Ghanaian Gospel Musician Cindy Mezziah has bemoaned the abject neglect of young people in today's church.

Her concern stems from the belief that the church has failed to raise youth who are avowed Christians.

In her estimation, contemporary Christian youth want to live their lives any how and still claim to be holy.

In an exclusive interview with this reporter, she lamented that the church has relegated its core values of winning souls for Christ to the background, stressing that "fundraising has become the order of the day".

"The church has become too focused on preaching, fundraising, showmanship etc instead of consciously training young people on the values they must live by as Christians," the US-based artiste said.

"What I learned from children service and youth when I was young is what has made me who I am today," she reiterated.


Cindy Mezziah, however, urged the church to pay particular attention of how to bring young people closer to God.

"We need to find ways to make the church fun and engaging for young people. Some of them are torn between living their lives according to the world and joining church services to be meer observers.

"We need to show them that following Jesus is not about following a bunch of rules, but about having a relationship with him," she added.

The passionate gospel musian charged the church to be more open and welcoming to young people.

"It's not too late for the church to retract their steps and start to create a space where young people feel comfortable being themselves and ask questions that addresses principles laid out by scriptures to live examplery lives.

"We need to let young people know that they are not alone and train them in how to engage in activities like Bible studies, urshering, MC'ing, Mission trips etc in order to retain them in the church," she averred.


Cindy Mezziah is hopeful that the church can change its ways and start raising Christlike youth.

She admits that, though the process can be challenging sometimes, it's important to acknowledge what the Bible says about 'training a child in the way to go, so that they may not depart from it' when they grow.

She added that though a new approach to help the youth take effort and commitment, the church ought to be willing to put the needs of young people first.

"It's not too late to prioritize our youth. We owe them a duty of guiding them into living a Christ-centered life. I believe we can make a difference if we fully embrace young people and help raise in the love of God," she observed.