Council of Churches urged to create centres for the aged

Apam (C/R), July 28, GNA - A priest has appealed to the Local Council of Churches, comprising the Christian Council of Ghana and the National Catholic Secretariat, to create centres where the aged and the destitute could be catered for.

The Very Rev Ebo Walters, Superintendent Minister of the Apam Circuit of the Methodist Church, said that could be part of the social responsibilities churches owed to the society.

Very Rev Ebo Walters was addressing a forum of the Local Council of Churches as part of Christian Home Week celebration at Apam.

The theme for the 2010 celebration was; 93Social Change 96 A Challenge to the Church and Society."

He deplored the manner the aged were treated by the Church which some of them devoted their time, energy and resources to develop when they were young.

"As soon as they passed the age of 70 years, the women in particular are branded as witches and perpetrators of all bad things in the family and even in the society," he said.

He cautioned pastors who had been creating confusion among family members by accusing an old family member as a witch and the cause of the down fall of young men and women in the family to stop.

Mr Thomas B. Arthur, a member of the Apam St. Joseph Catholic Church Advisory Board, urged the Local Council to suggest to the Constitution Review Commission to make the Constitution to mandate the government to cater for the aged.

Rev Fr Jude Eduafo-Ampah, Parish Priest of the St Joseph's Catholic Church, said social change had positive and negative effect on the society, citing the Information Communication Technology (ICT) as an example.

He appealed to the Church to help people to know the positive sides of the social change and desist from the negative sides which could create problems for themselves and the society.

Captain Godwin Yao Kumeto, Pastor of Apam Salvation Army Church and Chairman of the Local Council of Churches, appealed to Christians to discern the positive and negative aspects of the cultural and traditions of the people of their areas and help to refine those aspects which could be in conflict with Christian beliefs.