil to mandate of the ‘Great Commission’. “Let us build healthy relations between our church and state so as to have a great positive impact on our society and contemporary generations. Ghanaians have great hope in our church and we must not fail. Rt. Rev. Dr. Frimpong Manson added. On the election of a new moderator, he prayed that the Lord would inspire the commissioners to successfully elect a new person whom everyone would support to lead the church into the next phase of life and in the fear God. He said the Presbyterian Church, as a disciplined organisation had structures to deal with offences, and urged members to use the correct procedures to seek redress and not to resort to obnoxious methods like the writing of anonymous letters. “Let us remember that the overall unity and image of the church is more paramount than the personal interests of individual or groups. “Today, as I reflect over our journey in the past years, I can say that it has been arduous and sleepless nights but the Lord was on our side and we were able to go through the period successfully”, the moderator said. The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Fed Deegbe, hoped that the church would be empowered to teach people to eschew laziness and corruption. Source: Ghanaian Times