As part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Hope Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Sakumono-Estates, a debate was organised between the Men’s Fellowship and the Young Adults
Fellowship, (YAF).
The motion for the debate was “The church is a hospital for sinners and a hotel for saints. Should the PCG continue to severe relations with gay recognized churches?” The Men’s Fellowship spoke for the motion, while the YAF spoke against it. In a hotly contested intellectual battle, which was preceded by bible recitals by members of the Children Service, the event was held at the Church Auditorium on January 10, 2016.
The three man presenters who represented the Men’s Fellowship, Messrs Peter King Adano, Christian Adu-Amaning and Edwin Adjei came face to face with YAF’S Mariam Atta Boahene, Bernard Obeng Kwakye and Prince Offei-Larbi.
Rules
The team of judges made up of Mr. Mark Baah, Mrs. Patience Atta-Baidoo and Mrs. Rose Keteku awarded marks based on presentation (10 marks), content of message, (30 marks), Bible references (25 marks), general references (10 marks), rebuttal (10 marks) and summary (10 marks).
The Debate
The crux of the Men’s Fellowship point was the need not to allow lifestyles of gays and lesbians to be incorporated into the church. They argued that gays are looking at importing into the church a lifestyle which has nothing to do with the morality or the grounds of a Christ like church. “Looking into the future and in order not to be overtaken by events, the church should be in a position to establish or demonstrate to all others that we totally abhor what is going on. That is the position that we think the PCG should take.”
There should never be a situation where we are accommodating such groups. “if we disagree with something, we have to come out strongly. Yes, grace abounds, but first accept the position of the church when it comes to the issue of morality. Don’t come and talk about civil liberties”, the argued. They pointed out that the sinner does not come to the hospital (church) seeking to infest others with sin; hence the church must distinguish itself and make its stance known.
For their part, the YAF disagreed stressing that what may seem right to Christians may be wrong to God. In summarizing, they argued that though, Christians are not meant to handle God’s business on earth, Christians are never appointed to judge and must not in any way run ahead of themselves to pass judgment on others. “Sometimes, the people we love are the ones who hurt us the most. As a church we are part of the body of Christ, why would you want to through away a dysfunctional part of the body in Christ? The principal speaker for YAF, Marian Atta Boahene summed up the debate for her group. She advocated for love for gay recognized churches with the hope of preaching to them and transforming them.
After both sides forcefully argued out their points it was time for the judges to give out their verdict. The chairman, Mr. Mark Baah lauded the presenters for forcefully making their points but faulted the Men’s Fellowship for not making enough rebuttals which affected the final marks. At the end of the debate, Men’s Fellowship scored 71.3 points while YAF had 72.2 points.
Closing Remarks
In his closing remarks, Mr. Mark Baah noted that since the 1970’s, there has been a systematic, consistent plan to break up the family structure. He said God in his wisdom created Adam and Eve not Eve and Steve but regrettably; it has become politically incorrect for Christians to stand up in the media to speak against gay and lesbianism. He noted that it has gotten to the extent that homosexuals is being introduced into children cartoons and other television programmes to influence children and this must be condemned.
