Rev Minister condemns litigation in churches

The General Secretary of the Church of Pentecost, Rev Alfred Koduah has decried the increasing levels of litigation in churches, saying it contravenes the spirit of the Holy Bible and the work of Christ.

Rev Koduah said churches must have structures to resolve issues internally because it is against the ethics of Christianity to solve issues outside the church.

Speaking to Adom News, the General Secretary of the Church of Pentecost quoted 1 Corinthians 6: 1- 4 to buttress his point that “if any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels?  How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church’?”

Rev Koduah stressed that it is very disheartening to see churches going to court to resolve issues.

“When issues of this nature crop up what comes to mind is why Christians are not showing tolerance and compromise to resolve their disputes internally instead of resorting to the courts.” he said.

There are a lot of examples of churches taking to court to solve their differences. One of such  is the Christ Apostolic Church where its former General Overseer,  Rev. Annor Yeboah had a falling out with the leaders of the church when he refused to step down after serving his tenure of office. It had to take the court decision for him to leave after which he formed his own church known as CPIC.

After a lengthy trial which spanned over 8 years, from 1993 to December 2001, a High Court in Kumasi ruled in favour of the Assemblies of God church after the Head Pastor of the Calvary Charismatic Center, Rev Ransford Obeng and four other members were found guilty of attempting to defraud the Assemblies of God Church, Ghana, of its right of ownership.The CCC was a branch of the Assemblies of God.

The Saviour church of God has two factions and quite often, violence has erupted between the two groups with houses and other properties destroyed.

Winners Chapel Ghana and Winners Chapel International have been at loggerheads till date after disagreements between leaders of Winners Chapel International and Bishop George Agyeman, the head of Winners Chapel Ghana.

The Musama Disco Kristo church has been split into two and legal action has been instituted by one of the factions.

An Accra High Court ordered the closure of the E. P church to prevent its use by two contending factions – the EP Church, Ghana, and the Global Evangelical Church – until the final determination of the true ownership of the church.

Story: Akuamoah Boateng/Adom FM/Ghana