Change your style, says Walters

A holistic approach to the preaching of the gospel will make the church a better change agent.{{more}}

This is the view of Minister responsible for Ecclesiastical Affairs Selmon Walters, as he addressed a gathering of church leaders on Monday at a prayer breakfast seminar organized by the National Commission for Crime Prevention.

The minister made the call for church leaders to move away from the traditional messages that they deliver and address more social issues that were affecting the everyday lives of their congregation and society.

“I am of the view that there are churches which are still preaching simply a spiritual gospel – ‘Believe, be saved, follow Christ and that’s it,” Walters stated.

“Not a care in the world for the physiological needs of the individual. No wonder such churches are mainly empty for most of the time. It has to be a holistic gospel like Jesus himself did. It has to be many sided where the whole man is addressed from the pulpit.”

Walters said that he believed that the church is in an ideal position to form good partnerships with the government and other areas of civil society, in terms of addressing violence and crime and strengthening the stability within the nation.

He applauded the churches that are involved in their communities, such as the adopting of schools, and those that have family oriented programs on a regular basis.

He made the appeal for more churches to ‘adopt school’ in their vicinity, where they can assist in the counseling and motivation of students when and where necessary.

“I believe the fight against crime has to be taken into the school system because ultimately the criminals can be spotted in the school system. This is an ideal situation for the church to intervene and see how they can be a good partner.”

The Minister also gave kudos to the NCCP for the Pan Against Crime initiative, which he said can be incorporated into the church.

He called on the church to encourage more young men into the congregation in an effort to prevent and reduce crime in society.

“Fighting crime and violence in any country has to be built around the belief in almighty God and our country is built on the supremacy of God almighty.”

“Governments may put into the school system, educational services. They may build more accommodation for prisoners, but if the church and the families fail to do what’s required of them then you will find the accommodation provided in the prison services is always not sufficient because you will have people going in there from time to time because you will have people turning to crime as a way of life.”