Nurture leaders for political office - Rev. Wengam urges churches
The Lead Pastor of the Cedar Mountain Chapel (CMC) of the Assemblies of God Church,the Reverend Stephen Yenusom Wengam, has charged churches to consciously groom people to take up leadership roles in politics and key places of interest in the economy.
Rev. Wengam explained that Christians needed to be deliberate in helping to infuse the ideals of Christianity into the governance of the country and an active nurturing and handholding of their members into political offices was the way forward.
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In that regard, he said his church had started a political incubator programme aimed at nurturing members to contest political positions for the purposes of governing the country.
The initiative had already produced a success story, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bosome Freho, Mr Akwasi Darko Boateng, with several others being prepared for future positions.
Excellence award
Rev. Wengam was speaking to the Daily Graphic on leadership after receiving the Church of Excellence Award 2022 from the Assemblies of God Church of the United States of America (USA).
“In the 2020 general election, we wanted to send four of our members to Parliament but we got one.
“We believe that the only way we can affect societal development is to develop full time functional Christians who will go into politics, public and private sector to help fight against corruption and ensure that leadership is focused in the interest of the nation,” he said.
The lead pastor said the country’s leadership challenges should be blamed on the church’s inability to be intentional at raising Christians to go into politics with a clear agenda to transform society.
The citation
The Church of Excellence Award is given to churches that reflect the excellence of God in their ministries.
Part of the citation read, “Cedar Mountain Church is a life-giving church that is discipling the nations through excellence and innovative means.
“As you win, grow, lead, and empower people to become fully devoted followers of Christ, you are becoming a vibrant local church that is having a global impact.”
The award was presented by the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, USA, Rev. Doug Clay, on January 7, last year to the CMC, an Assemblies of God Church located at East Legon.
Global impact
Rev. Wengam said the award emphasised excellence using innovative means to make global impact.
“An example was in 2017, when I travelled with about 37 of our choristers to Kenya for a foreign mission, we were there twice where they paid their own ticket and we had a huge impact in East Africa.
“We have sponsored missionaries to Spain, the United States and other parts of the world. In this church, we have nine different nationals who worship here. The church has also built a solid social media presence to reach our global audience,” he said.
Rev. Wengam said the honour had come to strengthen the church because “this is not a local award, it is an international award and for us, defending a title is more important.”
The lead pastor stated that the CMC last year started implementing its 10 years strategic development plan to build up for the church as it launches into the next decade.
With the new strategic plan covering various thematic areas, he said the church intended to build a 6,000-seater cathedral to grow its congregation from the current 1,300 to 6,000 members.
Novelty kindness evangelism
Rev. Wengam said the church was pursuing aspirations in the strategic development plan which covered every area and also had a great impact on society.
“Some of the projects we have introduced include the novelty kindness evangelism where members show kindness to people.
“Through that project, we pay the toll fees for drivers, give out free newspapers, pay transport fares, provide free fuel and free food to the less privileged and through that, we have seen growth in the church,” he added.
Read the full interview in the weekend edition of the Daily Graphic tomorrow.