Winneba (C/R), April 15, GNA- The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church has intensified education on domestic and environmental health, increasing acts of indiscipline among the youth, and other social evils that retard progress in its areas of operation throughout the country.

In a message to participants at this year's Mid-Year Check-Up Conference held at Winneba Joseph Charles Price Memorial Cathedral on Tuesday, Right Rev. Mildred Bonnie Hines, the Presiding Bishop of the Church, described the move as the most important contribution the Church could make towards the socio-economic and spiritual development of the country.

Rt. Rev. Bonnie Hines therefore charged Reverend Ministers, Pastors, Men and Women's fellowship officers, as well as the entire community of the sect, to co-operate with the national leaders to ensure total success.

On his part, Rt. Rev. Dr. Godfred Zormerlo, Bishop in-Charge said the exercise would not be a nine-day wonder, emphasizing that it was the social responsibility of the Church to sensitize their members to cultivate the right type of attitudes and behaviours towards the building of a solid and better nation for present and future generations.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Zormelo said failure to achieve this objective would make the death and the subsequent resurrection of Christ Jesus meaningless.

He said Christians, particularly Ministers of the various Churches, Pastors, Evangelists and other key administrators of churches have accepted the challenge to win souls for the Great Kingdom of God, and must be prepared to educate and turn sinners from their bad deeds so that they could gain a share in the Kingdom of the Creator.

In his annual report, Rev. John Napoleon-Commey,

Bishop's Administrative Assistant enumerated a number of educational and other projects the Church had initiated to improve the lot of people in the areas of operation.

Rev. Napoleon-Commey appealed to chiefs and people in beneficiary towns and villages to give their maximum support to speed up the implementation of all on-going development projects initiated by the Church.

REA

15 April 09

NSOC 32

Social Conference Zion

Give us quota of Senior High School Admissions- Church

Winneba (C/R), April 15, GNA- The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, has urged the Government to consider re-arranging the computerization system of the Senior High School Admissions so that orthodox churches could be given a quota in the system.

Brother Thomas Yallow, Lay Council President of the Church made the call in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Winneba on Tuesday.

Present at the interview which formed part of a day's mid-year joint check-up conference hosted by Joseph Charles Price Cathedral, Winneba, were Rev. Seth Coleman, Bishop's Administrative Assistant for Mid-Ghana Conference, Rev. Charles Gbagbo, Bishop's Administrative Assistant for East-Ghana Conference, Rev. Bon Mills, Presiding Elder of the Akim-Tafo District branch of the Church, and Nana Barima Oduro, Men's Fellowship President West-Ghana Conference, all of the A.M.E. Zion Church.

Bro. Yallow explained that allocation of the Senior High School annual admission quota to churches will enhance the proper training of selected youth in the various orthodox religious organizations willing to become pastors and evangelists for their respective religious bodies in future.

The Lay Council President maintained that churches

in the country, especially the orthodox ones, have their peculiar ways of inculcating their doctrines into the followers of those churches.

He stressed that distributing such young faithful members of the Church to educational institutions either than those established by their own Churches, would not augur well for the effective promotion of Christian tenets of their mother religious groups, hence the need for serious consideration to be given to the suggestion put forward by the A. M. E. Zion Church.

The Lay Council President further suggested to the Government to always ensure that authorities of the various orthodox religious bodies who have established schools in the country were duly consulted when taking certain vital decisions affecting the administration of such institutions.

Such consultations, Bro. Yallow contended, was necessary to ensure effective brainstorming of both parties so that at the end of the day the entire nation would derive maximum and lasting benefits from it.

The move would also serve as a sign of respect for the churches concerned and thereby build bridges of understanding and co-operation amongst them all the time.

He cited recent media adverts caused by the Ministry of Education calling for a qualified applicants to replace the Headmaster of the Aggrey Memorial A. M. E. Zion Senior High School in Cape Coast, without any prior consultation with the authorities of the A.M.E. Zion Church which established the School.

Bro. Yallow said that the A.M.E. Zion Church always maintained great respect for the Ministry of Education and for that matter Government in power.

It expressed the hope that this laudable partnership in development will be recognised to reinforce the co-operation, understanding and the mutual respect that had existed for many years between the A.M.E. Zion Church and the State.